@googlimoogli - there is a pretty good case that freshmen fall semester is gonna either be online or at least very very different from last years freshman fall semester, not sure how you factor that in, buy it seems most schools will have to decide by mid July at the latest in order to get doors open and kids registered for classes either online or in person. I would say if you were my kid, wait until the last possible minute to see what each schools plans are and in this case you do not have to deposit at USC until Aug 1.