No one can reliably answer that question. It depends on your son’s prospective major, etc. They clearly are checking for a reason so senior schedule and grades are part of the evaluation.
Strong and passionate essays on what someone sees in USC and themselves and what they will bring/contribute to the campus community/school within USC can over-ride a less than perfect GPA. In fact, many perfect GPAs aren’t admitted either.
But let’s say in some holistic world, in the eyes of those evaluating, two applicants are rated as even as they can be across many aspects of their app - even in their essays - they both “pull the same” holistically. In a case like this (and with 60K applications, there are ties) something has to break the tie…so the nod may be given to the person that has the higher grade, or took the higher level AP/math course, or whether those courses are key to the major they apply to.
So it doesn’t hurt his chance for admissions if he did everything else they are looking for and offers what they need demographically - there are so many pieces in play, many of which are out of your control. Of course people with 2 B’s are admitted - but yes, it could also come into play, or something else in the app comes into play more. You will never know what tips the scale in a certain direction, so don’t let your student agonize on “if only I had gotten an A.” It’s never as simple as that at USC. They are holistic to the core as evidenced by the more than 3,000 applicants every year that have 4.0+ and rank 99 percentile in testing that are denied admission.
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^^^ Exactly. Very well said.
As a kid of Bruin parents, I grew up not exactly a fan of USC (to put it mildly). However, over the past 9 months, I have attended many of the Viterbi presentations and chats and have been converted into a fan of USC, and an even bigger fan of Viterbi. I actually wrote a little about this “transformation” and why it happened in my why USC essay. I hope admitting to Bruin parents doesn’t immediately disqualify me. Lol.
I did not have a great transition into high school (I just wasn’t organized enough after cruising through middle school), but I am hoping my very steep upward trend sophomore year onward (from 3.6 freshman year to 4.5 for 10th-11th) will help. I am fully aware I am in for an uphill battle, but I am hoping for the best. Best of luck to everyone else applying this year. I wish it were already March!
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@WWWard and @CADREAMIN What do you think of the latest with USC notifying students and parents 30 minutes after tuition was due yesterday evening that Online was being extended another week with no firm date or plan in place? My friends with USC students are furious. While I understand that many other California Schools have delayed until Jan 31, like UCLA, at least their communication was clear and timely. Many USC kids were already at the airport with their negative COVID test and proof of booster ready to fly to LAX. While USC is the dream school for my DD, I am concerned that there does not seem to be a clear plan in place for consistent in-person learning. Some professors(unclear whether they have to COVID test like the students) have already switched their lectures for the entire semester to online after the announcement yesterday according to USC parent Facebook groups. So many schools have done safe in person learning while USC shut down all last year and now looks like potentially for this entire semester. What are your thoughts as USC parents?
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My daughter was scheduled to fly back to LA from Boston today and she deliberated but eventually decided to stick with her original plan and just landed in LA. She’ll be able to see her friends, zoom from on campus, enjoy the nice LA weather and get back in a school mindset. A lot of schools are delaying in-person learning so I don’t think that’s unique to USC. California did have over 100,000 reported Covid cases yesterday. So far she’s loved her experience at USC and I’m hopeful that in-person classes will resume on 1/24.
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I would be careful making decisions based off of what parents are saying on a FB page. I am on FB groups for many schools and the one thing that is universal is that people are frustrated about this surge and they care about their children’s well being. Yes, there are a lot of parents who are upset with USC’s extra 4 days online but there are many who are relieved and feel that the school is doing what is best for their student.
Rumors fly rampant on FB groups. One of the UC groups had parents claiming that quarantine rooms were full or were being saved for athletes. A representative from the school had to step in and say that that neither was true.
If you talk to UCLA’s students (who are already in class virtually), their communication was not clear. On Jan 6 when many UCs decided to further delay the start of in person classes, UCLA put out a statement that they were still planning on starting in person on 1/18. Less than 24 hours later, another statement went out delaying in person until 1/31.
