USC Iovine and Young Academy
When applying to college, I got rejected from my dream program (USC Iovine and Young Academy). It really stung at the time, but I’ve since then found a similar path through a different program (Human-Computer Interaction) at CMU. While applying, I didn’t find many rejection stories so I wanted to share mine as a reminder that it will work out no matter where you go. ✈️
The summer prior to my senior year of high school, I went on a trip to visit schools in Southern California and stumbled across a program at USC called Iovine and Young Academy (or IYA, for short) and instantly fell in love — it was the only program I’ve seen of this type.
The unique interdisciplinary program combined Design, Technology, and Business. Here’s a more detailed description from their site:
With a visionary gift from entrepreneurs Jimmy Iovine and Andre “Dr. Dre” Young, the University of Southern California established an academy to teach critical thinking and nurture unbridled creativity at the intersection of four essential areas: art and design; engineering and computer science; business and venture management; and communication. Throughout this four-year undergraduate degree program, students are taught to think seamlessly across multiple disciplines and to apply a vast array of relevant technologies and techniques toward innovative problem solving.
As a high school senior still sitting at the intersection of these interests, I knew I had to apply.
The application process for the program deviated from the typical college application — involving a 1-minute pitch video and 5 portfolio pieces demonstrating proficiency in design, programming, and business on top of the typical common application essay and two supplemental essays.
With their historical ~9% acceptance rate, I knew I had to be on top of my game to stand a chance, so I created a robust plan to learn as much about the program and prepare myself as best I could.
What I did to Prepare for my Application
- Visited the academy for a personal tour. Though I had already toured USC in their general tour, I wanted to show interest in any way I could and learn about the program. I emailed Jessica Vernon, the Associate Dean of the program and inquired about scheduling an informational tour specifically for the program. To my delight, she said that there was an information session offered! Prior to the application deadline during November, I flew to USC just to go on on this tour for the program.
- Binged the videos of accepted students. Prior to creating my video, I realized I had already seen the program pitch videos recommended on my YouTube page for awhile, but never knew they were associated with the program. When I got around to viewing others’ videos, I realized I had already seen many of them. I went on YouTube and found every past accepted video I could and studied the methods that were successful in the past.
- Talked to a current student. I asked around and was able to get connected to a current student. I asked about the current projects that he was doing, and what he thought about the program. In my supplemental essay, I actually referenced some of the current projects, and the interviewers took notice and asked me about them later in my interview.
- Up-skilled to create a compelling video pitch. In previous pitch videos, I saw others incorporate motion graphics effects, VFX effects, stop motion animation, and more. I’ve never used Adobe After Effects, but I tried my best to do some animation practice so that I could display these skills through my video, as I knew it could help my video stand out.
- Consulted previous College Confidential forums. Each year, there’s a College Confidential thread dedicated to the new year’s applicants for the IYA program. I was obsessed with this thread, and binged previous years threads to get as much information as I could about stats of accepted students and gauge my own chances.
After my preparations, it was finally time to put together my application. I spent my days after schools going to Starbucks and working little by little on my application to put my best foot forward. 👟
My Application
The application consisted of three portions: the 1-minute video pitch, 5 portfolio pieces, and 2 supplemental essays.
Video Pitch
For the video pitch, I wanted to focus on a problem that struck a balance between feasibility and creativity. I thought about various problems before landing on one that directly affected me: frustration while learning online courses.
I kept my solution simple — a learning platform to allow for screen-share learning and real-time troubleshooting. I personally learned Photoshop through YouTube tutorials and found it difficult to flip between videos and the interface and wanted to think of a solution that would make learning softwares like Photoshop easier. Coincidently, I ended up creating what is now modern-day Zoom screen-share learning during fall of 2018 (over a year before COVID-19 hit in the beginning of 2020).
I created most of video the weekend before applications were due, gave up on self-learning Adobe After Effects, and ended up doing the animation in Microsoft Powerpoint to screen record (rip). Here’s my video pitch:
An aside: Recently I revisited my video and realized how closely it aligned with the Zoom online teaching age, even the name “Shroom” coincidently rhyming with “Zoom.” I’m so happy to see this form of learning now ubiquitous — it has reduced the friction so much and really happy to have foreseen this method of learning through my pitch.
