Requirements
Eligibility Requirements
Transfer Students: please see our Transfer Student page.UNITS
In order to apply to Viterbi PDP, applicants must have completed at least 64 total units of undergraduate course work, excluding AP, IB, or credits transferred into USC that were earned prior to high school graduation. Students may apply in their junior or senior year, but no later than the semester prior to beginning graduate coursework. Application after undergraduate graduation is not allowed. Viterbi encourages students to apply in their junior year so that applicant and advisors can carefully coordinate upper division undergraduate courses with the onset of graduate coursework. If admitted, students are required to complete both undergraduate and graduate degrees within 12 semesters of the student's first term in college.GPA
Applicants must have an overall USC undergraduate GPA of 3.2 or higher. Transfer students must have at least two semesters of USC coursework completed before applying.Students Applying in the Final Undergraduate Semester
If you decide to apply in what would otherwise be the final semester of your undergraduate degree, please be aware:- You must apply by that semester's first deadline (February for Spring, September for Fall). Applications to Viterbi PDP from graduating seniors that are received after the first deadline will be automatically rejected.
- If you are in your last undergrad semester and your overall undergraduate USC GPA is below 3.2, however slightly, you may not apply. All final semester seniors who apply to Viterbi PDP with GPAs below 3.2 will be automatically rejected.
Applying Multiple Times
If you have previously submitted an application for admission to Viterbi PDP that was not approved, you are eligible to reapply to Viterbi PDP up until the final semester of your senior year. If you wish to apply to Viterbi PDP more than once, please email viterbi.pdp@usc.edu.Submitting Application Components Subsequent to Application Submission
If your application becomes complete in a semester subsequent to the one that you applied in, you will need to email viterbi.pdp@usc.edu to let us know so that your application can be updated to the correct term of application. All applications that are incomplete at the end of a semester will be archived as incomplete applications for that semester and will require the applicant to contact Viterbi PDP in order to update the application to the correct term.Application Requirements
If you meet the eligibility requirements, you may apply to Viterbi PDP by submitting the following components:- Application Form submitted via myViterbi. All USC undergraduates have access to myViterbi.
- Current STARS Report
- Transfer Credit Report
- Letter of Recommendation. If your undergraduate USC GPA is below 3.5, one letter of recommendation is required from an instructor in a relevant academic field. If your GPA is 3.5 or higher, no letter is required.
Program Requirements
- Admitted PDP students must fulfill all specified degree requirements for both the bachelor's degree and the master's degree. The required number of course units for the PDP master's degree may be reduced by up to a maximum of 1/3 of the total units of the traditional program.
- PDP students will be subject to undergraduate academic progress standards while classed as undergraduates and master's academic progress standards once classed as graduate students. For more information about the change in status from undergraduate to graduate please see the PDP Financial Aid Page.
- The time limit for completing a Progressive Degree is 12 semesters starting from the student's first term in college, regardless of whether that term was at USC or elsewhere.
- The bachelor's degree may be awarded separately, but must be awarded before the graduate degree.