Great! Thank you so much!! I’ll have her request the 12th and hope it works out. My younger daughter is starting High School and has events the 13th, 15th, 16th, and 18th. It’s going to be a crazy week for us, but luckily it looks like we can be present for both of them with careful planning!
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Next question 
I see that flights home for Christmas are super cheep right now. I’d like to get it sometime before they shoot up. What days should I aim to book? I’m assuming have her fly home the last day of exams since housing closes that day, but what about returning to school? The calendar shows Open Registration is January 4-5 and classes resume January 8th. This year, housing reopened when Open Registration began. Do students typically return that day? Thanks again!
You might want to get a flight that you can change without a fee, as she may be lucky enough to have all of her exams end early (it happens!) and that gives her the choice to stay on campus until the end or to change her flight to fly home when her last exam is over, rather than the official last day of exams.
Here is a link that shows final exam dates for the upcoming semester – scroll partway down the page and you will see that the exam date is based on the day and time that the class meets. So once she has her schedule finalized, you can make better flight plans.
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As mentioned, have her do some research on the finals schedule and book after HER last final - students bolt after their last one whether it is day one, five or 10 of finals. They can be done on the first day or two of finals and get home a week to 10 days ahead of the last final day. Some classes may have a project instead of final at a scheduled time (they usually know this early if it happens) or they just get lucky and get them within the first couple days. No one stays just to hang around because everyone on campus is studying for their finals so it’s very quiet and no real social scene. Make a changeable flight if you can, but she can also count on the final schedule as gospel - they really stick to that!
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Does anyone know if college credits earned during high school can be transferred to meet pre-major requirements or major requirements, assuming they are transferrable?
I’m not an expert at USC DE course credit. I know there are restrictions towards taking junior college courses AFTER you are enrolled at USC (ex. during summers).
I found this excerpt from the USC catalog that might be helpful.
All undergraduate students entering USC may receive a combined maximum of 32 elective units for college courses taken before high school graduation and/or examinations (e.g., AP or IB) taken before matriculation at a two-year or four-year college. A maximum of 16 of these 32 units will be allowed for college courses taken before high school graduation. These courses must appear on the college transcript as part of the regular college curriculum and are expected to be taught on the college campus by college faculty and not used toward high school graduation. Students whose courses are taken at a college and were not used toward high school graduation may file an articulation petition to request more than 16 units.
Thank you. I saw somewhere in the USC website that says college courses taken during high school could be counted toward electives, so I was wondering they cannot be used to meet pre-major or major requirements.
Personally, I don’t think any school is worth the stress of financial strain for you or your child. Keeping in mind that the loans will grow & follow him for years. He could purchase a car, travel, buy a home, have children when he chooses to, and choose a job that he can be happy at vs one he needs to pay loans. Helping to see that would be a gift to him. The counselor at the school I work at said she could have had a second home at the beach for what she is paying monthly in her student loans- she said if she had known she wouldn’t have picked the ‘name brand’ school but stayed at our very good in state school for free. Best of luck with your decision. My daughter declined USC after it being her #1 last year. When we visited this year with students on campus she didn’t feel like she would have fit in. She decided on UCLA instead.
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Google search USC articulation agreement. It brings up a site where you input your CC and then it shows the list of classes that have successfully transferred to USC from the CC, and for which specific USC classes they count for.
Thank you. I know this website and it does appear to be transferrable. I am just not sure if they can be used to meet major/pre-major requirements or just elective requirements.
I think it depends on the college/major. My student is in Viterbi and was able to use Calc BC and some science APs to get out of some first year major requirements. They also used AP credits to satisfy some of their GE requirements.
Thank you. this is very helpful.
Hi everyone. My daughter was accepted to the Thematic Option at USC. She has not committed yet and was waiting on this to decide. Anyone have any insight on TO at USC? She will also be an honors student there if that makes any difference…
An honors student meaning that she received a merit scholarship? If so, that doesn’t require any additional work.
You might find this post helpful.
Yes she received a scholarship…just trying to explain her interest in academics.
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And thank you for linking that past post!
My son is a sophomore TO student at USC. A love of reading and writing is important based on his descriptions of the TO classes he has taken thus far. They are generally small classes (10-ish students) on par with a small, liberal arts college format of reading, discussion, and analysis. He found the TO classes to be VERY challenging from the perspective of the level of expectations of the writing (but also very interesting). The TO classes are NOT “easy As” by any means. Last year the TO students had the chance to present one of their analytical writing assignments in a TO symposium that was held at the USC University Club (it was optional but many students participated). It was a nice opportunity for the students to share their work, take questions from the audience (other students, faculty, and some parents/family) and then have a very nice dinner at the University Club.
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Thank you for this thoughtful reply. But, PLOT TWIST! USC just granted his Financial Aid appeal in such a way that it’s now almost on par with attending his state flagship (in terms of the finances). He is really struggling with this decision now that he had talked himself into staying in state!!!
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Thanks for the insight into TO as my incoming freshman is looking to do this too. Since it seems that TO classes are in place of many of the Gen Ed classes, does that mean that there are “Science TO classes” and “Math TO classes”? I heard not all Gen Ed classes will be TO classes so trying to understand how many classes they will be taking in the first semester that will be TO and what subjects they usually cover. Also wondering whether there is grade deflation(since you mentioned not easy As) and whether that’s worth it if possibly thinking grad school ahead…Many of the other honors students at the school seem to have other additional benefits so just wondering if any for TO students? (other than the great learning from faculty and smaller classes :))
Congrats to your student on being admitted to USC! 
It is an amazing place. Students in Thematic Option take a total of six core TO courses and four courses chosen from USC’s regular general education system (these 4 could also be satisfied with AP classes or classes in the major or minor, but which meet the general education area). I definitely recommend your student call or email to be sure all of their questions are answered about what is involved in TO before making their fall schedule.
The best explanation of the TO class requirements can be found here. Scroll down to the “What are the TO requirements” section:
https://dornsife.usc.edu/thematic-option-faq-prospective/
You can see some examples of TO classes here:
https://dornsife.usc.edu/to-courses/
You will notice from the descriptions that they are heavy into reading/writing/seminar-style classes. As I recall, my son has had 1 or 2 TO classes each semester and the others non-TO. Math and science would be part of the Gen Ed areas D, E, and F. There are not TO-specific math and science classes.
In terms of grade deflation in TO, I don’t have any insights there other than to say the only Bs my son has received at USC were in his TO classes. 
Best wishes to your student!
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