<p>Hello all
At this point I need to decide between Penn CAS and USC with a full tuition scholarship. Penn is giving me no financial aid (well no useful aid, loans= gahhh) and while my dad says the choice is up to me, the thought of paying 200,000$ out of my inheritance for Penn is pretty terrifying. I am looking at going into Archaeology ( an area in which Penn is one of the best in the world and USC is not that established) or International relations. I would also like to maybe do a minor in film (and USC is number one for this). However, these majors are tentative and I am not sure that I will actually end up doing them. I guess my biggest worry is that if I do stay with archaeology I am worried by how hard of a time I would have getting into grad school. Since the Ivies are the absolute best in Archaeology, do you think it would be a big advantage to have gone to Penn for undergrad when I apply to Ivies for grad, or do you think that having trustee scholar, honors program, and thematic option at USC would put me on equal footing?
Thanks!</p>
<p>Have you tried using your USC offer as leverage to get a better offer out of Penn?</p>
<p>Penn definitely responds to competitive offers from peer schools, though whether it would consider USC a peer is debatable.</p>
<p>The problem is that it is a merit scholarship, not a need-based one. Penn doesn't match merit money.</p>
<p>I would stick with USC, especially since your majors are tentative. Archaeology isn't offered at very many universities, so admissions tends to be more flexible than other graduate programs. There are many archaeology field schools offered during the summer, if you want to get practical experience as an undergrad.</p>
<p>go to Penn. only go to USC if you absolutely cannot afford the debt.</p>