Rising high school senior here. I’m just trying to plan for the fall, so I was wondering if anybody knew much about the off-campus Discover USC (dates, information, is it worth it, etc.) I can’t make it out to tour USC to tour because I live in Florida and plane tickets are expensive, so I was going to drive up to the Discover USC event in Atlanta, GA during fall 2016 (I’m assuming there’s going to be one in Atlanta based off of past Discover USC events).
So I guess my questions are: is the event worth it? What kind of info will I receive from the session? Any other advice is welcome, too. Thanks!
@10s4life the only college admissions sessions my school brings in are nearby schools like USA, UWF, and FSU. Few people from my high school go to other schools. I was thinking going to Discover USC mostly for my parents because USC is my #1 reach school (UF is my backup “good” and “affordable” school). Thank you for the input though.
They do an incredible job marketing USC at these events - they spend more on these than any of the many dog and pony shows I have been to put on by all kinds of colleges. Keep in mind that I am in Norcal, so they may really do it big up here because this is a huge market for them. But if other ones are like the one they had here, it is really good. They put out quite a spread in terms of marketing materials, food, drinks, break out sessions for the different schools - they really make it feel like an exclusive, rich private school that you would be lucky to attend, which it is. No doubt USC will be your dream school at the end of this, 10 times more than it already is. The risk of course is that you become too invested in a reach school. But if serious about it, I think it is worth attending one of these and taking your parents so they can drink the kool-aid too, otherwise it can be hard to talk them into the 70K price tag without the good sales pitch behind it. But no kidding, everyone wants to go to USC after these cheer sessions, they are done very well. (As mentioned above, these are just selling sessions put on by the schools, but can be informative.) Frankly, I think it is worth the time if it is serious contender - grade, money and location wise. But if it is a foo foo reach, it’s just another dog and pony show. Be careful how much you invest time wise and emotionally in reach schools.
Go to the event in Atlanta and if they visit your school then attend those sessions. Make sure you meet your admissions counselor for your state/city/school. It really does matter and can help in admissions if you make a connection and follow up. They want to know who really wants to attend USC … You have to have the grades, scores, & resume but all qualified candidates have those so when they narrow down resumes, it may just come down to who may have expressed the most interest. This opinion is based on my twins that attend USC. It’s worth it! Great school and still grateful they got in… they love it!
Actually usc doesn’t consider “interest” in their criteria for admissions unfortunately. So it won’t exactly better your chances to go to an event. You might simply gain valuable information, and (like CADREAMIN mentioned) it will make you want to go to USC even more.