If it is the same as the past, five different room types. I can’t remember the exact wording, but only three or four could be in the same building. For example, one might list 4 room types in McCarthy and 1 in another dorm.
I don’t know the stats, but I’ve yet to hear of a merit student who wanted a room in McCarthy and didn’t receive it. I believe Trustee scholars get priority over Presidential who get priority over Deans.
ETA: There are approximately 525 spaces in McCarthy. Approximately 500 students enroll with either a Trustee or Presidential scholarship. Some merit students commute from home or request to live in another dorm.
Thank you. It appears you can’t see the application before it opens on Feb 1 but it would be good to have a plan before then. Scholarship notifications arrive on Jan 30 so I’m assuming it is best not to put McCarthy unless student is in running for Trustee or Presidential scholarships?
The window to change it is wide (I’m not sure exactly how long, but at least into May) Since you are registering early, it doesn’t matter. You’ll likely get whatever you pick. My daughter registered in April (she is in SCA so they didn’t have EA) It opened at 9:00 and the key is to get through the questions as fast as humanly possible because when you are done, you get a timestamp and that is what is used for preference. After you get your timestamp, you can go back and change it without affecting the timestamp.
My daughter wasn’t sure she wanted McCarthy because she was looking for a social environment. On the day that she registered, she had Birnkrant as her first 3 picks and McCarthy as her last 2. She was also accepted to Barnard and we went to admitted students day there after the USC housing registration opened. We took the housing tour at Barnard. They don’t have AC and it was only 70 degrees and my daughter was DYING. So we went home and she switched to her first four choices being McCarthy. She got her first choice and it has been wonderful.
100% agree. Don’t worry how you answer the questions. You can go in and edit that. Just keep moving along to complete the registration and get a time stamp.
It was social enough. She loves her roommate and made one of her best friends during the days that McCarthy moves in before everyone else. It was very social during that time. Lots of movies and games in the common areas. But most of her friends live in Webb and she spends a ton of time there since they have kitchens and more space. So, she didn’t end up needing McCarthy to be as social as she thought she would. Her room, building, and location are incredible though and she is very happy she chose McCarthy.
Did you receive any housing info? The email with housing registration info should have most of the details before you log onto the portal that morning.
While looking through last year’s thread for EA housing info, I found the EA email and the percentages of scholarships they expected to award.
My D has graduated but I agree that she found it social enough. Her best friend lived in Birnkrant so she spent time there. But she loved having a large room, a/c and being in the village. She chose not to live in the honors dorm sophomore year bc her roommates weren’t eligible. They all ended up with bad lottery times so couldn’t get anything in the village. They lived in CarGar right across the street and loved it.
I knew of the SCIon award when I was in high school-class of 1995 (my grandpa was an alum) but I ended up not applying because my SAT score was really low (700 combined) and my gpa was a 3.50 so not high enough to cancel out the bad sat score. So it has been around for a while.
Apart from the email posted here (which everyone who applied seems to be getting) are they also sending this by regular mail? we received the packet yesterday by regular mail and we are RD not EA so no decision has been made yet.
there was an interesting article in the NYT about how solid (not perfect) SAT/ACT scores can help students from underrepresented groups and schools. It sounds like you read it though also
Hello Forum Parents, My daughter got accepted to USC EA. The housing portal opens on 2/1. Is it better to pick the best 5 options (all single rooms or studios - probably unlikely to get those) or pick 5 reasonable options (mix of residential halls and apartments vs all residence halls) that you are more likely to get as a freshman? My daughter wants a suite/apt but is less likely to get one as a freshman since the upperclassmen get preference on those. Is it better for her to just rank the all residential halls? Do you know of any freshmen who ever got a room to themselves? Thanks in advance!
My S23 is freshman and is in Parkside Apts , though he could get into McCarthy but selected Parkside , he liked it and food at this dining is good compared with other dinings and most students like it.
Hope this helps in selcting for upcoming freshmans
My son selected studio unit with kitchen and occupancy is for 2 people with bath inside , its parkside apts
It’s quite big, lots of spacious, they have a 2 seater couch and one single chair leather ones with study desks and study chairs, 2 beds , also small dining table with 2 chairs
Kitchen has fridge and Gas stove with 4 burners
My son and his roomate don’t cook , just they make coffee some times.
It will open for new applications on February 1st.
The banner explains how and when you can do so. Even if you are not 100% certain about committing to USC, it is worth the $55 or so housing deposit to secure your spot in line. It’s the best way to get preferential housing assignments. And you can even do so without paying the overall commitment deposit to enroll at USC.
The actual best way to get exactly what you want… or at least one of your top two choices… is to locate a roommate (CC or facebook, etc. is a good starting place) and then select each other and match your preferences (1-5, etc.) exactly the same. By doing so, you make the housing office’s job super-easy, as they can match you two and accommodate the goals of two freshmen simultaneously. They also go with whichever of you had the higher preferential order in terms of signing up.
It’s exactly what my older daughter did back in 2014. She wanted an apartment in Webb, as it offered more room, a private bath and A/C. She found a roommate here via CC and they did exactly as I suggested above. They got their first choice.
She got her first choice and it has been wonderful.
