@sbgal2011 , @lopeztlo7 , My daughter choose Wofford over USC, she was bridged at Clemson, accepted at CofC, Furman, Elon, Presbyterian. Her second Choice was Furman which was too expensive and then USC.
My daughter’s friends had lower stats than your @sbgal2011 and they both got in. One of them had same SAT but lower GPA and the other one had higher GPA but lower test scores but they both were instate. Not sure what their majors one, I think one was undecided. My daughter does know someone that is bridged this year at USC and she had a hard time at first but loves it now. At least the students live on campus unlike Clemson.
My daughter has a friend that got into USC with much lower stats than both @sbgal2011 and @SCLADY12 but applied “undecided”. When we called in December they told his the HRSM majors were very competitive this year which is why most early applicants were put in a second review. Because of the #1 ranking of the Sports and Entertainment management my daughter will probably pick USC over JMU which has a similar major unless she gets into VT tomorrow…then her Hokie mom is gonna put the pressure on her:) I wish all of your children much success in whichever college they choose. Until our paths cross again…cheers!
@sbgal2011 Yes, she got into Alabama and UTenn as well. She has some great options. I agree that the HRSM majors are very competitive this year. Sports & Entertainment (#1) and Retailing (#2) have made it really competitive. I believe that she put Marketing as her 2nd choice.
OOS D just got her packet today–accepted. Whew. Finally. Was deferred so it’s been a long wait.
Assuming she wasn’t a YES early b/c of low SAT score (1150). She had a high GPA which I’m sure helped a great deal. Now it’s decision time…
Did confirm that USC offered Cooper and Liber totaling $10K per year on top of in-state tuition, which would mean we have to pay around $15K ~ 18K per year out of our own pockets for $2K of in-state tuition, Room & Board, Books and Other expenses such as transportation. Where (which email) do you think we should send a “thank you but we will not be attending” email if you don’t plan to attend USC? I want to show appreciation of their offer and that we seriously considered Honors College at USC and we only have good impression. Do you think we should email USC rep for our state? I am not going to send an email until May 2nd just to be safe though. Thanks and good luck everyone.
@websensation where did you end up deciding on? And why? We are in a similar situation, waiting to hear from more schools, but to date we have been very impressed with USC and the Honors College and their interest and frankly putting their $$$ where their mouth is. We are most appreciative.
@wptugs At the beginning of “our” college application process, my kid’s goal was to be admitted to either UCLA or UC Berkeley. I started looking at Univ of South Carolina right after my kid somehow unexpectedly made National Merit Semi-finalist (became NMF) and started researching for an Honors College option with good scholarship, and we knew from the beginning that he was likely to receive Cooper and Lieber. I sure was excited at the possibility that my kid might be able to get an IB degree for around $15K per year. CA rep also came to his high school so we met the rep etc, and we kind of knew that our kid would get accepted to Honors College for IB major with Cooper and Lieber at minimum – not bragging but based on stats, we knew. All good. We did seriously consider attending USC Honors College but the following happened.
- Our kid unexpectedly got into Stanford REA. His UC applications had already been submitted before the decision.
- Found out that USC did not have that good program in IR, his probable area of studies, although USC was number 1 in IB.
Stanford was the only expensive private college for us, which if our kid got in, we were willing and could pay for full costs (no financial aid for us in all likelihood unless my earnings goes down big time in future which it might since I own my own business), so that was that. I sort of explained pros and cons and what he could do with the money he would be saving but basically I was out-voted by other members of my family in favor of attending Stanford. Basically, we are taking his admission to Stanford as a “sign” that he should go there even if we will be out of substantial money. To be frank, I gave my permission to my kid to apply to Stanford so . . . I wish my kid could go to Stanford at the same cost as USC but that’s not possible. lol That’s our situation. Happy he got in but not crazy about having to pay. My kid will “probably” get into UCLA/UC Berkeley but he’s still going to Stanford, so this decision is not because I did not like anything about USC.
If I were in my kid’s place, I would have gone to USC and taken it easy for 4 years while reading books and drinking Starbucks coffee at the nice Honors dorm and working part-time while finishing my degree. I even tried the “big fish in a small pond” persuasion on him but it didn’t work. My family got sick and tired of my spiel on USC, so the only place I can talk about this is on this forum. lol
To be really frank, I persuaded my kid that if somehow he got McNair/Horseshoes invitation from USC he would attend the Scholarship interview, and I was hoping that miraculously he would change his mind and decide to attend USC; but since he didn’t get it, that was that. Also paying close to $20K per year for USC vs. paying $35K for either UCLA/UC Berkeley would have been a difficult choice for us. That is why I am actually glad that we were not offered McNair/Horseshoe invitation because THAT would have made it tougher choice and would have taken a lot longer to reach a decision.