Portfolio
During my application cycle, there were 5 required portfolio pieces to showcase proficiency in design, technology, and business. I submitted the following projects:
- Digital Illustration— Doodle4Google submission I drew with Photoshop
- Business— DECA report for Business Service Operations event
- Logo Design — Branding and merchandise I designed for my non-profit
- Machine Learning — Dog breed classifier project I did for a Deep Learning course I took online
- Hand Drawing — 99 Ranch contest submission I drew with copics and watercolor
Supplemental Essays
I worked hard to cater my “Why USC?” essay to the program as much as I could. I decided to go for an unconventional intro with a metaphor to the Tinker Bell movies, as the different “talents” reminded me of the fairy types in the movies. Below is one of my two supplemental essays that I wrote.
Prompt: Describe how you plan to pursue your academic interests at USC. Please feel free to address your first- and second-choice major selections.
Growing up watching Tinker Bell movies, I have always believed in finding a destined talent. Like a water-type fairy that specializes in water, I believed I would also find my role. I didn’t want to settle for art just because my mom was an art teacher, so I explored business and programming through DECA and Girls in STEM club. However, this only left me more confused. Why did I have to enjoy them all? All my peers knew what type of fairy they were, but I couldn’t find my place.
So, I pursued them all — art, STEM, and business — and remained a lone, triple-talent fairy.
Yet, in pursuing three fields, I discovered the crucial connection between them: art exercises the brain to think creatively, while technology assists in the creation of seamless, graphical business plans. I’ve discovered this same group of triple-talent fairies in the form of Trojans at USC. USC’s Iovine and Young Academy seamlessly bridges art, technology, and business through Professor Child’s courses like Digital Toolbox and Innovator’s Forum. In the academy, I dream of falling asleep to the whirring of Makerbot 3D printers, outcompeting the red-figure-strewn mural design of Cohort V, and vlogging four years with 24 other best friends. A conversation with Professor Manos about his pro-bono design company verynice, or a discussion about the creation of a Hot Wheel Campaign for the weekly project immediately cultivates a creative atmosphere unparalleled to any other institution.
Now an unlonely triple-talent fairy, I am excited to continue and fight on!
After submitting my application, I crossed my fingers and tried my best to not be anxious while I waited for the next month and a half. Unfortunately, I turned to obsessively checking the USC Reddit page, College Confidential, and rewatching others’ video pitches posted on YouTube to alleviate my anxiety.
Interview Decisions
After a long and arduous wait, on January 24th, 2019, I was delighted to receive an email from the program for an on-campus interview.
I could not believe it — I was one step closer and from here, the acceptance rate would be about ~50%, as the committee will select half of interviewees to be admitted in the program. I didn’t want to overshoot my confidence levels though, so tried to keep my excitement to a minimum.
I quickly signed up for an interview slot. The slots were spread around the weekend, and I strategically chose an earlier slot in the beginning of one of the interview days. Over the 2.5 weeks, I planned for the trip, looked up all the current students, and prepared myself mentally.
Interview Weekend
I stayed in the USC Hotel with the reimbursement that covered a portion of the stay for the weekend.
Day 1 — Friday, February 15th
On the first day when I got to USC, I was given a lanyard badge, and got to meet the other applicants and current students. It was so much fun, and felt like a dream come true, as I finally got to meet so many other talented students from the program and masterminds behind the pitch videos I watched.
Day 2 — Saturday, February 16th
On the morning of the second day, I had my interview. The interview format was in a room with a long table, where I sat on one side of the table in a rolling chair in front of a panel about about a dozen interviewers. The interview lasted 20 minutes but the time seemed to fly by. I read online that the questions were different and catered to each applicant, so I wasn’t surprised when I got asked:
- What color would you describe the taste of mushrooms?
- If you were to let go of one of the subjects (design, business, or technology), which would you choose?
That evening, there was a semi-formal faculty dinner with an opening welcome by the dean. I was super nervous sitting at the dinner tables and meeting other students and parents, as I heard that the entire weekend was a super-day like interview.
