What Are the Math Requirements at the University of Southern California?

The University of Southern California (USC) offers a variety of majors, but all students are required to have some math experience. Learn about the USC math requirements for admissions and degrees.

The University of Southern California (USC) is a private research university in Los Angeles, California.

It offers a variety of degrees at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels.

If you're interested in going to USC, it helps to know what math courses are required for admission and for students to earn their degrees.

Keep reading to learn more about the USC math requirements students need to fulfill.

What Are the USC Math Requirements for Admissions?

To be admitted into USC, students are expected to have earned a grade of C or better in at least three years of high school mathematics, including advanced algebra.

Some individual colleges and schools within the university have additional requirements.

When it comes to mathematics, at least one calculus course is strongly preferred by the Viterbi School of Engineering.

When making decisions regarding admissions, the university pays close attention to how the courses you took in high school prepare you for your major.

USC only accepts 12% of undergraduate applicants, so if you're planning to pursue a math-heavy major, taking additional math courses in high school is advisable.

What Are the USC Math Requirements for a Bachelor's Degree?

The math requirements for a bachelor's degree at USC will depend on what your major is and what school or college within the university you attend.

All students are required to take general education courses to develop a strong and well-rounded foundation for their education.

These courses are set by both the university and the individual colleges and schools.

The university does not require math as part of its general education requirements, but some colleges and schools within the university do.

The most common college for undergraduate students to attend is the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences.

Dornsife does not require a math general, but math can be taken to fulfill the quantitative reasoning requirement.

Several of the other colleges and schools at USC that accept undergraduate students, including the Viterbi School of Engineering, have the same requirements, while others just go by the university's general education requirements.

What Bachelor's Degrees at USC Require the Most Math?

The bachelor's degree that requires the most math at USC is, unsurprisingly, the math major.

USC offers a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science degree in math.

Both programs require students to take several courses before they begin their major courses, including:

Calculus I
Calculus II, Enhanced Calculus II, or Calculus II for Engineers and Scientists
Linear Algebra and Linear Differential Equations or Linear Algebra and Applications
Calculus III, Enhanced Calculus III, or Calculus III for Engineers and Scientists

Additionally, both majors require students to take Fundamental Concepts of Modern Algebra and Fundamental Concepts of Analysis.

The Bachelor of Arts also requires the Geometry and Transformations course and the Vector Analysis and Introduction to Differential Geometry course.

Meanwhile, the Bachelor of Science also requires a second Fundamental Concepts of Analysis course and the Topics in Linear Algebra course.

A course in logical reasoning is also required, though students get to choose from three courses.

Both the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science programs include math electives.

The BA program requires three upper-division math electives, and the BS requires four.

USC also offers a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science in applied and computational mathematics.

This program has the same pre-major course requirements, and both degrees require the Probability Theory course and the Numerical Methods course.

The Bachelor of Science degree also requires students to take Mathematical Statistics and Fundamental Concepts of Analysis, as well as an elective in logical reasoning.

In addition, students must choose three upper-level math courses and at least one dedicated programming course.

The Bachelor of Arts degree also requires students to choose four upper-level math electives and to take at least one dedicated programming course.

Other math-heavy majors at USC are in fields like engineering and physical science, which require a strong math foundation to understand field-specific topics.

What Bachelor's Degrees at USC Require the Least Math?

In general, majors in the humanities require the least amount of math courses.

Examples of majors at USC that require little to no math include:

Additionally, many business majors often require a fundamental math course or two but are not too heavy on the math courses.

Exceptions would be fields like accounting or finance.

Start Your Degree at USC

USC math requirements for admission include at least three years of high school math, but many majors do not include a math course or only require a single general math course.

For more information about USC math requirements, reach out to Learn.org today.