Quote from OP about USC campus visit:
“It just turned her off. I try to tell her that 4-5 kids don’t make a school but it just shows you how important those little tours can be to make or break someone’s impression of a school. Granted she’s 17 and probably too young to see past it, but so are so many other kids who leave schools with negative impressions after an hour long tour!”
I visited Stanford’s campus back in 2007. I was watching some students play co-ed Ultimate Frisbee in a club league on campus. When one of them found out I was a prospective student he asked me to join in. They had official team rosters but no one seemed to care. They were so friendly I decided right then Stanford was my first choice. On the flight back home (I’m from Pennsylvania) I told my father I didn’t want to spend time traveling to other schools because I had made up my mind.
That was a ridiculous way to make a decision although it seems to have worked out ok. I now work at Google and still live in Palo Alto.