<p>Okay, I’m trying to strategize here. If S is leaning towards one school, while his dad and I are leaning against that school (too much $$$). So, when we set up some college visits, do you think there is an advantage in taking him to a school that we would favor first, or vice-versa? I was thinking that maybe the first one would stick in your mind more. The school he’d like to attend (USC) is supposedly in a crummy part of L.A. So, if we take him to some other schools that have nicer campuses, I am hoping that USC won’t look so great to him!</p>
<p>I would start out by taking him to schools that you and H are interested in and then saving for later the school S is interested in most</p>
<p>because if he feels he is already sold on USC - if you take him to it first- it may validate his reasons and then he wont even really want to look at anything else.
If you start him out at other schools- he will see what they have to offer- on and off campus before he even looks at USC- then rightly or wrongly USC may have a harder time retaining its prior place in his mind</p>
<p>Start off visiting one or two schools that you are neutral about – that will give him a basis of comparison before visiting the college that you are hoping he will like, and it will also give you a chance to listen and observe to see what your son seem to be looking for at the visit. </p>
<p>Also, if you are leaning against a school because of the cost – have a frank talk with your son about money before you visit anywhere. USC can give very good financial aid to some students - for example, to some NM Finalists – but if your son is not in the running for that sort of money, and you aren’t going to qualify for much need based aid, you will do your son a favor by telling him what you can and cannot afford. I mean – if you were going shopping for a car for him, you wouldn’t be debating whether to go first to the used car lot or first to the Mercedes dealer. If USC is out of reach financially, your son needs to know that before he ever sets foot in the place.</p>
<p>USC has a very attractive campus, so I wouldn’t count on a crummy neighborhood to turn off your son - my kid was wowed by it. I agree that it would be better to have an open discussion about your financial situation with your son.</p>
<p>There are reasons to be dubious about USC but location is overblown. The campus itself is quite lovely.</p>
<p>What’s S’s intended major and what are some of your proposed alternatives?</p>
<p>And, as JrPar suggests, a brutally honest financial discussion may be in order.</p>
<p>I like the brutally honest option. Thanks for the info about the campus. When I heard it was in a bad neighborhood, I just assumed it looked like a crummy campus.</p>
<p>S wants to study film production. It’s a super long-shot to be accepted there anyway, so it’s probably a moot point.</p>
<p>Interestingly, I got an email back from the ROTC dept. there and they told me that with an ROTC scholarship, you get $23K per year (which hopefully will be going up to full tuition in the fall) + USC kicks in $4K for ROTC scholarship recipients + you get a stipend of about $300 per month. S is very interested in the military and in ROTC so this could make USC “doable” for him (IF he were accepted into the school and IF he were accepted into the film program!).</p>
<p>I would start off from the top,spankingly clean,nice campus, and order the visit to go down hill from there. The next one worst than the previous, until it came to the last stop, USC. Your S will intuitively begin deducting points off each campus visit and then naturally USC would be at bottom, and having to start at the bottom, it will have a long climb to match the top, take it from me.</p>
<p>Other people must have been able to see more out of USC’s campus. Crummy neigbhorhood, walled off in middle of LA, not the fashionable west side where UCLA is. The school is basically in a lifeless slum. Think decrepit Coliseum where the glaze from her glory days (84 Olympic?) have long wore off.</p>
<p>Edvest, you are thinking that everyone sees things through your eyes. </p>
<p>It doesn’t work that way. First of all, there is the psychological effect of cognitive dissonance. So the kid who has already made up his mind that his heart is set on the USC film school is going to manage to find fault with all the “spankingly clean” campuses, and see your “lifeless slum” as brimming with charm and character. (For what its worth, I have never visited USC, so I have my doubts about your characterization).</p>
<p>My daughter went on her own to visit colleges this past fall, and she reported tremendous disappointment at campuses that we thought would be her top choices. Her description of the reason she didn’t like the “beautiful, wooded campus” described by the guidebooks: “the buildings are too far apart and they all look kind of the same – there is too much grass and too many trees”. Who would’ve thought my daughter wouldn’t like trees? </p>
<p>So daughter happens to like tall buildings and concrete, preferably right in the middle of a noisy city. “Campus” optional. Goodbye LAC’s, hello NYU. </p>
<p>I now also know, that among other things, when my daughter goes to visit campuses, she is checking out the guys. The “cute boy” factor weighs in heavily in her overall impression of the school. So Timely’s parents could find out that while they are looking at the buildings, their son is looking at the girls… and as far as I know, USC is unlikely to fail that particular test. </p>
<p>Anyway, no one can really quibble about the quality of the USC film school – and if that is what the kid is really focused on, he’s not going to care about the neighborhood. A future filmmaker would tend to see “slum” as a place rife with cinematic opportunities, in any case.</p>
<p>Timely, not to reignite past endless discussions, but anything to do with Film or Music are the undergrad majors that I, who in general despises USC, would recommend to a student with enthusiasm. Absolutely hard to beat, particularly on the Film/TV side of things. </p>
<p>A couple of posters you might track down: TSDad, who S goes to USC in Film, and Digmedia, whose son goes elsewhere.</p>
<p>It seems if you are from California you either love USC or hate it. There doesn’t seem to be much in between feeling. One thing a friend of ours found was that not all the freshman dorms are on campus. She was placed in a ex-Holiday Inn as her dorm and was so upset that she ended up not going.
