Hey there. I don’t know if anyone has made a discussion on this yet. Anyone else out there that applied for USC’s Resident Honors Program for the 2017-2018 school year? Any stats? Also, I’d love to know if/when anyone is getting the January admissions and scholarship interview invites. Anyone out there?
Feel free to comment if you are a normal freshman and got an admission letter/scholarship invite.
Thanks!
My son received an acceptance (yay!!) and scholarship interview invite yesterday (1/26).
Hi. OregonMom2021, Congratulations on your son’s achievement. Did you receive a regular surface mail or certified type of mail. If you dont mind can you share your son’s stat. Also, is your son an RHP applicant or a normal senior year applicant. Thank you
Hi!
I applied to USC’s RHP program this year for the 2017-2018 school year.
Here are my stats:
4.0 Unweighted, 4.25 Cumulative Weighted
AP Classes: Biology, Chemistry, US History, World History, Calculus AB, English Language
SAT: 1550
ACT: 36
Did anyone receive news of acceptance yet??
(Not including those who received scholarships - btw congrats if you did 
)
Yo! Was feeling a bit nostalgic about my days biting my nails waiting to hear back about RHP. I’m a sophomore Film & TV Production major at SC and was accepted to RHP in 2015. It was the best decision I ever made, so if you want to do it, do it!
I got my acceptance letter on March 27, 2015. I’ll never forget that day. If you’re accepted, the letter will usually come 1-3 days before the last Friday in March. Sometimes USC will post an Instagram or something the day they ship them, so look out for that. However, this is all under the assumption that you’re not a prodigious Explore student who found out in January haha.
If anyone has any questions I’ll try to check back here periodically. Good luck!
I applied to RHP and am waiting to hear back from USC, and they mailed out acceptances today…Is it more likely for an RHP applicant to hear of acceptance in January, or do more RHP hopefuls hear back in March?
I emailed them in January after receiving the email that said that I didn’t get a scholarship (probably not the best idea, but can’t help it looking back). Ryann McQuilton (the head of the RHP Program, if I’m not wrong) said that most RHP people do not hear admissions in January. However, there’s a good chance she has to say that, and it means nothing. Good luck anyways though.
This year, 34 kids were accepted to RHP. 2 were January admits and the other 32 just had their letters mailed yesterday. I think that both the January admits received scholarships: one ended up getting a Trustee and one got a Presidential. I think many of the rest will get Deans, but I’m not sure about that.
Thank you so much! Gives me a little hope
I’m in CO. Mail came in today, and nothing from USC. Another forum posted that someone from Aurora got in…so I don’t have high hopes. Guess it’s a senior year for me.
Well, I got in. I wasn’t expecting it, but I did.
I didn’t get accepted sadly, but congrats to everyone who did.
Congrats! We are also from CO and my daughter got accepted as well.
Congratulations to everyone who got in, and my best of luck to everyone who didn’t. I’m sure you guys are all elite students, and may get in next year.
Separately, I’m looking for a roommate for next year in McCarthy. I am a boy from CO and would love to chat to see if you are a good fit. Message me please if you are interested.
Congrats to everyone who gets in! My daughter also got accepted, but she does not if she should go since we have to pay 120k more for the four-year study there than go to U of M where we pay instate tuition. Any thoughts about if it is worthy to spend the extra 120k?
Hey, my name is Nathan Romo and I’m from San Antonio. I just got into RHP yesterday and think i will most likely attend. My email is nathandanielromo@gmail.com. Shoot me an email and I’ll give you my number so we can text.
Has anybody decided not to attend? Any reasons you can share?
I got accepted to RHP! Wasn’t really expecting it, but now I can’t decide if I should attend vs. finish high school w/ senior year. It’s not a matter of academics (I would be taking mostly electives at my high school, since I’ve completed all my graduation reqs), but more based on the social/sports/club aspects of senior year. Does anyone have thoughts?
To kind of answer Michiganjunior’s question, the only reasons I have that are keeping me from making the decision are spending senior year with friends and going to prom/senior activities, being captain of my cross country team, and leadership positions in clubs. Another big factor I could see keeping me back is being able to apply to schools other than USC.
@nathandromk You can also click on someone’s user name here and it takes you to option to private message them. Just fyi…
Congratulations to all of you (and your families) who are making your college decisions! You should be EXTREMELY ECSTATIC over the incredible opportunities that college will bring to you and your family!
I noticed several inquiries about students’ and parents’ experiences with USC and also the RHP and Thematic Options programs, so in the hope this might help some of you with your decision making, I wanted to share some our family’s experiences with USC this past year. College decisions are never easy, and even though others will give you advice, only YOU will be able to decide what is best for YOU. While parents are usually wise and wonderful, only YOU, the student, will live through this experience, so make it your own and share with your parents, when you can. While the future is uncertain, college CAN be what you make of it if you realize your opportunities, stay flexible, and are willing to take some risks.
