USC has been relentlessly emailing my kiddo for the past few months - I assume your son is in the same boat. As the final apps are getting submitted, kids start to second guess - have I applied to enough etc. It’s a little bit of FOMO.
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This is one of those combinations that shouldn’t work but absolutely does! I don’t even like Sour Patch Kids but I love them with popcorn.
Same over here, although with the added USC app. We’re in SoCal so it’s kind of a rite of passage to apply. I almost wonder if he should do the Brown video though. I love my kid, but he’s not very dynamic on camera. I’ve seen those YT Brown portfolio vids and the kids and editing are amazing. S24 shines on paper, through his writing more. So that’s one to think about more.
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We had the same USC conversation yesterday. 
S24 amused himself by contemplating a “drive-by” application the other night - giving himself ten minutes to send out an additional app. He has enough supplemental essays to play with that such an application is not entirely unrealistic. Luckily, rational thinking prevailed in the end. (That, and the idea of having to tell his college counselor who would not have been very happy.) I’m glad S24 is still managing to have some fun with the process though.
He did drop one school from his list when his research for the school’s “why us” essay revealed very thin course offerings in some academic areas that are of interest to S24. But he also did add another school back in that he had visited early in his search process, so the total number is holding steady at 16. Two more applications and one scholarship essay left to go. The end is in sight! Although I did realize recently that a few of his schools offer interviews after the applications are submitted, so S24 may not be able to forget about applications completely.
We did do a last impromptu tour of two more colleges late last week. S24 had already submitted his applications to both schools but had not had a chance to see them yet. One of the schools does track visits, so hopefully he will still get the benefit of the visit. It was interesting to tour campuses on a cold winter day - much of our prior visits happened during warm weather. A good reality check!
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Now that you mention it, yes, when asked why USC, he said he had gotten their emails.
I’ll have to figure out what they did, because he finds it VERY easy to ignore my emails . . . .
I very deliberately have not looked at those, and I am just taking them at their word that “simple and unrehearsed is fine,” and “videos will not be evaluated for production quality; we recommend sitting in front of your laptop/camera/tablet/phone and speaking directly to the audience.”
In fact, the official Video Introduction and Do’s and Dont’s videos are very calming, including some peaceful background music.
So my two cents is if your S24 is comfortable with writing, and follows their basic suggestions, it very likely will not hurt, and may help.
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It’s the only time I eat them as well.
My oldest went to USC but that was 10 years ago. Great school. But have you seen the tuition now ? 
That is a whole lot of popcorn and drink making you could buy.
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fyi: the totally unhooked kid from our school that just got into brown EA had a very basic video. just sat at a table and talked. so that should be reassuring. my daughter still has her video to do also and it will NOT be fancy.
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We only have about 40 kids who apply to a UC… half of those to UCLA and/or Cal so just not enough to warrant a visit I guess.
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Yes, they are amazing, absolutely love that boy that did his in Wes Anderson film style. Such a talent.
S24 didn’t stress over it, but I did. He applied to PLME so worried it was too quirky and casual and wouldn’t appeal to the med school. He wasn’t open to feedback so let that one go.
D30 is currently interested in USC. That is a long time from now, and things will likely change. Still, I am thinking I should spend the next six years ingesting cocktails and popcorn as rapidly as feasible, just in case . . . .
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I would love to hear more about his experience applying BS/MD. I have a D28 that is convinced it’s the path she wants to take. She’s been talking about medicine since she was 6 and hasn’t let up. (probably because she was hospitalized for some time for a rare condition, those early experiences really leave an imprint) Any advice on what classes he took ECs would be so helpful.
Given USC’s famously high cost, I might instead counsel doubling down on the 529!
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Ah, the difference is you sound like a GOOD parent.
Meanwhile, I’m just trying to get mine before D30 can get her grubby little paws on it . . . .
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delete
Certain members of my household would disagree. Also, in the spirit of Airplane, I picked the wrong month to go dry. An objectively poor decision. Actually, thinking about it, I may switch to April.
EDIT: wait. No. April doesn’t work. Stress will be gone (?) but celebration or misery will be the order of the day. Can’t be dry in April. May?
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BTW, @NiceUnparticularMan any recs for chocolate bitters? Just made a mocktail of sparkling water, a dash of Stappi Red Bitter soda, and a dash of chocolate bitters. It’s weirdly good. The bitters are from a sampler pack but I would love to branch out.
Thank you! She is thriving and doing very well, thank God. Just hearing the experience thus far is still very helpful. Ill check out that dedicated thread, but maybe in March when I know I figured out at least one. 
All the best to him, sounds like a great kid with a good head on his shoulders.
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I’m a big fan of “next month”.
I actually make my own! People I know, though, like The Bitter Truth bitters generally, and I know Bittermens Xocolatl is a popular mole-style (my first bitters was a mole, actually).