USC THORNTON STUDENT EXCHANGE
International Programs
The USC Thornton School of Music, in cooperation with institutional partners abroad, offers opportunities to study overseas for one semester (fall or spring). Thornton students who are selected to participate in this exchange program will be immersed in a unique learning environment with the students & faculty of the partner institution.
Partner Institutions
In general, the coursework taken at the host institution will be similar to what would have been taken during the same semester at USC Thornton and the coursework completed overseas will be transferable for credit toward the student’s USC degree through a pre-approval process guided by the students USC Thornton advisor.
Program Costs
While on exchange, students continue to pay standard USC Thornton tuition. Other costs associated with exchanges are listed below.
Expenditures
Financial Aid
Any merit-based or need-based financial aid being received by Thornton students will apply toward the exchange program. USC Financial Aid will repackage aid based on program-specific expenditures. Students may apply for study abroad scholarships to offset the cost if necessary.
Selection Process
USC Thornton students are selected for the exchange program as detailed below.
USC Thornton students may apply for exchange by submitting the following in Slideroom.
- Online application for USC Thornton faculty pre-selection
- Application fee of approximately $25, payable by credit card, charged at the time of submission
- Letter of Motivation consisting of one or two pages that describe the reasons why you are interested in participating in the exchange program
- Résumé or Curriculum Vitae, including musical, professional, and academic experience
- Academic Transcript (unofficial PDF of the “Completed Course Summary” from the OASIS system will be acceptable)
- Copy of a valid passport (PDF format)
Thornton students will be notified via email when the online pre-selection application is available for any given year. This notification will usually be issued sometime before winter recess and will include a link to the online pre-selection application.
The faculty of USC Thornton screens applicants and selects a small pool of students to be considered for final selection by the host institution.
The students pre-selected by USC Thornton may apply to up to three exchange partners. An application fee may be required. Specific guidelines will be provided to the pre-selected students through the international exchange coordinator at USC Thornton. This application is generally submitted online and will require materials that could take time to prepare, including:
- Media uploads of the applicant’s artistic work.
- Letter of motivation, describing the reasons why the student is interested in participating in the exchange program.
- Résumé or curriculum vitae, which should list the student’s musical, professional, and academic experience.
- Learning agreement, a listing of courses that the visiting student hopes to take at the exchange partner.
- A USC Transcript.
- Copy of a valid passport.
The host institution makes the final selection based on the student’s application materials. If needed, video interviews will be arranged to assess language proficiency during this stage.
Students are notified of the final selection and work with the host institution to obtain the necessary visa and make other important preparations.
Application Cycle
All dates below are projections subject to change.
November 15
Application for Thornton Pre-Selection becomes available.
January 15
Application for Thornton Pre-Selection deadline.
February 1
Students are notified of Thornton Pre-Selection.
February 7
Pre-selected students apply to programs with Thornton advisor support.
March
Host applications due in March (deadlines vary).
May 1
Final selection notification by the overseas host.
Stay Connected
Join our mailing list to be notified of general deadlines and travel announcements. Questions regarding Thornton International Exchange Programs can be directed to music.intl@usc.edu.