Admitted Student Visit Options

Anyone know the difference between the Saturday Admitted Student Days (3/24 and 4/7) and the admitted student tours on Mondays and Fridays? Getting down to Columbia is just not an option for us on 3/24 or 4/7, but we may be able to get down for a mid April Monday tour. USC is in the running for my D but she hasn’t been there. Just wondering if ishe would enough on the weekday tour to make the trip worth the effort and expense.

We did just a regular tour over a year ago, way before applying, etc. and it was great just to get a feel for the school. We are not going to any admitted student days–she just doesn’t feel she needs to see it again to make a decision, but I think it would be good as far as meeting other students, etc. as there are more activities lined up. The admitted student tours are likely much smaller in scale and a tour only–probably plenty to help her make a decision but maybe not as “social” as an admitted student day. Just my guesses.

The admitted student day is a really large event. Different booths and info sessions open in Russell House. Much more focused on life at USC. The energy level is pretty high. Trust Me, you will find the exact same sessions available during Orientation week, and then again on parents weekend. So, if you are already decided on USC, skipping ASD won’t hurt. But if you are still in the deciding phase, I think any trip is better than no trip. The tours at zuSC are great, and the guides are used to having a bunch of admitted students on the tours. Stick close to the guides and ask a bunch of questions.

My D had visited the summer before senior year, and we went back for a “final decision” tour in February. This was not an Accepted Students event, just a regular tour arranged through Admissions. She was accepted with undecided major, so we set up two different Department visits. I think it was B school at 9:00 or 9:30, General Tour at 11, then the other Dept at 1:00 or 1:30. That was plenty to finalize her choice, so we hit the bookstore for a sweatshirt and headed home.

We did an admitted students general school tour and a Big Friday event at the school of Engineering and Computing on a Friday in February and it was definitely informative and worthwhile. A friend and her son attended the admitted students tour at the end of January and they were able to go inside a lot of different dorms, but we only went into one dorm on our tour. FYI - USC does not start processing housing requests until May 1st and they are processed in order based on your application date, not the date you accepted your offer. USC is in my son’s top two right now (still waiting for one other April 1) so we may go visit on one of the larger admitted student days to see more of the potential entering class, see more dorms, etc.