The University of Southern California conducts admission interviews as an optional part of the undergraduate freshman application process. You may interview on-campus or off-campus in various cities across the country. USC's admission interviews are very popular and fill quickly; space is offered on a first-come, first-served basis. We enjoy interviews since the conversation helps us learn more about you. This is the perfect time to share your academic, extracurricular, and personal interests and anything else you would like us to know about your interest in USC.

Interviews will be conducted this fall for freshman applicants for Fall 2010 only. We do not conduct interviews for transfer student applicants.  

Interviews are one-on-one sessions with an admission representative from the USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences which will last approximately 20-25 minutes. During this session, we will ask questions about you, your academic interests, and your activities. Please be prepared to do most of the talking!

If you are a freshman applicant planning to major in the College, you may sign up to interview with a representative from the College.  Although interviews are conducted by several admission offices at USC (including the central Office of Undergraduate Admission, the Viterbi School of Engineering, and the Marshall School of Business), please be sure that you do NOT schedule more than one interview.  All admission interviews are evaluated in the same way, and because there are a limited number of interview spaces available, scheduling more than one interview is looked upon unfavorably.

Interviews are just one of the many types of opportunities we provide for students to have contact with the university and the admission office. However, because the size of our applicant pool precludes us from interviewing every applicant, this element of the application process is strictly optional. We interview less than 20% of the admission applicant pool. Past history has shown that there is no appreciable difference between the admission rates of students who are interviews and those who are not interviewed.

On-Campus Interviews

On-campus interviews with the College for applicants for freshman admission for Fall 2010 will begin on September 8, 2009 and will conclude on December 3, 2009.  Interviews are held most weekdays between 1:30 and 4:00 p.m.  Interview appointments are limited and are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. If you are interested in an on-campus interview, you must register online through the link at the bottom of this page.  Registrations will not be taken by phone.

On-campus interviews with the College are now filled. Students occasionally cancel their interview appointments. You may click on the following link to view the on-campus interview registration form. If there are any interview dates available, they will be visible in the "Date" box under the "Select Date and Time" section. We do not have a wait-list for interviews.

Off-Campus Interviews

Off-campus interviews with the College for applicants for freshman admission for Fall 2010 will take place cities across the country in November and December 2009. As with on-campus interviews, interview appointments are limited and are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. If you are interested in an off-campus interview, you must register online through the following link.  Registrations will not be taken by phone. 

Click on the following link to register for an off-campus interview.

If you have any questions, please contact our office at (213) 740-5930 or admission@college.usc.edu.