Regarding a professor switching lectures to online for the entire semester, from what I have read, it is one student and one professor and we don’t know if there were other circumstances that led for that course to be changed to hybrid. And no, faculty and staff are not required to be tested. Many do but they are not required.
If guaranteed in-person classes are a deal breaker for your student, they should probably look at schools in other states. Just about every school in CA (with the exception of SLO), is starting spring semester/winter quarter virtually.
A copy of the email can be found here. It was sent to students 30 min before tuition was due, not after.
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This discussion might be of interest to you. College starts Jan 2022…Covid related changes
Those clarifications are helpful… are you a parent or an administrator?
You are right that other states are more successful with in-person than than California. Such a shame since USC has so much to offer… but if the University is forced to keep following everyone else in the LA area, then I guess that needs to be an important part into the decision-making process. It is will be interesting to see if the 4 day extension is extended again. Hopefully by requiring vaccinations, booster, testing, and N95 masking of the students (but not facility???) USC will have all students in class and active in the campus activities on January 24th. After all, we have come a long way from Spring 2021 with no availability of vaccinations for the college students. Could you update this forum if there are any more extensions since I think it would get great interest to those in this thread.
I am a parent of a USC student but the tag next to my name is because I have experience and can answer questions related to the UC system.
If it helps, I will try to update as emails are sent to students but I don’t want to take away from the application/admissions discussion.
To clarify, USC is not being forced to follow the other schools but they are required to follow county and state guidelines. Last year, LA County did not allow any university (Cal Tech, Pomona, Pepperdine, UCLA, LMU, Occidental, and many more) to open for in person instruction. The decision was made by the LA County Board of Supervisors, not USC.
LA County Guidance for Higher Ed is updated frequently. The most recent update can be found here.
ETA: USC just posted this on the parent FB page.
The university shares parents’ concerns - we all want to return to campus. Please know there are thousands of USC employees working tirelessly every day to allow the resumption of in-person learning on January 24.
While the outcomes of Omicron appear to be less severe, people are still getting sick at record rates during this surge and the impacts are being felt across the entire country. L.A. County just posted its highest one-week COVID case count since the start of the pandemic. The people who are testing positive are required to stay home, so businesses and essential government services across the region are stressed by a shortage of workers. Extending remote learning by four additional days is a responsible step given these trends, and it gives our students more time to receive a booster, get tested, recover from illness and avoid travel delays.
Importantly, libraries, fitness centers, Student Equity and Inclusion Program centers, dining halls, and many other student services are open in-person to ensure the resources students need to prosper and succeed are available. Some of these services, however, may operate at limited hours or scope due to staffing capacity. A host of virtual services are also available, including counseling, telehealth visits, career services and engagement opportunities. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
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USC wants to be open and have students on campus more than anyone…but the city and county of LA does drive a lot of decisions. And they follow as they should. USC (and UCLA Med) also provide a lot of input on these decisions from their health facilities/personnel out of Keck. I feel for the students missing so much of their college experience - but that is not the colleges fault, that’s for sure. Hopefully it doesn’t stay the same or get worse into year four. The drama of the airport story I don’t get - they should just catch the flight and get to LA and do some online stuff there till it opens up again (or stay home if they prefer). It’s really not a conspiracy. The poor school admins - at every school - are doing all they can to get kids back in class. They have strict policies in place to be on campus.
My student had in person classes throughout the fall so I don’t understand the “shut down all last year” comment. They hosted 16 different in person graduation ceremonies at the Coliseum for thousands of students, parents and friends in May when most other schools cancelled them. Agree with above, I would avoid the parent drama on fb. USC isn’t making decisions to steal tuition dollars as implied on those silly posts, they have plenty of money and they want to offer a full educational experience. I have had a student at USC consistently for over a decade, including one there now that lived at campus throughout covid of 2020 and 2021, and USC has been phenomenal at support and testing services. Vaccines were available to students in or around campus very early. They also used the campus a lot throughout 20-21 as things like Target and restaurants and other support sites like health center and online counseling remained open/available. My double vaxed & boosted student has covid now along with virutally all their classmates (and everyone else in LA it seems) and thankfully is getting all the testing/services needed easily and readily at USC. The group is all hanging out in one covid apartment together. They get through things.
