<p>Both sons had the “This is the place” reaction (one at SC, one at another school). For older son (non-USC), we were walking from parking lot to admissions for the tour and he said, “I’m done. This is it.”, and that was before we even talked to anyone.</p>
<p>USC son is a bit more analytical, but I could tell half way through the tour that he’d made up his mind. His reaction, “I want this. We don’t have to go to the other places.” We visited anyway because it had been planned out for a while, but it really was a waste of time.</p>
<p>For a lot of kids it doesn’t matter, for others they just can envision themselves at that place. For the USC son, I think it was the energy of an urban location, the diversity of the students topped off by a program he really wanted (BCA). They can’t always explain what they want but they know it when they see it. The hard part was getting them prepped for the disappointment if they didn’t get in.</p>