USC announced its admission statistics last week, and the numbers show that this year's admitted class was one of most competitive groups in recent history.
The number of applicants rose by 14 percent, the largest jump in the past two decades for a one-year period. Out of a record number of 64,256 applications, the USC Office of Admission admitted 8,258 students, according to USC News.
Dean of Admission Timothy Brunold says the Office of Admission was surprised and expected "at most, a modest increase in applications" this year. He thinks the increase was a result of different factors, such as the university's aggressive in-person outreach, rankings and the newly-constructed USC Village.
"The USC brand just continues to get stronger and stronger and I think students are realizing the value of the USC education," he says.
Hundreds of newly admitted students took to Twitter to share their excitement about being accepted to USC.
Students around the globe are thrilled about being able to say #IGotIntoUSC!https://t.co/IODaNrxu2z
— USC Annenberg Media (@AnnenbergMedia) March 26, 2018
The acceptance rate declined to 13 percent, the lowest in USC history. It dropped three percentage points from last year and is on a downward trend. Brunold says the admissions rate could stay the same or even decrease next year.
"When we seek to admit a class of students, we're not trying to hit a particular admission rate, but instead, the admission rate ends up being the result of how many students applied and how much space we have at the university," Brunold says,"There are many students who will not be offered a spot at USC not because there's anything wrong with their application or with their candidacy, but just simply because we don't have enough space."
About 69 percent of those who were accepted are students of color. Sixteen percent of this new class is made up of international students. About 1 in 7 students will be the first in their family to attend college. This year's admits represent 3,300 high schools and 87 countries, according to USC's admissions blog.
The university also released numbers on standardized testing scores and high school GPAs among students who were admitted.
According to the USC admissions blog, the average high school unweighted GPA was 3.86, with 34 percent of accepted students earning a 4.0 GPA. Eighty five percent of admitted students scored in the 95th percentile or higher for standardized tests, while 60 percent scored in the 99th percentile, the USC admissions blog said.
Students have until May 1 to let USC know if they will enroll in classes for the fall.