USC is a reach. EA for merit is not easy either.
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Merit at USC? or somewhere else?
Does Santa Clara have good business/econ?
Would also note USC-Marshall was ranked #1 for undergrad business in 2023 by Poets and Quants. This could make USC-Marshall even more competitive this cycle.
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@thumper1 may be able to speak better.
Iâll just say Leavey is a very well known name.
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Our DD graduated from SCU in 2010. She had a bunch of business major friends who all had very good luck with internships during college and jobs after graduation. Leavey is well regarded particularly in the area.
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I was referring to merit at USC. EA a was a newer option this year. If you go on the USC boards for this past admissions cycle, it looked like the vast majority of kids were just deferred to the March decision date. I donât think there were rejections for EA. Those that got in went on to the merit stage.
Others have already answered. Iâll just say that Iâd recommend you investigate the opportunities available, as I think it could be a good addition to your list based on what you say youâre interested in. 
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Ah would that be like NMSQT since I know USC is pretty generous with that or is it through a different path?
Great thank you to everyone that recommended Leavey! Just a quick question since you guys talk about cost a lot, it does seem very important when considering college. Does Santa Clara provide good merit aid? (or I guess for that matter also Fordham and Northeastern)?
Right now I think Iâm pretty set on my reaches and targets (although I will definitely move USC to a reach), but I would like to trim down my safeties a bit since I still am fine with UCM and UCR so Iâm most likely going to cut one between Santa Clara, Fordham and Northeastern.
Northeastern curricula are built around co-ops. Are co-ops something you would like or dislike? The answer to that question could move Northeastern up or down in your preferences.
I think it does sound interesting, I wouldnât be adverse to joining a co-op curriculum based university
At Northeastern, that used to mean 5 years of college instead of 4, because you did 2 semesters of co-op. Theyâve changed things up so you can now complete in 4 years if you like, but it requires summer courses and/or overloading some semesters.
Oh okay that kinda sucks lol thanks for the info! Is co-op the majority but optional or is it required for all students?
Varies by major. Most require at least 1, many require 2. I know a couple of students who
did 3 but probably by choice and it took them 5 years to graduate.
There are some majors that I think donât mandate a co-op - youâll need to look it up, I donât know off the top of my head which ones.
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This site has aggregated some merit aid data from some collegesâ Common Data Sets: Merit Aid by Institution â College Transitions.
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Fordham: COA $80,204, 68% of freshmen without need receive merit aid, average award $20,142
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Northeastern: COA $78,202, 61% of freshmen without need receive merit aid, average award $18,639
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Santa Clara: COA $76,497, 54% of freshmen without need receive merit aid, average award $15,628
You can obviously look up any other universities that interest you. If theyâre not on that website, you can look up âCollege Nameâ and âCommon Data Setâ and you should find it. Section H is where youâd want to look.
Of course, average merit aid packages are not necessarily what you would receive. You could receive less, or you could receive much, much more.
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SCU often provides sufficient and just enough merit aid to CA kids they want to attract such that the COA matches the potential COA at a UC. This has been strategy to compete for high stat Bay Area kids and Iâve heard the same from multiple other parents I know who applied.
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Northeastern business major has four year and five year plans, both including co-ops. The five year plan does have three instead of two co-ops, and a little more vacation time.
I canât speak to Santa Clara or NEU, but in your case, because you are National Merit, there is a good chance (~70%) that you will get Fordhamâs 4 year full tuition scholarship, or even their full ride.
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Canât hurt to apply but Northeastern is a reach for EA. The EA acceptance rate was just @ 7 % last year. With no supp essays it was an easy app and they had close to 95,000 apply. Their ED acceptance rate was @ 39 % so a big difference.
Just a hunch but based on the NEU threads from last year, merit also seemed harder to come by compared to previous years and may be more difficult with the more popular majors. My daughter applied EA to both Fordham and Northeastern for business. Fordham gave her $28,000 in merit and she didnât get any merit from Northeastern.
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