My son received an invitation to apply to USC’s Resident Honors Program during his sophomore year of high school. At the time, he wasn’t serious about skipping his senior year of high school because he was class president for two years, adored his classmates and teachers, was looking forward to the numerous AP classes he would finally be permitted to take during his junior year of HS, didn’t want to miss the opportunity to experience senioritis, and wanted to finally be one of the “top senior dogs” in high school. However, he thought applying to college as a HS sophomore would be a good opportunity to “practice” writing essays, filling out college applications, and maybe even visiting some college campuses. He received an invitation to apply early to an Ivy League college also, so he applied to both schools.
To our amazement he was admitted to both schools before he turned 16. Administrators, professors, and students from both schools called or emailed multiple times to share their advice and experiences and recruit him. With each phone call/communication, he became more curious about the schools, especially USC, because of its impressive, organized, and intensive networking system. However, when the invitation to attend the Trustee scholarship interview arrived, all the dates conflicted with his commitments to compete in national competitions and perform in the school musical.
He decided to decline the college offers but a teacher at his school (not USC affiliated) advised him to at least visit the schools. USC arranged for him to be interviewed for the Trustee scholarship on the Presidential scholarship dates since he was not able to attend any of the Trustee dates. My son’s teacher even spoke to the musical director who found an understudy for the performance my son would miss.
My son did not practice for the interview or have any time to prepare for his visit. He flew to LA immediately after one of the musical performances and didn’t even have a sleeping bag, but a USC student kindly arranged for a sleeping bag to be dropped off at the RHP office for his use. From the time he landed in LA, he was treated like a treasured and respected family member. USC administrators arranged for him to meet with several professors who talked about their research and how he could start research immediately, even as a freshman. He loved the enthusiasm, encouragement, and curiosity that the students, faculty, and administrators exhibited. He was impressed with their generosity of spirit and their sense of camaraderie, as well as the willingness of the students to share their experiences. He really liked his hosts, their dorm life and especially enjoyed skateboarding to all the preview events (USC is almost totally flat so skateboarding is a breeze!) The interviewers made him feel very comfortable. They already knew a lot about him and the questions they posed were like having a conversation, (rather than an interview), about their mutual interests and the opportunities available at USC. He felt they really understood his desire to pursue research on a challenging level while experiencing the joys and adventures of college life.
He also enjoyed his visit to the Ivy School. He had some pressure on him because he was the youngest in a family who had all attended Ivy League schools. Almost everyone expected him to do the same.
There were also the disadvantages of skipping senior year of high school to consider. Although he had attended the same private school for 12 years the school would not grant permission for him to graduate early, so he would not be granted a HS diploma. We were told that the lack of HS degree might prove detrimental because some civil service and other employers would prefer applicants with a HS degree. However, after further investigation, we discovered that he could still receive a HS diploma by transferring to a public school and taking some online courses and summer courses. He would be both a high school senior AND a college freshman concurrently during the same year! We didn’t know this was possible up to that time.
Another disadvantage was that he lacked the more advanced AP classes most HS seniors take before beginning college. He planned to double major in two science fields and many of the professors at both USC and the Ivy School he met were extremely impressive leaders in their fields. He worried that his lack of AP courses would prove disadvantageous at the college level of coursework and research.
Although he received a Trustee and a generous University Scholarship from USC, no merit scholarships were available at the Ivy School and we didn’t qualify for financial aid. He took until May 2016 to finally make the decision. It wasn’t an easy one, but once made, it has been a wonderful journey with no looking back. He is challenged, curious, and often remarks on how he is “never bored.” His USC professors, administrators, and fellow students do everything possible to support him in all his pursuits. He received even more funding through research grants and USC’s exceptional funding program enables him to take extra coursework, enough to pursue a double major and a totally unrelated minor. As one of the rare science majors in the Thematic Options program, he gets to work with many of the outstanding students at USC who are majoring in writing, literature, screen writing and the humanities. Consequently, his believes his own writing and his understanding of literature has made considerable improvement. He often remarks that he learns new and amazing things every day at USC.
Even before school started in the fall, he began research under the guidance of a very supportive and excellent USC professor. It is fascinating work and his professor offers many exciting opportunities. This semester he is very active in hosting and recruiting future USC students and was recently selected to be a resident advisor during his sophomore year. He believes these pursuits are his opportunities to “give back” to his USC family.
Regardless of the scholarship money received, USC was a great choice for my son. It is large enough to offer the wide variety of pursuits he craves, yet intimate enough to feel like he is a cherished member of a family of learners. Of all the many schools our family members have attended over the years, only President Nikias at USC took the time to write a personal note of thanks for sending our son to USC.
Hope this gives you some insight into the college decision process and what you might expect from a USC education.