Apply to USC Philosophy

An applicant for admission normally has an undergraduate major in philosophy, but programs may be arranged for promising students who do not. You must submit transcripts for each of your previous academic institutions; these are required by the Graduate School in order to process your enrollment. Your transcript will play some role, but not the most important role, in the admissions decision. The instructions for the online graduate admission application will walk you through this process.

Your personal statement is the primary opportunity that you have in your application to give us a picture of who you are, what motivates you, and what philosophical questions interest you. It is not a request for you to propose a research program, but don’t be afraid of telling us what you find interesting about the philosophical questions which currently interest you most. It should be under two pages in length. Personal statements should be uploaded in connection with your online graduate admission application under the heading of “Supporting Documents.”

All applicants are required to submit a sample of philosophical written work, which should normally be between 12-20 pages in length. It should represent your very best work to date. This is the most important part of your application, so make sure to put your best foot forward. Writing samples should be uploaded in connection with your online graduate admission application under the heading of “Supporting Documents.”

The online graduate admission application contains instructions for requesting letters of recommendation (to be submitted online) from at least three, and no more than six, recommenders who can vouch for your academic and specifically philosophical promise. If for some reason your recommenders prefer to submit their letters on paper, the online graduate admission application contains instructions for how to arrange that, as well. Follow up with your recommenders to make sure that all letters have been submitted by December 31st at the latest.

USC Philosophy does not consider GRE scores as a part of graduate admissions, and so applicants are requested to not submit these scores. And although USC Philosophy does not require the TOEFL in order to consider non-native speakers of English for the program, USC Graduate Admissions requires the TOEFL in order to enroll in the university. USC’s code for the TOEFL is 4852.

The Office of Graduate Admissions accepts fee waiver requests here. Make sure to submit your fee waiver request BEFORE you submit your application. Approval of fee waivers can take approximately 3 to 4 business days, so make sure to plan accordingly and submit your request in time to meet the application deadline of January 6. The Office of Graduate Admissions takes a Winter Break from approximately December 21-January 3, so it is strongly suggested you get your request in by December 13 at the latest.

The Office of Graduate Admissions does not provide fee waivers to international applicants. In addition, the department can not supply fee waivers to international applicants either.