thearchiver

not at all, swan1186. maybe they have different procedures for native & foreign students. anyway. congratulations to you and allisont. enjoy your school!

@swan1186 the latter. I wasn't able to attend since I couldn't get any financial support. It is really tough to get it. Last year 50 applicants got accepted from about 250 applicants. And only few ones got scholarships. To have an idea about your chance, you can check their website. They provide the statistics of admitted students, so that you can figure out where you stand among the last year's lucky ones. I chatted with one of the grad students and she definitely recommended to attend although you cannot get scholarship. There are very helpful people in grad school, try to contact them. Good luck!

Allisont, I don't think you need to prepare for interview. Questions are always the same, starting with "Why us?" ending with "Do you have any question?" They contacted me on April, 1st and we scheduled the interview for April 10th. But it may vary depending on the department. I applied for SPR program. One more note: I think I was one of the latest interviewees, because of the additional documents they demanded, since I was a non-US applicant, so they may contact you earlier. I have heard that USC is very bureaucratic university when it comes to application process, but it is a great university (at least the grad students I had contacted told me so ). A tip that may be of use: show your knowledge on the university, e.g. the centers of the university, its philosophy, etc. It really helps if they see that you really want to be there. Wish you luck!

Hi Allisont, It is not a prompt reply, but I thought my reply could comfort you a little bit. I applied for USC's Strategic Public Relations (MA) program last year (for fall 2009), and my stats were almost the same. I was accepted and I should say that my stats were below the average (check the student profile at USC's website). What made my chances high was, I think, my passion for going to USC and its SPR program. I showed my ambition during the interview. Although I was not able to end up going to the U.S (I was non-US applicant), I think USC is a great university and has great PR program with its focus on practical knowledge. Wish luck to you and all other applicants.