Marshall (USC) Class of 2017 Calling all applicants!

Anyone had skype interview lately? How did it go? Also, did anyone get scholarship/assistantship yet? I did read some interview experiences but none on scholarships. Please respond if anyone has got any aid. Thanks!

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i think 3/15 is the decision deadline, right? how does it work if you interview after the decision deadline?

Spoke with admissions, decisions will begin to be released 3/15 through 4/1.

Weird thing is, 3/15 is a Sunday...can anyone confirm they'll actually start calling folks on a Sunday? They'll likely start calling before that deadline also, right?

<Vent>

I sent the office an email asking for confirmation that my application was in review for R2, because the portal lists the submission date as 1/17 (thank you, Eastern Time). Sent a couple gentle nudges too. No response. I understand they're busy, but not bothering to respond to repeated entreaties from a freaking-out-yet-polite applicant does not go down well in my book.

</Vent>

why not try calling? the admissions office has always picked up and been more than happy to speak to me when i've called.

I can understand your frustration. I suppose that if they have sent confirmation of having received your application, that is basically saying that your "application is under review." I can't imagine they'd have your application just sitting there.

Then again, you can always just call the office...that seems to work.

Have you received an interview invite? If not, they are still sending interview invites, likely through next week. I wouldn't worry about it too much just yet...

I think it's more the principle of the thing. It doesn't leave a good impression when a school can't be bothered to email you back. I've not had this experience with any other school that I've applied to, UCLA, UT, ASU, have all been more than helpful and have all gotten back to me expeditiously. Heck, one of the schools I applied to even offered to fast track my decisions so that I would hear from them around the same time as my other schools. It makes you feel wanted, it makes you want to go there more (or at worst, not not want to go there). At the end of the day, we're potential paying customers - yes we call ourselves students, but we are in fact 'customers'.

If you check the first page of the thread, I wrote about a similar experience I had with the school when I went to visit. Although I'm disappointed I didn't get an interview invite, in a weird sort of way I'm glad. I love LA, and I love USC, but the program appears to be in disarray from both the admissions office to the careers office, to the complete overhaul of the program a mere five years after the last overhaul.

<disappointment>

Who have you tried emailing? (have you emailed an admissions officer directly?). Every time I have emailed Kellee Scott/Elaine Padilla, I have received a prompt response. Maybe the issue is emailing the general admissions email.

I can understand your frustration. But I wouldn't go so far as to say that the administrative pitfalls you've experienced are reason enough to not go to a school. You're going to be engulfed for two whole years in classes. team meetings, clubs, events, trips, parties, community service, networking...and none of that has anything to do with how quickly the admissions people get back to you. This is the nature of the process, ya know? Agreed - it might not be like this at other schools, but in the end, hopefully you will make a decision about going to the school that is best for you (considering the location, network, areas of specialty, likelihood of getting employment in your area of interest, etc.) Those admin hurdles are things you won't even remember once you become a student of the school.

Well, it is a reason to not go to a school if you've been accepted to similarly or higher ranked schools where you didn't experience those issues. I suppose that's what I'm trying to say. Moreover, in my experience bureaucratic issues never get better once you're in a school, only worse.

Anyway, I am glad for all of you who got an invite.

Very true. Things don't get better when you're in school. But again, rankings have to matter to an applicant a lot in order to stop them from choosing the best school for them. Like, if you love L.A. and want to one day have a solid career there, there's really no better place to go than either USC or UCLA. And depending on what you want to do professionally, one school will be a better fit than the other. And none of that has anything to do with how much higher ranked UCLA is than USC. It's all in what you're looking to get out of an MBA program, IMO.

But again, that's just me.

No, you're absolutely right and I'm despondent I didn't even get an interview request. I love USC, one of my high school friends here graduated from there and has done nothing but rant and raved about how much he loved it. He's actually flying up here to Canada with a bunch of USC guys this weekend to go skiing, and I can't really bring myself to meet with them and discuss how I didn't get an invite.

Anyway, thanks for your insight. Been feeling a bit sour towards USC recently, but your positivity makes me feel better about the school. Fingers crossed for an invite in the next week.

yes, I did try calling, and was told to email application-specific queries. They did tell me that interview invites were still going out, though.

I guess I'm a bit sour towards USC too; really wanted to go there but hope is fading fast. Anyhoo, congratulations to those who got invites, and good luck.

Well, keep your head up. All hope is not lost - because of their inefficiency, they're still sending out interview invites, so there's still hope!

I hear ya.

I submitted my application way before the R2 deadline and have been waiting and waiting ever since. It is frustrating to not get any updates or any news about my status. If the numbers mean anything, I have a significantly above-average GMAT and GPA for USC. Considering that I was accepted to other peer, if not higher-ranked, MBA programs that I also applied to in R2, I think my story was not bad either. I plan to return to Southern California post-MBA so USC is still one of my top choices, but every day I feel more pessimistic about my chances. It's already March.

Good luck to everyone who's interviewed/interviewing!