That same day, I also got a chance to go on a hard-hat tour of the new building, which hadn’t been finished at the time!
Day 3 — Sunday, February 17th
It was finally the final day. I said my last goodbyes to the friends I met from the interview weekend and exchanged contact info to stay in touch. I also received an email from USC with an update on when decisions will be released.
On behalf of the USC Iovine and Young Academy faculty and staff, I would like to thank you for your participation in the events of last weekend. I hope that you enjoyed your visit to USC, and found the experience beneficial.
Following the interview phase, the Academy faculty admission review committee will make its final deliberations and forward their recommendations to the USC Office of Admission. Applicants recommended for admission to the Academy will also be considered for USC merit scholarships, which include the full-tuition Trustee Scholarships, the half-tuition Presidential Scholarships, and the one-quarter tuition Dean’s Scholarships (recipients will be notified at the time of admission). Please note that all final decisions regarding admission to USC and the Academy rest solely with the Office of Admission. All applicants will be informed of their admission decision by April 1, 2019.
While waiting for my decision, I was so antsy and anxious that the days seemed to drag on…
Decision Day
Finally, it was time.
USC sends their accepted applicants a package a few days prior to the portal update. I heard conspiracy theories from r/ApplyingtoCollege that USPS Informed Delivery notifies you a couple hours in advance what mail you’ll be receiving each day, so I signed up eagerly.
Over the couple days others received acceptance packages, I anxiously went home each day to check the mail. However, it was nearing the portal update and I still hadn’t received anything. I clung on to the hope that maybe my package was lost in the mail.
Finally, I received an email that my portal has updated, and checked the status update. I felt a hole in my chest — I’ve put too much of my confidence and self-worth into this one decision and I knew that I would be disappointed in myself if I didn’t make it in the program.
I took a deep breath and pressed the status update button.
“We regret to inform you that…”
I held back tears. I thought I was worthless — I felt that I had disappointed everyone who had supported me. The days after didn’t get any easier, as I got rejection after rejection from other universities and programs.
Finally, on the very last day of college decisions at the end of April, to my bewilderment and relief, I got accepted into Carnegie Mellon, my second choice school.
During my first year at CMU, I still felt remorse as I went through my classes. I was a business major and didn’t enjoy any of my business classes — it felt like nothing compared to what the IYA program offered. I couldn’t shut off my mind thinking, “what would have been different if I had made it in?”
Eventually, I switched majors, and I began finding my own passions and piecing together my own IYA program through similar programs at CMU. Currently, I’m pursuing an additional major at CMU in Human-Computer Interaction, which I’ve found is actually what USC IYA is — HCI. They just are called a different name, and I hadn’t bothered to do a deeper level of research to have found this program while applying to CMU.
I also realized that there’s a graduate program at CMU called Integrated Innovation Institute (III) which combines the same three elements of IYA — Engineering, Design, and Business.
Rejection sucked, but I realized that what matters more is being ruthless in finding what you enjoy where ever you end up. You should never close a door on yourself just because your school doesn’t offer a specific program. Fight for opportunities to practice your interests.
To conclude, here’s a quote I really love from Karin Tsai, Technology Manager at Duolingo:
“What you like and what you’re good at tend to converge.”
No matter where you end up, you will find your path. Just keep going forward and doing what you love and trust where it’ll take you.
I really hope this was helpful, this is the article I really wished I had while applying. I’ve met others who also didn’t make it into the program but are now doing really well — admission into a program does not define you as a person and you are bound to do great things wherever you end up. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me, I’m happy to share more and just talk about similar programs! ✨
Advice to Future Applicants
- Treat the 1-minute pitch like a hackathon project. There are plenty of high school hackathons available on Devpost that you can practice with!
- Don’t let the decision define you. Spread your interests in similar programs around
Similar programs to USC’s Iovine and Young Academy
- Any school with a top HCI program (Georgia Tech, University of Washington, Carnegie Mellon, University of Michigan, UC San Diego)
- UCLA’s Digital Media Arts program
- Brown’s joint program with RISD (Rhode Island School of Design)
