@CADREAMIN Thanks for that. I get I must come off as someone mourning the loss of an Ivy degree, but I’m not even in the Yale/Williams camp. I am the proud product of all public schools from K through two graduate degrees. I don’t even know what she is giving up by rejecting these schools, and we did not visit either school before she applied. Just feels wrong not to at least check it out. Maybe that is all the “chatter” of prestige, but once confronted with the actual choice, I feel as a parent that I may be failing her by not demanding that she do her “due diligence.”
@CollegeOdyssey2001 Oh I get that. I am on my 4th to college and there was one where I wish I would have pushed and spent the 2K on last minute flights just to know we gave this other school a chance. I felt like I didn’t push enough - she was overwhelmed with senior year - upcoming AP tests, speech and debate state finals (or some other thing that seemed “important” at the time). And even after a great college experience and all turning out wonderful, I have always sorta wondered if things would have been different if we looked at it. Just overwhelming curiosity more than regret of any kind or maybe like we didn’t finish the checklist. I know that’s not helpful to you, just trying to say I get the due diligence and wanting closure. Maybe I just wanted another college visit with her because they are fun! idk.
On the other side, with TE, you have a great school at basically zippo costs, so not sure if you want to open that can of worms. You are just trying to do right by her - and know you did all you could to make her college experience a good one. From the outside looking in, you have done that!
You are saving so much money - with that you can look forward to handing her a nice check in the future to help her with something else at that time. Even after they graduate, it is still fun to do stuff for them!
@CADREAMIN OMG, what you are describing with your D is exactly what mine is facing. She is overwhelmed by homework! It just feels out of balance to forego considering these schools because you need to use spring break to catch up on the mundanity (if that’s a word) of homework! That is what feels like my failure.
And yes, it is the fear that I am going to have to live with this nagging regret of whether this was the right choice, or whether I should have somehow insisted she get on that plane on Monday. But I did not have the heart to demand that she do it as she was having a real mini-meltdown.
All what you said has been VERY helpful to me–more than you’ll know. I did need to hear the obvious–what a great financial decision this is. And I’m pretty confident that had she gone on the trip, she would have had a long list of reasons why USC is the best fit for her. End result would probably have been the same. And you’re also correct, that the money saved can go instead back to her, for graduate school, a house, or seeding her retirement account.
Thanks for listening. CC is much cheaper than a therapist!
You’re welcome. She will love USC. And so will you. It’s a really special family to be part of - once inside, the benefits for her will be amazing. Wait for it, they will come. And anywhere in the world, if any of you show a little USC swag, you will get the “fight on symbol” flashed from someone in passing, and if the situation allows, a nice conversation to follow. That Trojan family and alumni stuff is unreal, it’s so good. 
@collegeodyssey2001 You’re welcome.
I can never fault anyone for choosing USC. I am about as pro-USC as it gets. If it is financially feasible for the family, USC is the place to be as I see it. The spectrum of options and possibilities afforded to USC students and alumni is almost limitless. And… it seems, with very few exceptions, that almost everyone finishes the process there at USC just as happy and content as when they chose to go there in the first place.
My personal experience with the other elite colleges and universities that so many strive for - via friends and colleagues - has not been all that inspiring. My closest group of friends from college (at Johns Hopkins) all wish that they had gone elsewhere. None, and I truly mean zero, look back at JUH as the perfect choice for them… which is of course sad. I have 8 other friends that each went to various Ivies. Only one of the two that went to Brown remains happy overall with his decision. The rest all feel as if they missed out on too much (including attendees of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Columbia and Dartmouth)… simply based on that prestige misnomer. Meanwhile, a friend who went to Duke seems content to this day. But when you evaluate 15 past college decisions, and only 2 of the 15 look back with contentment based on their decision, that is not a very good track record. So, I say look for fit and a place that you perceive may make you happy and content long-term. Picking a college or university based primarily on prestige or reputation is a fool’s errand. Four years is a long time to be discontent and unsatisfied. And these poor decisions continue to haunt people 30+ years later. It certainly still haunts me.
So I recommend choosing the proper balance… quality academics at an elite private university where you feel most comfortable… and where you lack for nothing in terms of the total college experience. To me… USC is #1 in that regard. Duke and Stanford are next up on my list… followed by Yale and Brown… then Vanderbilt and Northwestern. . We of course each have our own preference lists. But here’s hoping that everyone making such a key decision by May 1st picks the right place for them. And if you are choosing USC… well done. I am very confident that you will be glad you did.
Good luck to all making that touch decision this month. Despite my posts and those via others here on CC… my final takeaway would be to follow your heart… and the perception gained while being there in person. Try to ignore the external noise from outsiders, including posters like me. Make the decision personal… as you are the one that has to live with its aftermath.
@WWWard You are really lifting me up here. Chasing prestige is indeed a fool’s errand. It is very helpful to hear of your over one dozen Ivy grad examples. We must be on the same page RE: elite privates providing the total college experience, as D19 had Brown as her ED (but is so glad she did not get in given her success with USC RD), and obviously applied to Yale, and S19 is considering Northwestern along with USC. These are all outstanding choices.
I will emphasize to both kids that they should pick the school where they see themselves being most successful and happy. Thanks again for your sage advice.
@collegeodyssey2001 You’re welcome.
where can I find if the school I work is part of the TE ?
Can someone offer some advise on meal plans? We are looking at the Cardinal, Gold, and Trojan meal plans. What are your experiences and recommendation?
Where can you use the dining dollars? Starbucks at USC Village?
