Thematic Option

<p>I received a letter today asking me to apply for Thematic Option Honors Program, but after reading the letter and brochure, I still don't feel like I understand the program. What opportunities does it offer, and should I apply?</p>

<p>Some advantages of the Thematic Option program:</p>

<p>Because it’s a honors program, you will be with other students who are high achieving and very smart.
Classes are led by prominent professors who are engaging and enthusiastic. The classes and discussion sections are generally small.
The material is in depth, challenging and interesting for each course offered.
Because these courses are very demanding and intense, with a great deal of reading and writing of papers, TO is sometimes referred to as Traumatic Option, but it is very much worth it for what you learn in material and how to think and write critically.
The two writing courses can be taken in freshman year. The second GE writing I believe is taken in Junior year.
You have one on one writing tutorials every second week or so, in addition to the classes, so very personalized instruction and guidance is offered. The writing classes are small, around 12 students per class.
Regarding the writing, this has been one of the greatest benefits gained by my D, and by TO students in general. My D (a sophomore now) has expressed that writing papers, including 20 page research papers, now come so much more easily. She used to struggle with papers, or at least put in a lot of time and effort, but not so anymore. Her writing (and critical thinking on paper) has become much more sophisticated and seems to “flow”.
Grading is very fair and based on effort and improvement. One can have a C/D papers in the beginning, end up with B+ or A- papers at the end, but your final grade made be an A.
TO also has planned outings…Getty Museum, performances, plays, get togethers etc.
TO adds to your academic resume for graduate school and I believe the TO students are recognized at graduation.
It’s worth it. Also, if it turns out that it’s not for you, there is no commitment to stay in the program…you can switch to GE, and TO courses you have already taken will be counted as GE requirements.</p>

<p>thank you! great post. Are the writing classes the only thing that differentiates you in TO? in other words, do you take other general classes with non TO students, and only writing with Thematic Options?</p>

<p>^ No, you do not take any GE courses. The TO program has its own courses. There should be a link somewhere in the USC site with more info. There are 4 courses each with several choices of prof/material, 2 writing courses, …and 2 themed courses in Humanities and Sciences… these last two can be satisfied by APs in Euro or Art History, and in a Science (Bio, Chem or Physics) respectively.</p>

<p>The choice of courses will be given to you (with detailed info) during orientation.</p>

<p>Just a bit more about the writing…the first writing course (TO111) is linked to a TO course. In other words, you write your papers based on the teaching and reading material of that TO course. The second writing course (To112) has its own reading list and writing is based on that material.</p>

<p>Here’s a USC description: <a href=“http://college.usc.edu/thematic-option/[/url]”>http://college.usc.edu/thematic-option/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>thanks for all the info! i just got a letter today as well.</p>

<p>do you happen to know how many people are invited to apply, and how many are actually accepted? is it pretty common to get this letter?</p>

<p>do you happen to know how many people are invited to apply, and how many are actually accepted?
The first students to receive the letter are generally those who were accepted in the first wave of 1000 acceptances-and may have also been invited to interview for a scholarship. As there are only 200 spots available for TO classes, most who were invited are accepted. AS Sequoia said above, try the TO program, unless you are strictly a committed science, math or engineering major, or don’t have an interest in the best entry level liberal arts classes taught at USC as well. Just remember, if you turn down the invitation to TO, or don’t respond to the invitation,those spots will be gone and it is VERY difficult to try to get into the program later if you change your mind.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone for the information! This helped a lot!</p>

<p>It’s a fantastic program that has put my son in close contact with some truly wonderful, experienced profs in small classes. And the faculty for the writing courses have been superb. It’s basically going to offer the benefits of an elite LAC within a large university. That said, it IS a ton of work because of the heavy reading and writing load. But that’s good, if you have the right attitude about it and are prepared for the challenge. Plus you will gain experience in academic triage, which is a valuable skill.</p>

<p>In terms of access to the program, the invitations are based on some combination of grades and test scores, and are not especially common relative to the USC entering class size. But if you were not invited, you can still apply and be admitted if you show true interest and potential to do the work.</p>

