<p>My daughter and I just returned from a fabulous USC tour that caused USC to jump to the very top of my daughter's list. It was led by a senior named Dominique, who was poised, professional and personable. Her enthusiasm for the school shined through at every moment, and she had fantastic anecdotes about the classes and extracurricular activities that she had participated in during her four years at USC. Although our group was very large, Dominique was able to make a personal connection with many individual students and parents on the tour.</p>
<p>Our experience with the USC tour guide was a sharp contrast to other schools we had recently visited.</p>
<p>I wonder if admissions offices realize the critical importance of the tour guide in a teenager's decision-making process. I know that this has been a big factor in the way my daughter has viewed the schools that we have visited. I think students ask themselves, "Would I be happy to be like this person is [xx number] of years?" Where the tour guide seems smart, articulate, happy and genuinely nice, the answer is an overwhelming "yes" and the school moves way up the list. When the guide is less impressive (or even less impressive than the 16 year olds on the tour), the answer is a resounding no. There is obviously an element of irrationality in this process, but choosing a school relies so much on intuition that the importance of these interactions cannot be underestimated.</p>
<p>Anyway, I hope this is not inappropriate (I'm new to this site), but we'd like to send a big THANK YOU to Dominique and the rest of the USC admissions staff for providing us with such a positive experience. My daughter is highly motivated to do whatever she can to improve her chances at what has become a highly desirable and difficult admit!</p>