@2605 Mandy Way Check “Member Schools” tab at https://telo.tuitionexchange.org/applicationcheck.cfm
We did the lowest (Cardinal) meal plan for our daughter. She lives in the Village which doesn’t take dining dollars. I did put some money, I think $150 per semester on her uscard so she’d have some dining dollars to spend. And I gave her the same amount in cash to put towards places in the Village.
I thought that if we upgraded to the gold plan, she wouldn’t use all the dining dollars and we’d actually lose money even though she’d get more on her card for a lower price. I also wanted her to eat in the dining halls as much as possible. I’d say that she eats in the dining halls twice a day on average and eats at places in the Village a couple of times a week. She eats off campus a couple of times a month.
This semester she has depleted her dining dollars but she just pays on her debit card when she eats at places on campus now. Once she used all her dining dollars, she became responsible for covering the cost of her meals herself. She has a job on campus so this is not an issue at all.
@pshiao We went with the Gold plan, since it basically gave you free money to use on dining dollars (i.e. - more DD credits than their actual cost). Kids do tend to get sick of only having the residence halls as an option pretty quickly, and the dining dollars allow you to go to the food court at the student center + starbucks, etc. Here is a link to a map showing where DDs are accepted:
https://hospitality.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/17-18Hosp_Meal_Plan_Map.pdf
My kids always burned through those dining dollars before the term was up, showing just how much they preferred that flexibility. Their friends who had the Cardinal plan ended up spending money elsewhere anyhow and wished that they had the Gold plan. Very few had the Trojan plan. Most seem to pick between Cardinal and Gold.
My daughter is having a very difficult time choosing between Harvey Mudd and USC. USC was her first choice, but she was admitted as a Spring admit and only as an Open Major and not into Viterbi as her chosen major. She is very concerned about the added pressure of having to reapply. She went to the Spring admit day and was given the general impression that this was not a big deal, but she was the only student in the group to not actually already be accepted into Viterbi. Does anybody have any clear insight on the process? It felt like the answers were very vague and the clock is ticking…
@ccak01 When my younger daughter applied to USC in 2017, both of her choices for majors were SCA, which is traditionally the hardest school at USC to gain admission into initially. But even SCA is easier to gain access to via internal transfer. We had heard such from many people. So, even though she was only admitted as Undeclared, she turned down offers of admission from Princeton, Rice, Emory and others to keep her dream of being within SCA at USC alive. She committed to USC, reapplied to SCA even during the summer before the school year began, was admitted in October for the Spring, and she is very content with her decision. USC does sort of bend over backwards for those already there who are looking to internally transfer. While there is no such thing as an 100% guarantee, it is almost always available to anyone trying to do so who is also already there and doing well. Or… in my daughter’s case, they did not even wait until her first term grades were in. They let her in to her chosen major at SCA within weeks of the start of the fall term. I would look online at the steps and process for internally transferring into Vertibi and then make your decision assuming that it will all work out in the end. It may take her an extra semester to gain admission, but almost everyone uses that first semester for GE coursework anyhow.
Good luck with her decision…
Thank you!
I am currently working on making flight/hotel reservations for Welcome Week this fall. I was hoping a current USC student or parent could answer this question for me - how long should my mom stay after I am moved in? Move-in day is Wednesday the 21st this year. Thanks in advance - I just don’t want my mom to end up alone in a hotel room while I’m on campus doing new student activities, lol!
Hi @clairebear4396! That is really up to you and mom. You should get different views on this…as different things work for different people depending on where you are coming from, if student has been away from home before (meaning parents have harder time too etc). Some parents want to spend a lot of time on campus because they don’t have many chances to be there again…it really varies.
I believe the student should get on with meeting people as soon as possible that first day, and then forward, so we didn’t stay too long. By early afternoon they start having activities for the students on the floors/bldg to meet/bond. Mom can always find a place to read, hang on the laptop around campus to make sure you are settled before she heads back to hotel later in the day. And certainly that first night, it is good for you to find people to hang with, so mom is bound to have some hotel time, no way to avoid it. She may enjoy the R&R! I’m guessing she will want to come back the next day and make sure you have all you need, grab lunch, etc. I can’t imagine staying longer than that, but it really depends, some parents want to hang out for days, others not so much. Neither is good/bad, just have to decide what is best for all of you. Maybe there is something she wants to see while in Socal in case she has time on her hands? There’s some cool stuff around USC too. Regardless how long parents stay, students should use those first few days to meet as many people as possible. That is key.
But I was able to get in the car and drive back with the help of caffeine, so my situation is different, I didn’t have a flight to worry about.
Since we’re already on to welcome week, it seems like a good time to raise Trojan Family weekend. I have heard it’s a great experience and I’m really looking forward to making that our virst visit to see our son. I was disappointed to see it starts on 10/31 which is not ideal as Halloween in our community is a pretty big deal and we have two other kids who will not want to miss it. Thoughts on missing the first day of family weekend and showing up in the evening of day 2?
@ikbux64 Honestly, I would think your son (and most other students) would be happy you miss the first day as Halloween is a big deal around campus. There are many parents that don’t attend family weekend, and even though there is stuff going on, it’s more up to individual family how time is spent, so when you show up won’t matter at all in the scheme of things.
My son was admitted to USC viterbi for mechanical engg and picked it over purdue (FYE), BU, Case western and UCSD (undeclared). Now he is having second thoughts as he was suggested that midwest has more opportunities for ME students. Can anyone throw a light on Viterbi mech engg program and the job prospects. Not much info is shared on job prospects on the school website.