<p>^^great information in these posts above, Sequoia, menloparkmom, and Faux nom. </p>

<p>The TO director told a group of parents that they particularly look at the combined SAT scores from the Writing and CR sections. (Not math!) Above a certain number (I believe it may be around 1400) suggests a student will thrive in TO, but they also look to the short essays on the application to decide which students are dedicated readers and like to participate in classroom discussion.</p>

<p>can anyone confirm whether or not TO students are recogized for having completed the program on their transcripts and/or diplomas?</p>

<p>Your transcript notes that you completed the program, but it is not listed as an Honors program or anything like that.</p>

<p>I’m a Thematic Option student. While there are aspects of the program I dislike, it is certainly much, much better than taking GE’s. Writing 140 is the worst class taught at the university; do anything you can to avoid it.</p>

<p>TO staff explained they want their small classes filled with students who desire deeply accelerated discussion-based classes purely for intellectual challenge rather than stringing another honor on their transcript. By keeping the reward for the program intrinsic, rather than making it a badge on the diploma, they only attract the type of student they are looking for. USC matriculates a lot of very bright and accomplished students, but not every one of them wants to fully participate in every class. For those who do, TO is amazing.</p>

<p>However, most employers who know USC (top companies in US) are quite aware of TO and TO students may put “USC TO Honors Program” on their resumes, which gets the point across. And the program is noted on University transcripts.</p>

<p>I remember that it aggravated me that they only had “sample” course descriptions online for the TO classes. That said, if anyone wants me to forward them the email from a TO advisor with the detailed, complete descriptions of all the TO classes being offered this semester, just let me know.</p>

<p>^^ I thought the “theme” or focus area of TO classes changed each year?</p>

<p>@menloparkmom</p>

<p>The themes of the courses themselves may change, but there are definitely some repeats. CORE 101 classes are always “Symbols and Conceptual Systems,” CORE 103 classes are always “The Progress of Change in Science,” etc. CORE 111 and 112 are always writing classes, with two CORE 111 classes paired with each CORE 102 class. CORE 112’s are independent.</p>

<p>Although the topics may change, there are definitely repeats in different classes. For example, I am currently in a CORE 112 class called “As Strange as It Seems: Carnytowns and Sideshows.” The instructor taught the same class last year, and possibly the year before (I don’t remember exactly). My CORE 102 class with Professor Kemp was also taught at least once before.</p>

<p>The courses are fluid, but there are also some that remain unchanged year-to-year. Just to get a better idea of what’s offered (outside the samples listed, some of which appear to be accurate and some of which are simply outdated), I would have preferred to see the actual courses being offered.</p>

<p>There are a lot of things about TO that I felt were glossed over, and I ended up participating primarily to avoid taking WRIT 140. It turned out that I really enjoy the program (despite studying computer science and business), the professors, and the way the courses are taught. I just wish that someone had taken the time to explain a bit more of the internal process to me.</p>

<p>So yeah. If anyone wants the courses for this semester, just ask.</p>

<p>Realistically, how much extra work does t.o. require? I am interested in joining, but i dont want to commit to something that will consume all my free time and prevent me from having a social life…</p>

<p>My CORE 102 class consisted of reading a rather large amount of work every week (if you wanted to—some kids didn’t read anything and still did well) and writing two essays over the course of the semester. CORE 111 has the exact same number of essays as WRIT 140, except they’re more interesting, shorter, and graded more easily than the WRIT 140 ones are. CORE 112 has fun themes and takes a lot of fairly serious reading, but outside of that and some essays (including one big one towards the end) it’s not that bad.</p>

<p>Really, I haven’t been stressed by it. And if you don’t like it after the first semester, just drop out. You won’t have to repeat one of your GE’s or WRIT 140, and your grade in both of them will likely be higher than what you would have gotten otherwise.</p>

<p>Information for SimpleLife!</p>

<p>And info from the USC website: [Thematic</a> Option > USC College of Letters, Arts, & Sciences](<a href=“http://college.usc.edu/thematic-option/]Thematic”>http://college.usc.edu/thematic-option/)</p>