I found with my D that visiting her top choices was not a good thing. She had some huge expectation that the places would be perfect and she would know wow this is my place. She ended up not liking any of them and not applying, even though many would have been good fits. She ended up applying to more schools that she had not visited. She narrowed it down at the end to 2 schools both that were visited in the spring of her senior year. I am sure that if she had visited before applying she would have found something lacking in them as well.
Only you know your kid. Plan your attack based on that knowledge</p>
<p>H graduated from USC but I never visited the campus until S1’s campus visit. </p>
<p>First, I’ve lived on the lower East Side of Manhattan. USC feels like a country club by comparison. The university has a lovely campus set into the LA urban context. The staff is warm, outgoing and diverse. Plus, it’s 70 degrees and sunny. If you’re not living in California, that fact alone is seductive.</p>
<p>We didn’t take the tours with S1, figuring our impressions might be overwhelming. Who knows which parts he liked or disliked–or why. Frankly, are those impressions worthy of analysis? It’s a shopping expedition, after all. There were no ‘bad’ choices from my perspective.</p>
<p>Rather than get caught up trying to manipulate your S’s choices, why don’t you set out the fixed amount you are willing to contribute to his university education? Then, if he wants something more expensive, he can figure out a way to make it happen for himself.</p>
<p>S1 didn’t end up at USC but he is still living in an ex-hotel room–with 2 roommates–as a sophomore. If you’re after a biggish university in a big urban city, room expectations may need adjustment.</p>
<p>I simply give my opinion about USC. Incidently, more ppl second my opinion about USC’s neighborhood than those finding lights from drab surrounding. If you are the latter, power to you, I rest my case. Friends.</p>
<p>For this eastcoaster with no allegiance/connection to USC, I think anyone who visits the USC campus will find it physically very attractive. Goodness, even TheDad thinks so.</p>
<p>True, JrPar, but some people freak about the surrounding area. I suspect that some of them don’t know how to read urban cues and that any area that includes an overwhelming number of minorities, iron security bars on the windows, and more than occasional graffiti is automatically dangerous. As you say, on <em>that</em> I shall give USC a pass.</p>
<p>Generally, if you search CC archive about USC, “physically very attractive” is not what most ppl use to describe the campus. You didn’t end up in UCLA by mistake ?</p>
<p>Edvest, we visited both schools, and both my son and I thought the USC campus more attractive than UCLA. Really, no ax to grind here - he didn’t end up at USC. I was more impressed by USC than I expected to be - both the academic program we looked at and the campus itself. We visited on a beautiful sunny 75 degree day, and for a boy from the gray northeast, USC looked awfully nice. </p>
<p>Anyways we can agree to disagree.</p>
<p>Taxguy, last year, had great critiques of many colleges. (great writing too). His bottom line was the publics (toilet areas). </p>
<p>If I were to do visitations, which we did not; I would check out how well the boys were hitting the circle. The second would be to ask the janitor about the quality of students, ( learn that from a hatchet man).</p>
<p>Edvest - You are right about USC’s neighborhood. It’s kind of crummy. But as far as the campus itself, you must be thinking of some other college. Even USC haters like The Dad say that the campus is beautiful, and I agree with them</p>
<p>Timely - To achieve your goal, I’d put USC in the middle somewhere. My D tended to like whichever school she visited last. And the first few schools she visited tended to be very memorable. The middle schools often got lost in the shuffle.</p>
<p>Coureur…right. USC deserves hanging but not for that crime.</p>
<p>Next time I visit the City of Angels I will make it a point to check out what you guys are seeing. The school may have been rennovated, new sections added, therefore accounting for our difference in opinion. My recollection came from - has it been that long ? - 20 yr ago. All I remember is white-washed walls green with mildew. Things may have changed.</p>