USC is my DD first choice school. She will be competing for the top scholarships. Should she schedule on campus interview? We are local, so getting to campus is not a problem. During our admission presentation, they mentioned that majority of the students do not interview well. Don’t know what to advise her.
Hi over here @ballerina16. I have two at USC as well, one in CS. Interviewing can be a plus if the interview goes well that is. I think it is really dependent on your daughter. You should know if she would interview well I would think. There’s the optional interviews you can set up and the merit interviews you get a letter for. I know a girl really well who started crying in her merit interview and didn’t get the Pres/Trustee, and she believes it was cause of not having a good interview. The pressure got her. Some kids have great interviews, others make a mess of them and then they feel bad throughout the process and it makes them more stressed. I have several students, and I know which of mine interview well and which might not be as strong. I am guessing you have a gut feeling? USC likes people showing them love, but I would only do an optional interview if you are pretty confident in the student because there are kids who do interview well. It only takes one little difference to make a difference at USC.
Hello again @CADREAMIN thank you for your response. I don’t really know how she is going to interview. I guess we will find out next week, she has Skype interview for one of the scholarships. She is in speech & debate, but she can be shy sometimes.
I don’t think they use the info from the regular interviews for scholarship selection. It’s just an aspect USC doesn’t seem to consider too important in the admission process. Her best bet is to pour herself into the essays/supplemental questions; those play a big role in merit selection. If she’s selected for a scholarship interview, then she should prep for that one.
My daughter was admitted to USC Class of 2018 and was awarded the competitive presidential scholarship. She didn’t schedule any of the optional regular interview. She didn’t even attend any informational session or formally tour the campus. But was interviewed for the presidential scholarship during the Explore USC event.
Thank you @Lilliana330 and @2018dad . Good to know. I think she will skip optional interview. What is the Explore USC Event? Is this for admitted students?
Explore USC Event is when the Trustee and Presidential candidates that were already admitted to USC and vying for these top merit scholarships are invited to USC for a 3 day (I think?) event. They are interviewed for the particular scholarship that they are candidate of. See these old threads:
it’s actually just a two day thing, and the trustee and presidential scholars are seperated by date. But that second thread that 2018 dad recommended is super helpful.
Sorry to bring this back again. I probably should clarify that we are local, few minutes away from USC. Will it be viewed as a lack of interest if she does not interview?