it might not be 800, but i bet it's close. ( i have friends who graduated from/are current mfa students/prospective students (aka. have interviewed) so my sources are pretty reliable). also, i wouldn't rely on "ranking" to determine the amount of applications a school would receive. i'm not sure, but i'd bet usc's ranking isn't super high, but have produced pretty "hot" grads in recent years, which probably means more? sorry, i just think the "rankings" are irrelevant.