<p>We are East Coasters! And we were in LA last week for another reason: it took 8 hours with a plane change, and 5.5 with a direct flight to get there. Given that the programs begin early in the morning, the only way to arrive same day would be to do an overnight flight (hard to find) and then our students might be too tired to be at their best. The interview is on the second day, but still we want them to take full advantage of the sessions, so I would recommend going the day before. We are tying to get a direct flight on the Wednesday before his Thursday session starts. A tip: if Southwest is in your area: they allow ticket changes with NO fees, so if you book now and see a lower price later, you can rebook at the lower rate with no cost. And bags are free!</p>
<p>Nikara makes a great point–USC loves to be loved–so make sure you get that across in your interview.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help, maddenmd!</p>
<p>Thanks all for the great advice!</p>
<p>Is the interview relatively informal like the college alumni interviews? Or is it really like being reviewed by a panel and everything?</p>
<p>raskoalanikov, the interview is not meant to be intimidating and while the format is one applicant answering questions posed by a panel from the department, they respond well if you can relax and treat it like a conversation. Students do dress up a bit. Business attire is recommended. I remember when my S attended ExploreUSC, the morning of the interviews there were many young men in suits or sports coats and young ladies in blazers or dresses.</p>
<p>Are the interviews conducted one-on-one (or rather, one-on-panel)? Or are there other students present?</p>
<p>MysticzZ, they are one on panel, lasting about 20-25 minutes. As someone said before, review your application before you go. They will be asking questions about things you wrote on there.</p>
<p>We came from the East Coast last year when D interviewed for Presidential. You definitely want to get there the night before so that you have a chance to settle in before Explore starts.
D was a NMF and ended up getting the Presidential, which she would have gotten anyway even without the interview. But even though she did not get Trustee, we were still very glad to have made the trip. The visit gave her another chance to see USC, talk to professors and students before making that very important decision about where to go to school. For her, visiting USC as an accepted student was very different from the college exploratory visits. It was very reassuring for her to visit again and make sure the school was the right place for her before committing herself to attend a school 2,000 miles from home. She made the decision to attend and is happy she did!</p>
<p>Last year, my son traveled from east coast for interview. He arrived the first day of explore at around 12 and then left at 4am on shuttle the day after his interview. He was exhausted and although he is a happy trojan(the interview went great I guess), he recommends arriving a day before. He said it was obvious that people were checking him out during registration. He didn’t know a soul at the school and thus,didn’t have anyone to stay with if he had arrived earlier. He went alone without us( in between other scholarship interviews) and it was his first visit to the campus.</p>
<p>His panel had a professor, an admissions officer and a recent graduate who had received a trustee scholarship. His interview was supposed to last 30 min but lasted closer to 45. There were no really difficult questions and no one was negative or tried to make him uncomfortable(unlike a few other scholarship interview situations). They seemed to be most interested in his leadership experiences. Everyone interviewing is bright. Hope this helps! Good luck everyone.</p>
<p>When do interviewees hear back?</p>
<p>Late March about the Trustee and Presidential. The Mork will probably also hear then, but we are still finding out exactly how that will work. Many of those who received Trustee and Presidential hear about smaller additional awards (University scholarships of ~$2,500/year for four years) in mid to late April.</p>
<p>I would love to hear about Explore from past participants. What is the itinerary for students and parents? Has anyone met their roommate during Explore? What are the chances of getting the scholarship (Presidential) that I’m interviewing for?</p>
<p>
Hi sillysand! Go back to page one of this thread and take a look at post #3. A very small sample of last year’s candidates provided their results to help you with this question.</p>
<p>So everyone I talked to at Explore explained that the Trustee interview wasn’t a big deal and the interviewers are really just “making sure” you exhibit the qualities described in your application. This was comforting, but if at least 30 or 40 percent of those interviewed aren’t offered the Trustee, what do you think makes the interviewers decide the interviewee does NOT deserve the Trustee?</p>
<p>uga,</p>
<pre><code>The sample you viewed is just a tiny number. The vast majority of Trustee and Presidential scholars do no post here. My guess is the number of students who are bumped is very small compared to the number who interview. Nearly all students who interview receive the scholarship mentioned in the invitation. Last year 509 freshmen received the Mork, Trustee or Presidential Scholarships. This year there will be 10 Stamps Scholarships added.
As you know we are volunteers here and are not serving on the interviewing committees. Obviously, all who were invited stood out from a pool of 27,000. Those selected are deserving. It is only speculation how the students are chosen after the interviews.
</code></pre>
<p>I want to repeat what GeorgiaGirl wisely posted. We can only guess at what goes on based on imprecise data–voluntarily posted by generous students who go through this process each year. Our sample is not large enough to make predictions.</p>
<p>That said, these top Merit Scholarships are competitive. That means, they do not simply send a nice letter with congratuations–you’ve got it! Some top students are invited to the next round of the competition. I truly understand that such a competition, especially when so many thousands of dollars are at stake, is unnerving. For those who were not invited to these interviews, there was a big let-down. Many get angry. It is not that these students were not as worthy–they just didn’t make this particular holistic cut this year. </p>
<p>The same theory holds true with the next stage–the Explore interviews. It’s a finals competition, so there will be some who do not come out with the top scholarships. They wouldn’t invite you to interview if they weren’t looking to get more of a picture of how you will fit into the various schools/majors and ECs. </p>
<p>I think it’s misleading to suggest that these interviews are “no big deal,” unless beneath that statement one is trying to help uber-jittery kids to calm down. It is likely that about half to 2/3 of kids invited to interview for T/P scholarships will receive them–most of the others will receive another dollar amount. That is much better odds than winning the California Lotto, but it is still highly competitive.</p>
<p>I wish the very best luck to each cc interviewee. We really all want you to get the best outcome. But it’s important to also acknowledge the nature of competition–whether it is who gets admitted, who gets invited for interviews, and/or who ultimately gets the top awards. </p>
<p>Not everyone, no matter how worthy, will get a prize.</p>
<p>one day i might give a detailed recap, but for now, it was announced that 280 students attended the 2nd explore usc. For Marshall, only 19 kids showed up for the 2nd after 60+ for the 1st. If you got the number who attended the 1st, you could find exact odds since they publish the amount of scholars who attend.</p>
<p>I went to the first Explore for Marshall and there were only around 25 people I’d say…nowhere near 60+</p>
<p>good to know, that was just according to one of the deans there. Either way, it seems odd that it was only 19 of 280 and 45 total when 25% of undergrads are at Marshall.</p>