@websensation thanks for your note. I guess the bottom line is there is no clear “answer” on the choice. But when Stanford says admit, that’s a pretty tough offer to say no to, even though the pricetag is a big nut if you are not getting any institutional/merit aid. My son just got denied from Hopkins, waiting on a couple other really tough schools to get into … will be interesting where it ends up. We are actually making the journey back to USC for admitted students day and to have a more detailed visit with the Honors College. Should prove to be interesting. In a month and a half, decisions need to be final, which will be a relief. Best of luck to you and your son.
@websensation Congratulation to your son on Stanford. We have friends who attend and another who was admitted for next fall. Definitely would have been hard for anyone to say no. Just as an aside, USC obviously isn’t Stanford but it’s unlikely he’d be “taking it easy” as they work them pretty hard and top scholars are still challenged. USC Honors has a highly rated program.
@Worthy17 As I said in my post, “I” (not my kid) would be taking it easy, not just at USC but at any school, including an Ivy where I went, because I never liked to study that much and studying didn’t help me get better grades. Whether I studied or didn’t study, I always ended up getting around 3.0 gpa – therefore I just chose not to study. As a result, I never slept late to study for any test etc., maybe to drink. I can’t stand listening to people giving me a lecture. I am good at figuring things out by myself but not getting good grades. I only went to school because I wanted to take it easy and it was free and didn’t possess any technical skills. I was indeed a lazy bum while in school. Some people just find school – any school – very boring. I must have spent most of my time at libraries reading books on my own. One time, I even took a test without studying at all just to see what grade I would get and got ZERO on the test. Got several Fs and Ds – no big deal to me.
The bottom line is I am perfectly ok if my kid chose to do like what I did in college – take it easy – but Stanford would be too expensive to do that, so I told him he could do that if he wanted at USC. But he says he wants to study and learn in college. Different strokes for different folks.
Congrats to all who got accepted! My S was waitlisted but won’t be holding a spot because he was accepted at VT and a few other top choices in New England. The irony here is that USC was a safety school. I guess you just never know! Very interesting experience going through this admissions process for the first time! I think applying EA is very important and I also think that the program has a lot to do with whether you get in or not. Tip learned - apply to a less popular program if you want to increase your chance of getting into a particular institution. Again, cheers to those who were waiting and received good news! Best of luck!
As a follow-up to add to my above post and to help others, my kid, who has been accepted by Stanford REA, has been flat out rejected by UCLA. Therefore, if he ends up getting rejected by UC Berkeley by end of this month, he would definitely have gone to Univ of South Carolina Honors College had he not been admitted to Stanford. It’s weird because he worked just as hard on his UC applications, but UCs don’t require recommendation letters. And his major indicated on UCLA was not even all that competitive imo (Int’l Studies). Frankly, UCLA’s Int’l Studies Program is not better than UCSD’s program according to my research. I also know a student who has been accepted to one of top colleges but rejected from UCLA. The lesson: This process is crazy and can be totally unexpected.
I will post another follow-up if he gets rejected by UC Berkeley (last school waiting) also, but I have feeling that he will be accepted by UC Berkeley because they review applications holistically. I am glad that my kid experienced a rejection so he doesn’t think he’s a hot-shot and feels grateful for whatever he received. lol I also feel more humbled and grateful now, to be frank.
I live in new york and i have still yet to receive my decision
Gamecocks!!!
@STEM2017 So exciting! My sophomore there is beyond excited as is my incoming freshman!
Maybe more students will commit to USC now because of they made it to Final Four.
I know it is very late after the deadline. Do you think there is still hope that I could get in OOS to USC if I submit my application ASAP? I have a 35 ACT and 3.6 UW GPA in the hardest course-load possible at my school (including dual-enrollment classes taken at FSU). I also have extracurriculars that I am very passionate about ( I can list descriptions of them if you want). My main interest is to join the honors college during my sophomore year
You can call and ask but it’s unlikely.
@itsgettingreal17 based on your avatar…did you choose Georgia? Best of luck if you did!
@lopeztlo7 Yes she did. UGA Foundation Fellow class of 2021. 