Parent of Spring 20 here. DS was in a similar situation, deciding between a full ride at UMich as a Shipman scholar vs USC SCA spring admit. He loved UM and could see himself being happy there after visiting multiple times (after EA).
When the spring admission email arrived he was overwhelmed with joy (SCA childhood dream school), but tempered his hopes because he knew FA was the determining factor as a Questbridge applicant. He chose USC SCA and is so glad he did.
Concerns/Realities of Spring Admission:
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He’ll miss out by not being on campus - He missed the entire football season, along with the experience of attending a game. That was a big deal for him. He did CC courses at a local CC (TX) and found the 15 weeks went by super fast. By mid Fall, your USC academic counselors are already talking to you about acclimating to campus life and verifying your courses will transfer. The academic counselors (USC and SCA) did a great job making him feel like a Trojan during the Fall by constant communication and availability for questions.
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He’ll be behind in making friends/joining groups - No. he made friends and joined groups in Jan when he arrived. He wasn’t behind at all, socially or academically. He found out people didn’t even care (or ask) if he was a spring admit. There are so many students and your always meeting new people. He also joined FB/GroupMe groups in the Fall to connects with students in his freshman class (fall and spring admits).
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The Spring welcoming experience is not the same as Fall - True, but not as big of an issue as we thought. The Spring welcome week was a wonderful experience for our entire family. Spring convocation was meticulously planned, well thought out and looked like USC spent a lot of money making Spring Admits fee welcomed and part of the Trojan Family.
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Housing - While it’s true Spring admits get what’s available, everyone accepted in Spring is still guaranteed on campus housing (you just may not get your first choice). DS got Parkside with another SCA spring admit. Quieter dorm than the others, but it was perfect for him.
We told DS to consider Spring admission a $35k grant, because that how much he’ll save by taking GE classes locally.
Again, once you’re on campus nobody cares or even asks about Spring admission. You’re part of the Trojan family and we’re hand-picked among tens of thousands because they thought you’d thrive at USC. Congratulations and FightOn!