
Since USC makes use of a holistic way of the admission procedure, we have been committed to reading and re-reading every piece of this application. You know those answer that is short you reacted to? We read those. That activity summary you completed? Yup, every activity is read by us, company, and experience you listed on there. When I read a credit card applicatoin, I want to reach understand you- your interests, your perspective, and most of all, hear your voice come through. This method takes some time thought even as we attempt to realize just how your academic performance, test scores, writing, involvements, and recommendations get together to paint a fuller picture of who you really are as a student and someone.
The admission office might seem want it runs like a well-oiled device on the outside—and it is—but it just operates since smoothly as it does through the usage of multiple checks and balances through the entire process. We contact students when we are missing an item of the application form and when we need additional information such as mid-year grades. We consult with the scholastic departments throughout USC and consider their views on applicants and pay attention to their recommendations. Most of all, we rely on a single another to greatly help us see applicants in a various way or recognise something we didn’t initially see. It’s a process that is incredibly collaborative it will take time.
At the conclusion of the day, this will be an arduous process for the office, aswell. There are many applicants that are qualified we don’t have room for each year. It’s never effortless making these tough choices, but I find comfort comprehending that our applicants may have many amazing college options next year irrespective.
I think I speak on behalf of our entire office when We say we are pretty excited to finally be able to shout out to the globe, here is the amazing USC Class of 2017! Plus in merely a couple short weeks, we—and numerous of you—will find a way to do just that.
Grades, Guidance, and Goliath: Confessions of the Director Dad
The article below is from our very own Director of Admission, Kirk Brennan. He shares with us the struggles of being a parent of the college that is prospective in addition to having a leadership role in advanced schooling. Understandably, juggling these two roles is very delicate. Thank you, Kirk, for sharing your insight into what our parents undergo during this time that is stressful!
This Monday that is coming will the eighteenth anniversary of the time my wife (whom you may remember) delivered our very first son or daughter. This particular year — the one in which that child is applying to college — feels like my first day on the job though i have worked in admission for 22 years. Just what a strange way to view my task: through the eyes, and from the home of a student that is prospective.
I had numerous observations that are disillusioning year. I saw that tours of very different schools sound the same, that college marketing materials look alike and even say the very exact same things, and how a few marketing businesses vendors seem to drive this process for many schools. I saw that a deal that is great of pupil’s impression of my university is maybe not controllable, and I ended up being specially disheartened when my very own student, after feeling proud to receive a mass-mailer from a college, quit reading any of them only days later, and even felt anger as she sifted through them. At USC as well as in the admission career in general, we work hard to be helpful, however some times I’m not sure how much we’re helping ( and I welcome your suggestions at admdir@usc.edu).
What strikes me more than such a thing could be the emotional roller coaster of the senior 12 months. I was saddened to look at mundane events of life magnified to become critical pieces of a puzzle that result in college; a grade regarding the tiniest test prompts a crisis, or a choice to relax one afternoon is seen as a prospective deal breaker for university admission, therefore career, then lifetime delight. Then there is record; so colleges that are many consider, will she love these schools, did she miss a better fit, and will she also get in at all? Then filling in the applications, especially the anxiety behind answering the least important questions on the application form (we discussed ‘What’s my therapist’s work title?’). The temporary relief of finishing them was soon replaced by confusion throughout the lack of communication as colleges read. Now the decisions are developing the grand finale of the ride — 1 day she gets in and feels excitement that is great her future, another she is turned down and seems worthless, as if judged harshly by strangers. Learning and growing are hard, and turns that are many life will be unpredictable, but clearly I can not be the only real one ready with this ride to end.
Through the ground i’ve watched this roller coaster several times, and such trips tend to end in the in an identical way — with our children enrolling in a college they love. Yet we riders still scream, also feel real terror going down the hill as in the event that safety pubs won’t help; normal responses, if utterly irrational. I still love rollercoasters (Goliath is the best), and I think I will enjoy this ride. I’ve grown closer to my daughter, and we have all grown closer as a family. I’ve seen my younger daughter console her older sister. We all cherish the time that remains in this phase of our family life, we will share together while we avoid the question of how many more meals. There are many hugs, tears, pats on the back, and scoops of ice cream to soothe the pain, yet great hope for the near future. I look forward to this ride finishing, but I imagine when it ends, just like Goliath, I will be excited to get back in line to ride again today. I sure hope so, anyway: my youngest is counting on it.