Nevermind just saw @CADREAMIN say it isn’t visible on the other thread.
Hi all, is there a USC Class of 2022 Facebook group? Was recently admitted and having trouble finding an official one, thank you very much!
@pdxtigermom Sorry to hear about your daughter’s experience. We have heard similar accounts a # of times unfortunately… especially here on CC.
In 2014, knowing of the present challenges - especially related to unhooked, over-achieving white female applicants aiming for America’s top colleges - we tried to be very cautious with my older daughter’s approach to applying. She applied to 17 in total, including what we thought was a good mix of reach, match and safety colleges. In the end, she went a very disappointing and surprising 5 and 12. Luckily, USC was among the 5 admissions, and she attends there now. Her other 4 admissions were to 3 safeties and only one match. We were quite surprised by the results.
But again, we had read many articles warning us. In this climate, only Asian and Asian-Americans of both genders face a greater challenge getting admitted to elite colleges than white female applicants. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, it was white male applicants who faced the greatest challenge. The times have clearly changed. But it all just comes down to the #s applying and from each demographic group. Less white males apply now overall, so white males are no longer facing those prior challenges. Articles claim that they are currently treated neutrally in college admissions.
Last year, my younger daughter changed the approach and also altered some of the schools in the mix, but still applied to 15 in total. She also placed a major emphasis on standing out by emphasizing her ECs and by really working extra hard on every essay. Luckily, she went 8 and 7. She also got into USC and is there now.
My advice to parents and potential applicants is to know what category you are in and then to proceed cautiously. Applicants who are Asian or Asian-American or white/female need to be super cautious in their approach. And for everyone – any college accepting 30% or less needs to be treated as a reach school… and regardless of how you self-evaluate your chances. And please make sure your list includes 2-3 safeties and is geared more toward matches than reaches. We had wrongly assumed that certain schools were matches, while they were clearly reaches for my daughters. In the end, most were unattainable reaches as they led to rejections. It is ultra competitive these days. The ease of applying to many colleges via the Common Application only adds to the # of total applications everywhere. More #s = more rejections.
Apply wisely and good luck to all…
@bluehurricane Congrats on getting selected toe the WBB! Wow, that is fantastic - a very small and selective program. I have heard great things about it since it started just a few years ago. WBB does give 1/4 and 1/2 tuition and there may be things available from partner schools, so be sure to check their sites as well depending on what country you are studying in at different times.
If it doesn’t say something specific on your package, it sounds like a Deans 1/4, but since it is such a specialized program, I would call over to Marshall on Monday and ask them. They should be happy to talk to you!
@CADREAMIN and @WWWard I wanted to thank you for all your informative and thoughtful posts on these USC boards. My D applied but hadn’t really thought much about it since submitting her application because it was such a huge reach.
She was one of the lucky ones to receive a box and will be interviewing for the presidential scholarship. In the past few days, we have both done lots of research, both on the USC website and on CC. It has become clear that USC is a great fit for her and that now is topping her list. She is proof that USC looks at more than stats. While hers are very good, they are not tippy top. But she has lots of leadership roles and wrote passionate essays about her intended major.
I look forward to learning more about USC prior to our visit in March.
@Marcie123 You’re welcome. Good luck to her. Hopefully she just makes the right decision for herself 
I am of course biased in favor of USC. So anything she needs to know… of course just ask…
@WWWard thank you so much for all your advices and contributions to CC. As our 1st child and 1st generation of ABC, we didn’t know much about undergraduate application. I wish I had known this site earlier. My D was such an accomplished and humble person that all of the teachers, counselors, conductors and coaches would assume that she could get into any of the schools that she applied for. We learned the lesson hard way and we are all in peace now. Seattle is close to home and we bought a house in Washington State so she could quality in state tuition next year.
After 6 months of torture and waiting (she was on Brown and JHU’s waitlists), I lost 20lbs and gained a lot of experience. When my son received a letter inviting him to apply for USC’s RHP as a junior, we didn’t hesitate and that’s why I’m here. I don’t really care about those Ivies anymore. We’d have to pay full tuition if she were accepted. The only regret I have is her didn’t apply for USC.
@pdxtigermom You’re welcome. Well, we all gain experience with time and effort. And as a JHU alum, I can say most candidly that she is likely better off at UW lol While it has many good qualities of course, I did not really enjoy my college experience there at Hopkins… and I certainly urged both of my girls to look elsewhere.
Doesn’t anyone know if financial aid application is required to submit if you would like to get half tuition free as NMF finalist? Thanks!
Sorry if this question has already been answered, but If we were not considered for the scholarship (basically deferred), is sending a LOCI a bad or good idea? I have award/extracurricular updates that I think would help my application. Please let me know if this sounds like a good idea! Thanks!
@WWWard what didn’t you like about Hopkins? Were you a pre-med?
If you have awards or updates that you believe are a sincere update or new to what you have sent them in your application yes, you should send those to your admission advisor. Starting with a single sentence that says “I am very committed to attending USC if admitted in March and would like to update you on recent achievements. I have received blah blah blah.”
But dont send a LOCI without substance just to send a LOCI. That would not be appreciated. Imagine if 20,000 applicants did that! Good luck!
