Frequently Asked Questions

• Early Action (EA) and Early Decision (ED both have a November 1 deadline and allow you to receive your admission decision earlier.
  • Early Action is non-binding, so you can apply to other schools and decide by May 1.
  • Early Decision is binding. If you are admitted, you agree to enroll at USD and withdraw applications to other schools.

Early Decision allows us to identify and admit students who have made our university their clear first choice. While it does not guarantee admission, applying ED can demonstrate a strong, intentional commitment to joining our community. Students admitted through Early Decision are held to the same academic and personal standards as all applicants, and we expect those who apply early to be well-prepared and highly motivated.

Students should consider applying Early Decision if they are confident that our university is their top choice and they are ready to commit to enroll if admitted. Early Decision is a good option for applicants who have thoroughly researched their college options, feel academically and personally prepared and are excited about becoming part of the Torero community.

No. You may only apply to one school through Early Decision. You can still apply Early Action or Regular Decision to other schools, but if you are admitted to USD through Early Decision, you must withdraw those applications.

Yes. If the financial aid package you receive does not meet your needs, you may request to be released from the Early Decision commitment. While Early Decision is a binding agreement, we understand that financial circumstances are a critical part of your college decision. If you have concerns about your aid offer, we encourage you to contact our Torero Hub office to discuss your options.

No. If you are denied admission as an Early Decision applicant, your application will not be deferred to the Regular Decision pool. We welcome you to consider reapplying as a transfer student after completing college-level classes at another institution.

Students can either be admitted, denied or deferred to our Regular Decision pool. We will notify all EA applicants of their decision or status when decisions are released in mid-December.

No. Applying Early Action or Early Decision does not affect your financial aid eligibility if you qualify to apply for aid. All admitted students who meet the required deadlines and eligibility criteria will be fully considered for financial aid. Aid packages will be released shortly after admission decisions, based on the application round you selected. Please refer to our Admission Timeline webpage for specific financial aid release dates.

Yes. All applicants, including international and transfer students, are automatically considered for merit scholarships when they submit a Common Application. There is no separate scholarship application required. Merit scholarship awards are announced at the time of admission and included in your acceptance letter.

No. Early Decision and Early Action options are not available for transfer applicants. Transfer students should apply through the Priority or Regular Decision process and review the specific deadlines and requirements for transfer admission.

Yes. International students are welcome to apply through Early Action or Early Decision.

The main difference between Regular Decision and Late Consideration is that regular candidates will receive a decision mid March, while late consideration candidates will not be reviewed and considered for admission until all regular decision candidates have been notified of an admissions decision.

If you are applying as an Early Decision or Early Action applicant, please submit the Common Application along with all supplemental materials including your personal statement, USD member questions, letters of recommendation and official transcripts by your selected application deadline.

If you have been granted an application deadline extension, please submit your supplemental materials within two weeks of your Common App submission.

If you are applying as a Regular Decision or Transfer applicant, please submit your supplemental materials within two weeks on your Common App submission.

All applications for first-year admission are evaluated thoroughly by a team of admissions professionals. A comprehensive review of a student’s course selection across four years and grades in academic classes allow the admissions committee to evaluate a student’s academic preparation and achievement. Additional information is considered, including evidence of leadership, service, community engagement and global perspective. A minimum of one academic letter of recommendation and an essay are also considered in the admissions process.

We strongly discourage letters of appeal. The application evaluation process is thorough, and decisions are made after careful review by our admissions staff. It is highly unlikely that we will reverse a decision. Disagreement with the decision is not a valid reason for an appeal. If you have new academic information that you would like for us to consider, such as the discovery of an error on a high school transcript or, for international applicants, additional language scores not previously reported, please submit that information with a letter of appeal to our office. Appeals must be student-initiated in order for it to be considered. You may email the letter and supporting information to us at admissions@sandiego.edu. Alternative college plans should be considered while waiting for a decision on your appeal.

Appeals are strongly discouraged. Scholarship notifications are made after careful consideration of each applicant's academic qualifications within the context of the entire applicant pool.The receipt of a scholarship from another university is not a valid reason to appeal our decision. We do not reallocate scholarship money if another student does not accept the award. If you have significant information to update the academic portion of your application (new grades or academic awards), please email admissions@sandiego.edu regarding the process to appeal. As the applicant, this appeal must be written and submitted by you in order for it to be considered. The admissions committee will aim to reply to appeals by the May 1st Candidate Reply Date, but we cannot guarantee this timeline.

Being invited to the waitlist means you're a strong candidate, but due to space limitations we are not yet able to offer you a place in the first-year class. If we determine we are able to admit students from the waitlist we will begin notifying students as soon as possible. In the meantime, we encourage students to move forward with alternate college plans.

You will know that our system has generated your portal login credentials when you have received an email with the subject line: Your USD Application Portal. Typically, it will be 5 days or so from the day you submit your application. If you have received that email, you should be able to follow the step-by-step instructions in this video tutorial to log into the MySanDiego portal.

University of San Diego
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
5998 Alcala Park
San Diego, CA 92110

A deferral of admission is available only to admitted first-year students who have been offered admission for the Fall semester and to transfer students who have been offered admission for the Fall or Spring semester.

Students admitted through Early Decision or first-year students admitted for the Spring semester are not eligible for a deferral of admission.

Approved deferrals may be granted for one semester, from Fall to Spring, or for one full academic year, from Fall to the following Fall.

• Postponements beyond the initial gap year may be considered specifically for military, religious, or medical reasons, subject to the review of the request.

To apply, admitted students must:

• Submit the standard $500 non-refundable enrollment deposit by the deadline listed in their admission letter
• Submit an additional $500 non-refundable Gap Year Deferral Deposit (for a total non-refundable deposit of $1,000)
• Complete the official Deferral of Admission Request form, including a detailed statement outlining their gap year plans

The enrollment deposit is submitted as part of accepting the offer of admission and is applied to the student’s first-semester tuition and housing charges upon enrollment. The Gap Year Deferral Deposit must be submitted concurrently with or immediately after the enrollment deposit via check mailed to the Office of Undergraduate Admission:

• Office of Undergraduate Admission
  5998 Alcalá Park
  San Diego, CA 92110

The completed Deferral of Admission Request form and both required deposits must be received by the Office of Undergraduate Admission no later than July 1 of the year for which the student was originally admitted.

Students may not enroll in any college-level coursework at another college, university, or post-secondary institution during the deferral period, whether for credit or not for credit. Enrollment in any such coursework will result in the immediate rescission of the offer of admission. Permissible activities during the deferral period include travel, volunteer work, employment, and participation in non-credit-bearing language or skill-building programs.

No. Students accepting a deferral of admission agree not to apply to any other college or university during the deferral period.

Yes. Students must submit a final, official high school transcript showing proof of graduation before the deferral is finalized and approved.

Institutional merit-based scholarships and grants awarded for the original entry term are subject to review and may be revised for the deferred entry term.

Students receiving need-based financial aid must reapply by completing the FAFSA for the academic year in which they plan to enroll in order to be considered for aid.