Undergraduate Admission
Important Dates and Deadlines
October 23, 2022: Discover USC Open House and Roski Portfolio Forum. Details and RSVP here.
December 1, 2022: First-year application and portfolio deadline for regular admission decision (may include merit scholarship or departmental scholarship consideration).
(The former application deadline of January 15 is no longer applicable to USC Roski School programs)
February 15, 2023: Transfer application and portfolio deadline for scholarship and regular consideration For mailed materials like transcripts, test scores and letters of recommendation, all dates are postmark deadlines.
If you are currently a USC student and are interested in applying to an art or design major, please, click here. Choose "Roski Major Application - for current USC students only" option. Fall deadline- October 1st & Spring deadline- March 1st
For most applicants, there are five requirements: (1) USC Common App, (2) portfolio of recent artwork, (3) essay response, (4) list of creative accomplishments, and (5) transcripts and test scores. In addition to those five requirements, transfer applicants must submit (6a) at least two letters of recommendation, and international applicants must submit (6b) TOEFL scores.
Step-by-step instructions on how to apply are below. If you have questions at any step, please don't hesitate to contact us.
1. Complete a USC application.
Submit the Common Application and the USC Writing Supplement.
2. Upload your portfolio.
Upload a portfolio of 10 to 15 images of artwork you've made within the last two years at roski.slideroom.com. Your portfolio should not only represent your best skills in art—in a variety of media or in a single area—but should also demonstrate the development of a personally unique idea or concepts that have inspired the work as a whole. Feel free to include in your portfolio work that you have done for assignments in class, work that you have done on your own, or both. We do not accept images in PDF format. For more insight in organizing your art work for portfolio submission see this Q & A with the Roski faculty admissions committee.
3. Upload your artist statement.
Upload your artist essay following the prompt in Slideroom
Your artist essay should not be longer than 500 words
4. Upload your list of creative accomplishments.
Upload your list online at roski.slideroom.com. Your list of creative accomplishments should include, in chronological order, your practical experience in visual art or design, including high school courses, summer art programs, internships, private lessons, collaborative or interdisciplinary projects, and the like.
5. Submit your transcripts and test scores.*
*Official Test Scores: prospective first-year students may apply to USC for the 2023-2024 academic year without submitting SAT or ACT scores, although students may still choose to submit SAT or ACT scores if they wish. Test scores are optional for First-Year applicants, but possibly required for some Transfer applicants.
FIRST-YEARS: Submit your official high school transcripts and you may choose to submit scores from either (1) the SAT or (2) the ACT (test optional for 2023-2024).
TRANSFERS: Transfer applicants with less than 30 transferable college semester units or 45 quarter units must also submit SAT or ACT scores, in addition to copies of their high school and college transcripts.
USC does not require a minimum number of transfer units.* However, if you will have earned fewer than 30 transferable semester units by the end of the spring term, we will base our decision either primarily on your high school record and/or SAT or ACT scores (if you submit them). Please note that applicants to the 2022-2023 academic year are not required to submit SAT or ACT scores, although they may still submit them if they wish.
6a. For transfer applicants only
Submit at least two letters of recommendation from current or former art instructors via Slideroom:
ATTN: USC Roski School Undergraduate Admission
850 West 37th Street, Watt Hall #104
University Park Campus
Los Angeles, California 90089-0292
6b. For international applicants only
International transfer applicants whose native language is not English must submit a TOEFL, IELTS, PTE Academic or Duolingo test score earned within two years of their application date.
Please visit the USC Undergraduate Admission website for English Proficiency Expectations here.
Submit scores to:
USC Office of Admission
700 Childs Way University Park Campus
Los Angeles, California 90089-0911