@pdxtigermom @tigermomsrule Thanks for the kind words. Glad to have been helpful.
My D got direct admit to US CS. And to USC CS BA. She really wants the double major with Business. And loved USC. She also got the Presidential scholarship which helped. Even though local instate tuition and prestigious program at UW, we went with her best-fit. She will be at USC this fall! And we are so proud of her!
@mmkedia you canât imagine how competitive itâs for Asian boys who want to major in CS and we are OOS! My son is also a NMF and other than the Presidential Scholarship, USC also offered him 3 more scholarships so the remaining tuition would be even lower than in state tuition at UW. He also has great scholarship offers from CMU and Michigan. He would not want to be considered pre-sciences since there would always be uncertainty. He values his secured spot at UW very much after seeing so many in state Asian boys trying to appeal to get into CS. Iâm indeed a little upset for his decision since we put so much efforts in his music. Weâve been to USC twice for auditions and are quite familiar with the campus already.
Can anyone with personal experience describe the typical student who lives at Birnkrant vs. the typical student who lives in New North? Thank you for any info.
New North is heavy Greek, always has been. It is known as the fun dorm. Birkrant is known as 8 floors of open doors and was the honors dorm before McCarthy opened a couple years ago. So it maintains its academic bend with a very social side. With the academic profile at USC these days every dorm is full of academic oriented types so even if fun dorm, it doesnât mean it is Animal House. Frankly, any of those in freshman quad area are great and not that different. A couple of my students - one there now and recent graduate would pick Birkrant (one lived there last year then Village this year) but feel being anywhere in freshman quad is place to be.
Is there an advantage to picking an early date (or for us, the Bay Area orientation) for class registration? My DD actually asked me to ask on cc, lol. She was wanting to do the 2 day orientation, but was wondering if classes start filling up early. Thank you 
?
@rbgirl They set aside slots in all of the key courses taken by freshmen for every orientation session, so there is no inherent advantage in an earlier orientation session versus a later one.
My D also had similar situations. She was directly admitted to UW for her major, and also got direct admission to Indiana Univ. school of Global and International studies with large amount of merit scholarship. She held on these offers for long time finally decided on USC. We think she made the right choice.
Iâm wondering if there is a significant reason for my daughter to attend the orientation session if we can easily attend an off-campus session near us. She has visited USC 3 times, most recently in March for the scholarship interview, so she got to meet a lot of people and see inside the dorms and ask a lot of questions about academics. Will we regret it if she doesnât go? She already Skypes with her future (hopeful) roommate too and they have made all their choices match on housing app. Trying to cut costs wherever possible, but donât want her to miss out on anything either!
Question about Welcome Week â how important is it for family to stick around after move-in day? I just read the mailer that said that New Student Convocation is on August 22nd and that familes are encouraged to attend. If my son gets his first choice dorm (McCarthy), move in day will be on August 19th, so that would require us to hang around LA for 3 extra days (we are from NY). The flyer also mentions department receptions, which I hadnât considered.
@lkbux64 convocation is nice and it leaves you feeling good about leaving your child at USC. But if you canât make it work staying an extra three days due to work, other children, etc. then I donât think itâs that big a deal.
My D is in McCarthy this year. My husband left on Monday to go back to work but I wanted to stay. I checked into a hotel in Santa Monica and had a mini-vacation by myself. I did go back to campus on Wednesday. I had lunch with my D and we went to Target for a few items. They are very busy on Tuesday but have some downtime on Wednesday. Then I went to the airport right after convocation. So in retrospect, Iâm glad I stayed but it would have been ok if I hadnât.
Also read this while reviewing schedule for Winter Welcome Week. Found the previous convocations in YouTube, but havenât seen any information about a departmental reception event for SCA. Anyone whoâs attended willing to elaborate?
Question regarding AP class credit. Weâve looked at the website and see that SC will accept up to 32 units towards electives. As a Neuroscience/premed major, we realize that the AP chem, bio, and calc wonât satisfy any requirements. But what about AP English, Spanish, US and World History (assuming a score of 4 or 5)? Thanks in Advance!
@TuckerTroy This info here should answer your questionsâŠ
https://arr.usc.edu/services/articulation/adv_placement_exam_credit.html
Awesome. @pdxtigermom UW is lucky to have your son. It was so hard for my D to give up UW CS!
Hopefully we will cross paths as we travel to USC.
@wwward Thanks!
Does anyone know when they will begin assigning housing?
The message they sent out said the application closed yesterday and assignments would beginning mid-May but does anyone have a specific date they think based off of previous years trends?
(If there is a specific thread for housing too please redirect me! I wasnât able to find one, so thought I would ask here)
Iâm confused about the foreign language requirement for Dornsife. If a student has taken 4 years of French in high school including French 4AP senior year (test results not yet in), does he or she still need to take the language test during summer orientation if not intending to continue with French at USC? Any insight is appreciated.
@collegemom111111 I just asked my D who is in dornsife and is a tour guide. She said that if AP scores are not in by the time of orientation, then they must take the placement test. But no matter where they place, they can later waive the requirement with a 4 or 5 on the AP test. In any case, she recommends taking the test in case they decide to take the language down the road.
Convocation and the school functions were great for us last year. Last year we sent our D to McCarthy by herself from New Hampshire, with just two suitcases, then we came a couple of days later to help get all the other stuff she needed and to do all the things scheduled around move-in for the rest of folks, and convocation etc.