Good afternoon/evening to all the applicants and parents of applicants for the USC class of 2028. As we are one day away from EA decisions, I just wanted to share some words of encouragement from the perspective of a Mom who was in your shoes a year ago.
My son had been dreaming about going to USC since he was about 8 years old. I went to USC and 2/3 of his older siblings did, as well. Despite this, we were very nervous. I had trouble sleeping and could barely eat. (I can’t even imagine what was going on inside my son’s head and stomach.) I tried not to let him know I was nervous. About an hour or two before the EA decisions came out, my son was already despondent because we had heard that they had a record number of applicants and the acceptance rate for EA would be under 6%. I finally decided we just needed to get out of the house and go out to dinner. No one was allowed to have phones. It was an excruciating wait and we could barely eat. Eventually, I suggested my husband go get the car and that my son could check the results. (He had left his phone in the car.) When my husband pulled up, I could see my son bawling. I had never seen him so devastated over anything in the 18 years of his life. Looking back on it, I can still feel the pain. Obviously, he didn’t make the EA cut. I tried encouraging him that it wasn’t the end of the world and that he still had a shot at regular decision, but he reasoned that if he didn’t get in EA, he wasn’t likely to get in.
To add to our pain, I had to leave the very next morning to go be with my father, nearly 2000 miles away, as he entered hospice. I couldn’t be there to console my son during those raw days.
I also told him he had lots of other options, but he said USC was the only place he wanted to go. Nonetheless, we started focusing on his “Plan B” and we discovered lots of upsides to his “Plan B.” Now, “Plan B” is a Top 20 school, so we knew that was no sure thing either. So we also focused on some safety schools. The wait between EA and RD seemed so long and our son had many ups and downs in between. But by the time RD came around, he had gotten to the point that he was also really excited about Plan B school. As it turned out, RD for Plan B came out the day before USC’s RD. We were thrilled when he got into Plan B — so much so that it erased all worry and anxiety about USC. If he got into USC, great. If not, he was happy with Plan B. The next day, we found out he was accepted to USC and then we had a whole new problem – which school to choose! He had been so focused on USC for so long that we never dreamed that would be a problem! The other school actually had a better FA package. That and other factors made his decision tough, but he ultimately picked USC.
So, to all of you who are nervously awaiting tomorrow’s results:
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Try to relax. Even if you don’t get in tomorrow, there are still some 4-5000 spots or so up for grabs in RD.
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Even if you don’t get in RD, it is much easier to transfer in.
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There are always other great options. Find great things about other schools. You might find yourself excited by other schools, too.
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There is no shame in going to a “safety school.” You can never know for sure what goes into an admissions decision. You’ve done all you can and you have no control over what they decide. Your self-worth is not defined by any university. You took a chance applying to USC and, whether or not that works out, I am proud of you for trying.
Fight On and best of luck to you all!