<p>To those of you who have applied to RHP and are going to USC a year early, do you think that you would have ended up at a better school if you waited a year? </p>
<p>I'm considering applying, but the stringent requirements for the program seem comparable to HYP - so why not them a year later?</p>
<p>Is it worth it?</p>
<p>Not in the resident honors program, but my simple answer to “so why not them a year later?”:</p>
<p>Because people really like USC, a lot more so than HYP.</p>
<p>I think I definitely would have (if I was lucky enough to get in again) ended up at USC regardless of RHP. I’m really glad I did it and got to skip out on stressful applications and decision making. I wasn’t missing out on much intellectually in high school and so I’m glad USC gives the opportunity for students to start early. If you feel like you could, and want to, end up at HYP, then RHP might not be the best idea. However, if you’re getting a little bored with high school, both socially and academically, then college might be a good alternative. It’s also good practice with college applications so even if you do apply and don’t get in or choose not to attend, it’s not a waste of time or anything.</p>
<p>But to answer your question, I probably would not have ended at a “better” school (my stats were not amazing, and I love USC anyway) and it was definitely worth it for me.</p>
<p>Dementia,</p>
<pre><code> There is no guarantee a student will be admitted to HYP. Seniors with 2400 SATs, great ECs and SAT IIs of all 800s can be denied at these universities.
SC offers motivated juniors great experiences, many more choices, new challenges, a beautiful campus, peers from all over the world, a dynamic city filled with cultural amenities, great alumni network, sunny climate, stimulating honors classes, large selection of study abroad choices, research opportunities, multidisciplinary majors among many other advantages.
Students apply from all over the country for this program. It is highly selective.
</code></pre>
<p>It could also be that, regardless of if they’re Ivy material, some of the RHP students are interested in pointed academic programs that USC offers that aren’t available at the “top 10” style schools. The one RHP student I knew was a screenwriting major; last time I checked, you can’t major in screenwriting at Harvard!</p>
<p>@ Zelda:</p>
<p>So true. The Ivies are way too “traditional,” IMO - at no other university besides USC could I get a full college education and study Interactive Media and Music Industry/Recording under professors who are currently working in the industry. In fact, the sheer aweinspiring quality of the School of Cinematic Arts and Thornton School of Music are the only two things holding me from transferring. For anyone who wants to study cinema and music business/production in college, USC is absolutely unparalleled.</p>
<p>Yeah, one of the main reasons USC appealed to me was because of the Business/Cinematic Arts joint program that I was apart of. I have since left it, but regardless, it’s still a great program that Ivies would not be able to offer at all.</p>
<p>I guess if it’s a matter of personal preference then USC would be over Ivies any day for some people. </p>
<p>Is USC a good school for an English major, Philosophy minor?</p>
<p>And also, the 32 units of AP credits that you can use, how much course load do they take off? Can you graduate early?</p>
<p>I can answer the AP question (this is what my friends and I spent a class period discussing):</p>
<p>If you come in with 32 AP credits (with scores of 4 or 5), you’re coming in with a full year’s worth of credit. If you complete AP Euro, Art History, Bio, Chem or Physics (any of the three) with a 4 or 5, you are eligible to place out of certain GEs. In addition, a 4 or 5 on a foreign language exam can place you out of the language requirement. </p>
<p>I’m hoping I got the math right here, but if you showed up with max AP credit (including placement out of GEs I and III, but not necessarily out of foreign language) and completed and English major (40 units), a Philosophy minor (25 units) and 6 GE classes (24 units), you would still have 12 units left (which could be language or electives), and you’d be able to graduate in three years.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, though, that if you have AP credits from the classes not listed above (like APUSH, AP Music Theory, etc.) they do not waive actual coursework and only count as “elective” credit.</p>
<p>Go figure that all of the APs I took in high school really did nothing for me in college as far as waiving classes. Boo!</p>
<p>There is a thread there about the Philosophy program, so you should search for it. English, I’m not so sure about. I know the Creative Writing department is known for its faculty, and USC recently became the site of the LA Times Festival of Books – so I am guessing USC’s status as a literary institution is growing. I knew very few English majors, now that I think of it; I took a few lit classes though, and they were all very good.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info! I was wondering if the requirement for RHP was to be in Junior year to apply? Or can you be at any year in high school to apply except for senior year if you’ve exhausted the curriculum? I heard there was a 15 year old in RHP, so I was curious.</p>
<p>I think they encourage juniors but if you’ve taken the SAT’s and everything, it’s worth a shot. You should probably call them first to confirm. I don’t think age really makes a difference and they probably wouldn’t try and stop you from applying if you were younger. </p>
<p>Also, English at USC is not bad, but it’s definitely not at the level of Ivies. I’m an English major right now (recently declared) and though I like the couple classes I’ve taken, I have to admit it might be a better experience elsewhere. Many instructors are not tenured professors but lecturers, and a lot of the students are English majors because they don’t have any other academic interests. Obviously, there are some amazing professors and people in my classes who are really intellectually inspiring, or else I would not have picked English. The English professors for Thematic Option (the honors reading/writing intensive program that most RHP students participate in) are all really good, and TO is probably a program most comparable to those in Ivies and one you would probably be interested in. You should look it up!</p>
<p>So are TO classes different from all of the other English classes? And do major declared RHP students pursue their degrees through Thematic Option? Does TO last the four years you are there or just the first year? </p>
<p>Sorry to ambush you with so many questions!</p>
<p>TO classes replace your GE’s and they’re similar to English classes in that a lot of the professors are from the English department. However, discussions and reading tend to be more complex and centered more around themes of the class rather than the texts themselves (although a lot of discussion/writing you do is on the texts). </p>
<p>It used to be that TO was required for RHP students but now it’s just highly encouraged. You don’t pursue your degrees or anything through TO. It lasts however long it takes for you to finish up all the classes. It takes some people 2 years, and some people 3-4. Depends how many TO classes you want to take a semester. There are 6 in total (2 of them are writing classes that replace regular writing requirements).</p>