Is USC really worth it?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
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<p>Hi, I'm in a bit of a predicament right now, since on May 1st, I could not decide between my top 3 schools, so I applied to both USC and UCSD. Now, I have to decide between the two for where I want to go. I'd much rather go to USC, but money's an issue... (go to the bottom if you just want to answer the main question).</p>

<p>Unfortunately, I did not apply early enough to be eligible for the presidential scholarship, which I might have had a good chance at getting, and so far, I've only gotten about $5500 in loans from FAFSA since my parents make a "good deal" amount of money. The thing is, they'll have to pay for my 3 other sisters' college expenses, and they'll have to take a bit out of their retirement savings.. that is, if I don't contribute.</p>

<p>What I plan to do if I go here is get an on campus job and then try and do interns every summer. I'll also look into student loans (maybe getting 10-15k a year), but this might be a hardship for when after I graduate. Another option is to join a military program where they pay for part of my college and then I go work for them after I graduate.</p>

<p>I'm not sure about graduate school, but the 4+1 years program here might be a good deal for me, but it would drag me into even more debt. </p>

<p>I plan to do aerospace engineering at the moment, and from what I've heard, it's a good money-making job. But I'm also slightly considering going to med school if I find out that engineering is not the thing for me, which would be even worse on my debt. </p>

<p>My other choice, UCSD, is good in terms of engineering, but I'm leaning more towards USC more. I feel like I'd have more of a fun time here, but in terms of how much extra I am going to have to do to pay off my possible debts, I do not know if it is worth it... </p>

<p>Do you think that your college experience here was worth all that money and a bit of debt after you graduate? Are there other options I can look for which will help me make it through? Or should I just take the easy way out and go to UCSD, when I would rather go to USC.</p>

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<p>How likely do you think you are to switch to the medical school track? If you think there’s a high possibility, I’d probably go to UCSD as medical school is very expensive and where you go to undergrad doesn’t really matter as much as your GPA and MCAT scores.</p>

<p>Otherwise, I think it’s really a personal question of “if it’s worth it”. For some, yes, the loans are worth it, for others no. Also, how much would you need to take in loans? And how many years would you overlap with your sisters for college? I believe, if you have siblings in UNDERGRAD when you do, your financial aid goes up significantly since they essentially split your income in half (half for you, half for your sibling). I do not believe that this applies for grad programs (ie. masters, MD, etc). I’m not positive, so I’d double check with someone else who is more familiar with the financial aid program.</p>

<p>For me, personally, USC was worth the price. But then again, I only applied to private schools and schools where I was OOS, so the prices were all relatively similar.</p>

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<ol>
<li><p>What do your parents have to say about the cost?</p></li>
<li><p>Total Out-of-Pocket costs for you and/or your parents:</p></li>
</ol>

<p>USC : $54K/year plus increases X 4 = $216,000+
UCSD In-State: $25k/year plus increases X 4 = $100,000+
OOS : $48K X 4 = $192,000+</p>

<p>My oldest son attended a medium-sized private college, (UMiami), but he did so with a specific academic track in mind, (Marine Sciences). Could he have studied the same material at a cheaper public school? Yes, but only as an OOS student, so the added expense of a private school education was much smaller. If you were my son I’d ask you what you expected to learn/experience at USC that is worth an additional $116,000?</p>

<p>I’m not against USC, with some luck my youngest child will be admitted there next year, but the levels of debt you are talking about could severely limit your options further down the road. You should contact USC and see what level of scholarships you might qualify for next year. I’d specifically ask what level of freshman GPA would you have to produce to get serious merit money? In a lot of cases the GPA needed to retain aid is much lower than what you need to qualify for new aid.</p>