Hopefully all schools can get kids back in classrooms and keep them there. The parents complaining of inconvenience when schools are doing what they can to stay open and keep kids safe are generally the people that have no idea what is involved in keeping a giant machine like a university running during a time like this. The cost to close-open-close-open is tremendous in dollars, emotions, effort and time. They want to be open.
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I am a USC parent of a freshman, not an employee or an administrator. USC’s initial communication several weeks ago regarding the switch to virtual this upcoming semester was timely and clear. Before Christmas we knew that classes would start on time, but the first week was going to be virtual AND that students could return to their dorms if they wanted (with negative test, etc.) And they have access to the dining halls, libraries, and other facilities. By communicating the plans several weeks ago, we had enough time to consider and change my son’s return flight from this weekend to next weekend and do a week of learning from home. The extension of virtual for another week was also communicated BEFORE tuition was due. And while students are encouraged to delay their return if they can, they also are able to return to the campus if they prefer and attend virtual classes from campus. My son is sticking with his return next Sunday and will do the additional 4 days of virtual learning on campus. He will reconnect with friends, sunshine, warmer weather (we are in the Midwest), biking, tennis, and get back into the campus routine. Not a single class that my son has this spring has gone “totally virtual” for the upcoming semester (nor did he have a single class virtual even for one day last semester). This is not a big deal.
And this past fall, USC did a fantastic job with COVID-related communications, plans, access to testing, etc.
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Great post ^^^^.
Apparently the “furious parents” are the parents not paying attention or reading emails. Oh the drama.
But such misinformation is always a shame and often shared by those with no firsthand experience. Somebody please fix the internet!
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This just in… the Internet is scheduled to be fixed on August 3, 2122. So, if we can all just hold on for 100 more years, all of the current issues will be resolved… lol.
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I am back on the USC admissions ride once again! My D15 graduated from USC in 2019 and attends grad school there now. She’s been satisfied with USC’s response to Omicron. She was worried about remote at first because she was trying to add a class this semester and had wanted to meet with the teacher about it, but the teacher did a great job of communicating with her via email and she was able to enroll in the course.
My S18 declined an offer of admission to Thornton for a better financial deal. Now my third, S22, has applied to USC. USC might just be a perfect fit for him, in terms of major.
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Can we please keep this forum on topic, which is USC Regular Decision? Discussing whether the school is doing right by COVID or not is irrelevant to most of us right now since we are all parents of HS seniors. I can read about COVID everywhere else on the web; I don’t want to read about it here.
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How a school is handling covid should not be irrelevant to those with HS seniors. Ask the people that have college freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors.
When misinformation is posted about how a school is responding to covid or any other newsworthy item, it is important to those that are applying and spending $80K a year to attend. The post that brought it all up was by a prospective parent who was discouraged at USC’s response. They had been influenced by misinformation elsewhere, which is important to correct for everybody. That post was shown to be inaccurate by a series of posts by several with firsthand experience. The experience of students or parents of students attending is the reality, not internet fodder.
These kinds of issues do impact ones perception and ultimate decision to attend a school.
Without these kinds of conversations, the discussion is simply posts about things you can just find on the USC website.
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Oh my, I am in those infernal USC financial aid circles and need help. D22’s portal indicates our W2 forms are required. I have already downloaded these in CSS. When I go to USC there are no directions on how to upload these documents. Am I supposed to send directly or through CSS?
EDIT: On hold with financial aid but they are “experiencing a high volume of calls.”
Generally, under the CSS profile, you have an IDOC upload segment where you can check by school what documents are requested. Once you upload, Collegeboard takes 7-10 days to process them and send it to USC
This is on USC Fast, not CSS. She did just walk me through how to upload. Thanks for the response!