Hello!
I recently got accepted into both USC and UCSD and I am trying to decide what school to go to. After a lot of research one of the biggest factors that differentiate the two is financial aid. UCSD gave me a scholarship and grant aid that would cover the entire cost so I would not need to pull out any loans or get work study. I would also have guaranteed housing for four years.
USC offered me enough money through FA and work study that would require me to pay $8,000 a year in loans (which I understand is significantly less than what most people pay for USC) and $5,500 of those loans would be through the school. My EFC is $0. I also found out that housing is only guaranteed for the first two years so I would most likely need to find an apartment for my upperclassman years which I understand being in LA that it’s pretty expensive (about $800 to $1,000/month for a multi person apt).
I plan on majoring in Environmental Science and Health at USC or Ecology, Behavior and Evolution at UCSD and minoring in film at whichever school I go to. I also feel I would be happy at both schools and am not leaning towards either one specifically. So I guess my question is, is attending USC worth the cost (i.e. smaller class sizes, vibrant student life, alumni network, individual attention etc) over a state school? Thank you for any help! I appreciate it!
You can check class sizes in their class schedules:
https://act.ucsd.edu/scheduleOfClasses/scheduleOfClassesStudent.htm
https://classes.usc.edu/