University of Southern California Visit Report by collin2012

Visit Activities:

Admissions Interview: No - n/a

Information Session: Yes - The 30 min info session took place before the tour. The presenter was very polished, gave a lot of information. He also gave us his name and email address so we could contact him later.

Campus Tour: Yes - Tour guide was very professional--even wore a tie! Gave us a lot of info. Tour was very thorough. Only college tour that actually took us INSIDE buildings rather than just viewing from outside.

Classroom Visit: No - n/a

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Campus:

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Very courteous. Very polished.

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Amazing! Of all the schools we saw, I was most impressed with USC. There is a lot of money there and it shows. Buildings and grounds were neat and beautiful.

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Beautiful lawns, flower beds, and fountains. Everything impeccably maintained.

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Campus itself looked safe to me. Surrounding areas questionable. The USC police force patrols a 2 mile radius (I think) around the campus.

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Loved the USC campus. My kids thought it looked like a center of higher learning. They liked the formal look of it, with the stately buildings and manicured lawns.

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Off-Campus:

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The part we drove through was not bad, but another parent in our tour group had arrived a different way and asked about the neighborhood going from bad, to worse, to really, really bad.

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Do not like Los Angeles. Too crowded. Traffic is horrendous. Could not stand to live/commute there, but the USC campus was an oasis in the midst of all that chaos.

Campus Visit Notes for University of Southern California

Visit Description:

IN A NUTSHELL: My overall impression of our visit to USC is that everything was very professional and polished from start to finish. I like things that are well-organized, so I was very, very impressed.

THE TOUR: When we arrived a student checked us in with his iPad and directed us to the conference room. The admissions officer gave a 30-min presentation. He spoke quickly because he had a lot of material to cover, touched on the major topics and, overall, was informative. There was a short time for questions. Then we were divided into two groups and started the walking tour.

Our tour guide was a very serious young man, very knowledgeable, and very professional. I stayed near the front of the group so was able to hear everything he said. He spoke a mile a minute because he had a lot to say. I had a good experience and appreciated all the info he presented. We walked at a brisk pace.

Of all the college tours we participated in, this is the only one that took us INSIDE the buildings, as opposed to just viewing them from the outside. We walked by some classrooms as class was in session. We went into an empty classroom and sat at desks while the tour guide gave part of his presentation. This was so we could experience what it was like to sit in a classroom at USC.

My kids loved the campus, but thought the USC tour guide was too serious. For me, he was just fine. True, our UCLA tour guide was very vivacious and had us laughing the whole way and we had a great time, but the USC guide was great too ... he was just a serious person.

My kids loved the buildings and grounds, as did I. They now know they like a university with the stately brick buildings, manicured lawns, grand libraries ... a formal look. In their minds, they equate that with higher learning and that is what they want for their college experience. They also liked being in a big city because they felt there was a lot to do off-campus. They decided they do not want to be in a small town in an isolated area, but would rather be in or near a large metropolitan area.

USC is, of course, very pricey. Our tour guide said you are guaranteed to graduate in 4 yrs because they know no one wants to pay for a 5th year. Most students take 16 units per semester (4 courses @ 4 units each) plus 2 units of an easier class (which can be taken on a pass/fail basis, for example) in any topic. This allows you to explore other areas outside your major. For example, a business major can take a music class or a class in cinematics.

Of all the schools we saw, UCLA and USC are our top choices.

ABOUT US: Mom with a 17yo daughter (HS junior) and 14yo son (8th grade).

OTHER SCHOOLS VISITED ON THIS TRIP: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, UC San Diego, UCLA, and USC.

PARKING: Parking was a nightmare because we could not park on campus as originally instructed to. There was an event going on and they redirected us elsewhere, and I had a terrible time finding the parking structure. We almost gave up. Luckily, we persisted because the tour was awesome.

Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.):

If driving on freeways to the campus, allow plenty of time. LA traffic is awful.