stephdavid6
Applied on the R2 deadline. LORs were late so I did not receive the application complete email for approximately two/three weeks after I submitted. Nothing on the you.usc portal and nothing on the application page under decision status where some people are finding things. Is there still hope? I received a financial aid email to fill out the application last week.
I'm going to be in CA at the beginning of April. Would anyone suggest following up with an email that I would be available for an interview?
I think you should reach out to the Admissions Office, explain the situation, and ask for clarification on whether your application is being considered in the R2 cycle. I can't speak directly to Marshall on this, but I know that many programs require complete submission -- i.e. fully completed application and LORs -- on or before the round application deadline to be considered in that round. For example, you submit your application for R2, your LORs don't come down until a few days after the R2 deadline, then you automatically get pushed over into R3 for consideration as if you were a R3 applicant. Again, don't know if Marshall does this or not, so I think you would do best to reach out to them now and get clarification as to whether or not your application is being considered in R2.
I wouldn't think twice about the financial aid e-mail. Financial aid and MBA admissions aren't related in this respect.
As for going to CA, don't tell them you are available for interview. I think that comes across entirely the wrong way -- if they want you to interview, they'll let you know; they assume you are available (hence your application). Better bet would be to mention that you will be in CA and tell them you want to do a campus tour, class visit, coffee chat, etc. There's also the fact that the beginning of April will be after the R2 decision date, so if you're being considered in R2 and they want you to interview, they will send you the invite before then.