@marcie123 Thanks for the kind words. When is her interview? Are you going? I am thinking you are there before March?
She should know her application backward and forward. Some feel like a panel and some feel like a conversation, it can vary, be prepared for both styles.
I didn’t grow up a USC fan, I don’t know if we would have looked at it if it wasn’t for my oldest being a recruited athlete at USC. During his first year we came to realize how phenomenal the school is - the opportunities, clubs, classes - you could attend 10 years and not run out of things to do. Through many sporting event visits, the siblings fell in love with it and decided they had to be Trojans. It is a very vibrant place to go and where you can be whoever and whatever you want to be. It is a very supportive atmosphere with a freedom that is super cool (sounds lame, but don’t know a better way to put it). While obviously a very fun and spirited school, it has a maturity to it - maybe it is from all the grad students and many languages you hear at lunch that makes you feel like you are part of something big and important, idk. When you get the Viterbi or Trojan magazine for example and see the things they are doing for the world, it is impressive as heck.
Anyway, really, I don’t want to sell it, everyone has to come to terms with whichever school being right for them. But I could write a long list of the positive things we came to find out about USC after we got there. I guess cause we went for the athletics and NCAA Championships, then found out about all the other good stuff for the last 6 years there (with 3+ years to go for my Freshman).
No… I was not pre-med at Hopkins. Only about 1/4th of us were. I was political science and international relations. Oh there were just so many reasons why I didn’t like JHU. My freshman class there was basically 1/2 the size of my senior class in high school, and there just was not enough diversity or variety among the typical Hopkins student. Most reminded me of the type of kids I tried to avoid in high school but couldn’t now that I was surrounded by them at JHU. The undergraduate campus was also small and surrounded by some sketchy areas that were not patrolled by JHU security or even the Baltimore police… so safety was an issue and crime was a real concern. My friends and I were all victims of petty crimes while there. Hopefully that is no longer the case.
To me, JHU was way too stifling academically - with a pre-professional bent that made the environment rather suffocating. It was also very limited in terms of potential distractions found at almost every other normal college. I would have certainly preferred attending an elite university that offered the complete college experience… or at least the prospect for such.
Luckily, I escaped after only 3 semesters and got into grad school early. JHU’s grad schools in Bologna, Italy and Washington, D.C. and Beijing, China (all SAIS campuses for international relations) were the real reason that I picked Hopkins in the first place… and I was fortunate enough to finish off my B.A./ M.A in Italy and D.C. I had many friends who were pre-med of course and there is no doubting the quality of the education possible there. But if you go there for medicine or STEM, just be prepared to sacrifice the idea of a normal college lifestyle & prepare yourself to potentially have to join the cut-throat mindset of academic competitiveness. Basically, just leave your ideas regarding a fun time at college behind.
Maybe things have gotten better over the years, and I certainly hope so, but I was not willing to risk it. I thus did not want that type of limited college experience for my daughters. I instead tried to steer them toward USC (for all of the reasons listed by @cadreamin in the post directly above this one) & similar universities - where high academic standards does not mean that everything else must be limited. Luckily, my best laid plans worked out in the end
@CADREAMIN wow! You just described the perfect place for my D! In fact, when you wrote of it being a place to be whoever and whatever you want to be, I realized that is basically the topic of her common app essay. She doesn’t fit into any particular mold and likes to be around different types of people. Her high school is very similar demographically to USC and she loves the diversity.
Thanks for your interview tips. She has experience speaking to a panel and I feel that public speaking is one of her stronger skills. She can be articulate and passionate and always has a sense of humor. We go on March 5 and 6 and my husband and I will both be going with her. Her sister is at a 1000 student LAC so we are excited to be in a different environment.
^^^ Indeed. USC offers 174 undergraduate majors, over 170 minors and has over 700 on-campus student organizations… including more than 60 Greek chapters. USC is all about providing its student body with options, flexibility and unlimited pathways toward diversity, exploration and self discovery. If you can dream it, believe it or imagine it so, USC can help you make it so.
Hey admitted students! is there a groupMe going on out there that I could join? or an fb group?
@CADREAMIN @WWWard you seem really knowledgeable for all kinds of USC related questions and thank you so much for your time and effort. I do have a question that puzzled me for a while and hope you could help me with it. My son got a letter inviting him to apply for the Resident Honors Program (RHP) and the letter indicated that it was from USC Dornsife Honors Program. His 1st intended major is Viola Performance which is in Thornton School of Music. His 2nd intended major is Computer Science which is in Viterbi School of Engineering. My question is, what’s the relationship between Dornsife and Thornton or Viterbi? Thanks so much!
@pdxtigermom Thia is an issue we are dealing with as well. Our current understanding is that the best you can do is have a CS minor as having a CS major would require that a student be in Viterbi and do all of the basic course work in that school. I may have bad information or a flawed understanding of the situation but that is my current understanding.
It’s been a fun past week, guys. Congrats to everyone that’s been admitted and good luck with your interviews!! For the rest of us, see you all in March.
PS: thanks to @WWWard and @CADREAMIN
You both go above and beyond for this site! Wouldn’t be the same without you.