<p>I wonder if I should even get my hopes up at this point… no mail today, i don’t have the Explore USC box…</p>
<p>No box here either…I’ll give it a few days just to be sure no letter is coming in the mail though.</p>
<p>check under “event/rsvp for admitted students program.” it doesn’t have a box saying “explore usc”</p>
<p>SeekingTopValue: Attending the Explore session with your child will definitely be an eye opener! The 2 days are filled with tours, lectures and dining in which you will feel indeed special! The highlights to me were the very elegant dinner for the parents in which a USC staff member/professor sat at each table to answer any questions, being serenaded by the world famous USC band and meeting the Admission Counselor who made the recommendation that your child be accepted. There are many more surprises that you’ll discover if you decide to attend. Additionally, your child may appreciate your being there to support him/her (although he/she may also feel nervous, so expect some weird behavior as well!) As far as whether USC notes or cares whether a parent is in attendance, I do not know. However, there seemed to be several kids who were there sans parents. If it’s not too much of a problem to attend, I think you should go for it–you’ll be wondering at home how everything’s going anyway if you don’t go!</p>
<p>Can someone give the exact URL (link) for the Explore USC/RSVP?</p>
<p>[</a>" + loginpagetitle + "](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/USConnect]”>http://www.usc.edu/USConnect)</p>
<p>you should have an account</p>
<p>i have a usconnect. i just want the exact link for the RSVP</p>
<p>^^^sorry CorporateExpress–the RSVP screens are tied to individual accounts so you won’t be able to log in w/o passwords. I wouldn’t expect strangers to allow you into their private accounts anyway.</p>
<p>Dotingdad, do they have similar Explore USC sessions later in April/May for all admitted students?</p>
<p>As to the question of parents attending, this is a personal decision of course. Your attendance is not tracked by USC that I’ve ever seen or heard, nor would that be fair since there is expense attached to any travel. The point is, the university admissions office uses these exceptional scholarships to woo students to attend USC. They are not trying to penalize anyone, and this is not a situation where showing interest helps, since the student is already deemed more than worthy. One might ask the question: wouldn’t they be more likely to award big $$ to those who seem more on the fence–the better to woo? But no, we’ve seen none of this behavior in the past. But it is bad form (and may even hurt chances) to spend time in the interview talking about how no matter how much money the student receives, he’d rather go to X, Y, or Z University instead. 
(It’s been done.)</p>
<p>seahawks506, yes they do (they are one day events, not weekend events, though)! And parents are not required to go those either, but I am so glad we did. It was wonderful to be the ones being woo’d!</p>
<p>To those who don’t have acceptances in hand or the “boxes” online, do not assume anything. There could be another wave coming soon, if the past is any indicator. And, like others have said, there are also non-interview scholarships, for which students will receive acceptances in March.</p>
<p>Seahawk: All accepted students (including the scholarship recipients) are actually required to attend an orientation session after the decisions are made. There will be several sessions, but we discovered that it’s better to sign up for the earlier ones since your child will be registering at that time. Although there are many classes, it seems that the more popular classes (such as biology) may be full by the time the last session has met. However, as you know, there are G.E. requirements that must be met and most students choose to take these first anyway. The sessions are similar to the Explore sessions in that there are lectures, tours and orientations sessions for parents and students. The students will also spend the night in a dorm as they do during Explore. I’d say the only difference is that during Explore there seems to be a lot of effort on USC’s part to wine and dine and “recruit” these chosen few. Although not all Trojans will get the Trustee/Presidential, there are many other scholarships that may be awarded. In fact, the orientation sessions will have a workshop on financial aid for the parents.</p>
<p>^Orientations are very different than Explore events, though. And students at NON-presidential/trustee Explore events do NOT stay overnight in the dorms, as they are only one-day events. Students do stay over at orientations.</p>
<p>Also, orientation is required, Explore is not (unless you are interviewing for a scholarship). </p>
<p>Parents are invited to both. (Both my husband and myself went to Explore; I went to orientation.) </p>
<p>Orientations are more practical, registering for classes, etc. Explore is definitely woo-y-ier!</p>
<p>So the student stays in university housing, but the parents are left to find accommodations for themselves, correct?</p>
<p>squidgetx, yes. For ExploreUSC (scholarship interview 2-day sessions), the student is hosted in a dorm room overnight with students in her/his major. Parents from out of town will need to make their own arrangements–hotel, stay with friends, etc. This is part of the expense that must be considered when families decide how many will travel to Explore. We live in SoCal, so I attended the parent events at Explore, but went home at night. My S stayed overnight on campus.</p>
<p>Also want to back up jazz/shreddermom’s points about the fun of being wooed (after so many months/years of work and essays and tests and…!!!) USC offers 1-day ExploreUSC sessions to all admitted students and reservations can be made when your admissions are official. They also host an amazing Admitted Students Day sometime in April. For those who can attend, it’s an all out woo-fest. In choosing a college, many of you here (and your sons and daughters) will have a number of excellent choices and if you can filter out a bit of the hype and shiny presentations at every college’s admitted students events, it can often make the decision easier. Viewing a university AFTER you have been admitted is different. You can let yourself truly imagine you are a student on the campus since there are no longer any doubts of … if I can get accepted.</p>
<p>I have to agree about the woo-fest aspect. I think it is hard for you kids to go from the perspective of wishing and hoping the colleges choose you and from jumping through all of the admission hoops - to the perspective of the college wishing and hoping you choose them and watching them jump through hoops to please you. As a parent of one of you high-achievers, I truly enjoyed the “season of glory” as we attended one award ceremony, brunch, luncheon, dinner, reception after another and watched admission officers, professors, deans, etc. trying to convince her to attend. They also tried to convince US to convince her, but we were always just along for the ride - she was the one making the decision. As she struggled to choose from among her schools, her dad and I amused ourselves by ranking the universities according to best appetizers, entrees, and desserts. She did not find it helpful :)</p>
<p>I really encourage you to try to go. And parents, if you can, go to the 2-day Explore - USC topped both the all-important entree AND dessert categories!</p>
<p>We’ve decided that both parents will go with our son to explore on the first Thursday offered. Maybe those other cc’ers out there going to the same event might want to meet?</p>
<p>Also: why do you think they charge $50 per person attending. This is the first school we’ve seen charging for this type of event.</p>
<p>I don’t know why they do, but my feeling is that they want candidates who have at least somewhat of an interest in attending USC (as opposed to appetizer-entree-dessert-hunters like me 
), and so they charge a fee.</p>
<p>It is especially perplexing because - at least in the past - they offered to pay a portion of the student’s airfare (I am vaguely remembering up to $60 for California/AZ/NV and up to $200 for other states - has anyone received info on that?).</p>
<p>I was offered the Explore USC dates in April, and the only thing they mentioned with airfare was booking with a certain travel agency for better rates.</p>