<p>At a time when many posts are asking for answers, here’s one mom’s theory on the statuses:</p>
<p>Of course they must mean something. We just have no idea what and that’s been puzzling smart USC applicants and parents for several years. Since everyone is going a little batty in the last days before letters arrive, I thought I’d share my notions and please shoot it down or add your two cents.</p>
<p>I’ll start by suggesting that USC’s admissions process is fully digital, so the status messages are likely triggered each time a particular file is made available for the next step in its progress through the system, or is acted upon. An additional confounding factor to those trying to figure out what it all means is that none of us knows the exact steps in the admissions process, nor can we interpret any technical glitches that seem to make statuses randomly go backward and forward. I have been a big proponent on this board for not taking those status messages too seriously. I have ultimate sympathy for nervous applicants and worried parents who would like to know where their chances for admission lie, but I think it has been impossible to decipher the status changes because our input is incomplete, and not every status change has significance. </p>
<p>To wit, they 1) may simply be reflecting internal paper-flow management of files, having nothing to do with the merit of candidates, 2) may be subject to (hopefully) minor clerical or system errors which are later corrected, 3) may differ for candidates in different majors, to which we on cc are not always paying attention, For instance, the file of a student applying to CLAS may be reviewed <em>only</em> by the main USC adcom, while the application of a student who is applying to Marshall may take a different route, or may have additional steps, 5) may signify a candidate has not made the initial cut-off for qualification, or 6) (depending on timing–notably right before a wave of acceptances are to be mailed) may correlate with final decisions. </p>
<p>But basically, to start out…</p>
<p>All applications are received in several pieces, some pieces are electronic, others in hard copy. Those hard copy entries must be scanned and added to the file. So before a file can be ready for review the pieces must be gathered, scanned, and checked for completeness. At this stage, certain items may be listed in your status as missing or present. </p>
<p>When the file is complete, it may be electronically marked as such by the admissions system to flag the appropriate USC director in charge of that student’s area that it’s ready for review. It is possible that <em>readiness</em> state is noted as one of the status messages some of you see. </p>
<p>However, depending on intended major, one or more different Schools’s admissions reps may also need to receive copies of this file. Perhaps this accounts for the different language–minor word changes between status messages that drive CCers nuts. </p>
<p>Other factors which make the process less easy to figure out are the internal workflow variations each year. Some regions may have a larger than expected number of applicants. That area’s admissions director may have to “hand off” a portion of their files to a less taxed director in the early stages of review. In my theory, any sort of internal file movement may trigger a status update, but essentially tells nothing about how well or not that applicant may be faring in the process.</p>
<p>My observation has been that while most of the status changes are hard to pin down, some may have a correlation to positive movement through the chain. I wish I could tell you which was which.</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone who is sitting on pins and needles. And shoot down these theories if you need to do <em>something</em> with this stressful time. LOL.</p>