Explore USC

<p>syawn...each school within USC does have a certain number of trustee and presidential scholarships to give out...I don't know what the numbers are for the different schools, but there are a limited amount. Hope that helps!</p>

<p>Did you make your reservation for Explore USC online? Does everyone get interviewed?</p>

<p>I'm so glad you guys are loving your experiences! I wanted to sign up to be a host this year, but my schedule has been absolutely crazy, so I'm happy to hear they're treating you well! :)</p>

<p>One of the ladies from admissions said about half of the students interviewed (for trustee) will get the scholarship and that nearly 60% of the students who went to explore USC will matriculate. At the interview they also had a list of all the colleges you applied to.. so you CAN'T hide any information from them, which isn't a bad thing.
After attending USC, I also got the feeling that USC is trying to attract alot of students who would otherwise go to Stanford, but it definately works. If I got into stanford and the trustee... i would NO DOUBT pick USC. It truly is an amazing school. It sounds cliche, but from the moment you step on campus you feel right at home. At Explore USC, I really felt they didn't have to "sell" anything, except the marching band part, but it's all in good fun. Fight on!</p>

<p>after attending *explore USC</p>

<p>Very true. USC just has such awesome energy. It really does "feel" like home.</p>

<p>I've visited campus twice now...and both times I was very impressed with everything.</p>

<p>Cool. I'm going there tomorrow.</p>

<p>Can any of you guys enblighten me on some frequently asked questions at the interview? particularly the presidential scholars.</p>

<p>It depends on what school you are interviewing for...I interviewed for Annenberg School of Communication.</p>

<p>i just came back from the 7th to 8th one and was VERY impressed with the university overall. USC is definitely on top of my college list now.</p>

<p>my interview questions were based on my application, very straight forward. no trick questions.</p>

<p>I just came back too. The whole thing was very disorganized and I barely got to talk to any USC students. I only got into my dorm room at midnight. But the food was good, and I actually enjoyed the interview. As masochistic as that sounds, I got along with the interviewer pretty well and he obviously had a good time. The questions were very tough (pre-med so there were a lot of ethical type questions), so I had to think quickly. I probably got the harder interviewer, but he made it into a real conversation, so that was good. Overall, the program was awful, but I did taste independence and I felt like a college student for a day. USC is a beautiful campus and most of the people are incredibly nice, but the surrounding city doesn't compare to the area around UCLA. It's like comparing Mexico to New York.</p>

<p>what school did u interview w/, raindrops22?
and aim78, is ucla your top choice?</p>

<p>Aim78....I have been to both Mexico City (which is what I assume you are referring to, since Mexico is a large nation and varies from region to region) and New York City....and I question whether you have been to either, because both are large, sprawling, urban centers. Different architechture, different language on the buildings, but very similar in the end.</p>

<p>I am sure people will understand what you were trying to say...but it wasn't really a very good comparison. And just on a side note, I feel that I get accosted by about 10 times the amount of bums in Westwood as I do around USC.</p>

<p>An interesting fact for all of you perspectives: USC used to own the area that Pepperdine now rests on, but at the time Malibu was considered incredibly far away, and a very rural area. USC felt that no one would ever want to go to school all the way out in that farm region, and sold the land. Then in the 50's, LA was redistricted and made the affluent, wealthy area where USC was located more urban; made the Westside more of an affluent residential area; and made Malibu a viable option for a college. Maybe no one else cares, but I think it's interesting!</p>

<p>I definitely have gotten harrassed many times when in Westwood. And, personally, I think there are some gorgeous areas around USC (aka the rose garden, Natural History Museum, the AAA building, St. Vincents, all the Victorian homes on Hoover, Mt. St. Mary's College...).</p>

<p>Let's not get into panic mode. I was just making a funny. </p>

<p>UCLA isn't my top choice, though maybe it is. I dunno. I'll go visit it properly in April for the Engineering invitation, and I'll visit Berkeley if I get in. Then I'll have something to compare USC to. As it is, USC is a very cool school that anyone could have a fun time in, but so is UCLA, which is also higher ranked.</p>

<p>I interviewed with the college of letters, arts and sciences. My major as indicated on the application was biochemistry. I also recall checking a premed emphasis on my app as well, but did not get any ethical questions. (I had anticipated several and was prepared to answer them all! Haha, oh well) Hm, well now that I think about it, one of the interviewers asked me about what I think is a huge issue between North and South Korea. IT made sense since I'm Korean myself and we talked about my immigration experience before touching on that subject. The interview will definitely be the highlight of Explore USC. I wasn't too impressed with the food (at Parkside), so freshman 15 won't be a problem! Also, the campus is so big that I'll probably shed some pounds walking back and forth in between my classes!</p>

<p>I went to the 3/7-3/8 session and interviewed with the SOT. My questions were mostly about my major, but there were a couple of general interview questions ("What do you like to do?" and that kind of stuff). Unlike aim78, I talked to a lot of current students, but then again, I was staying on a floor where all the people were super social, so that was cool. The food in EVK was decent--typical dorm food, probably something I would get sick of after a while. I found the interview to be secondary to my experience with my host, because I felt like I really got a student's perspective that way, and it wasn't as formal and/or awkward. I'm still not sure whether I want to go to USC, but we'll see.
Just my two cents.</p>

<p>I basically saw my host twice. Once when he was showing us where we were sleeping, and the second time at 12 in the afternoom while he was still asleep (lucky guy). The other student I met was pretty much a geek who kept to himself and left us waiting for several hours until we could get a room. But I also ran into some random people around the hallways and they all seemed very cool. One asked if I was moving in, he obviously wanted to get to know me if that was the case. I find that awesome. It's basically impossible to be a loner unless you're a total spazz, like the geek I mentioned above. People were striking conversations with me in elevators and various places, especially while I was wearing my pimped-up suit and looking slick. And I saw a guy and a girl sitting on the floor of the dorm hall, and he was explaining some Astronomy concepts to her. Definitely not a cuthroat competitive place. There are also some very funny people there, and not just on the comedy team. One of the student speakers at the parent's informational session was hilarious.</p>

<p>raindrops, you better hope you're not going to any other schools, especially UCLA, if you think USC's campus is big! It's actually known for being pretty small, especially for the size of its student population. That's why I love it. You can get corner to corner in 15 minutes, which means more sleep time, and a more relaxing walk (for me at least). Plus, you always see people you know. Compared to high school, though, it definitely is big.</p>

<p>I've been to Stanford, and that place is huge.</p>