<p>Hey rower,
My son went through this a year ago. Got a call (as you did), chatted with a prof for 10 or 15 minutes.
He heard nothing for a couple of weeks … and then got accepted March 21 (we remember because it was Good Friday).
He never found out what the phone interview was all about, but I suspect it’s to confirm you’re a normal kid who wrote his/her own essays and is truly psyched about USC.
That is, it’s meant to confirm their good thoughts about you, not to put you on the spot to convince them you belong there.
Of course, who really knows? I’m curious what your numbers were, and any special qualifications…? Feel free to ignore my prying.</p>