2 questions:
Thanks! So there aren’t any additional scholarships I could apply for as an incoming freshman?
I must caution students being interviewed for merit scholarships hoping to be bumped up. It is also possible to be bumped down. My D’s friend was bumped down from trustee to presidential. In his case, USC was not his first or even second choice; and, apparently, his lack of interest came through in his interview. Show interest and know your application and essays inside and out.
^^^And will add that very few are actually bumped up. Any additional freshman scholarships in March are few and are very small in the scheme of the 70K price tag. Good to have realistic expectations.
With fees, USC’s tuition next year is almost $52,000. Then add fees, housing, food, travel, extras… Possibly another $18K or more.
So here are some rough numbers while everyone contemplates that staggering figure.
Case 1:
Student interviews for and gets Trustee - full tuition x 4 years. If the student also qualifies for FA grants of $52K or more, it’s a wash! So if you are reading this and are a student whose family shows (on the USC FA calculator) that large of “need,” whether you get the Trustee is less of a big deal. The Trustee protects your future in case your family situation dramatically improves; you have sibling(s) who are currently in school but will graduate/leave college, and other factors. FA is calculated year by year with no guarantees. So the Trustee is a much safer award. Trustee also confers a few special privileges, like honors dorm, etc. However, a student with a large FA grant (over $50K) shouldn’t be too sad if she/he is bumped down to Presidential after the interview. Honestly, there is very little difference to his/her bottom line for first year costs, and beyond if family finances don’t drastically change.
Case 2:
Whoever is admitted to USC and awarded a large merit award (Mork, Stamps, Trustee, Presidential, or Deans) is able to stack other merit awards below Deans). What’s more, in the past, all those merit scholars have been awarded surprise University Grants (merit) which stack. These tend to fall in the $2-3K per year range.
Other scholarships:
All outside merit scholarships can be stacked onto the large merit awards, too. There are a few School, Department or Major scholarships that are sprinkled out to admitted freshmen after decision letters go out. All of these are a real surprise, because the applicant doesn’t apply for them directly. After freshman year, each major has additional scholarships, each with their own conditions and rules. In one example, we know of a student who was offered $3K/year (total 12K) by her major, and another who received 5K (20K) and 6K (24K). But in the scheme of the total COA, it’s helpful but not by much. 
Why USC does it this way:
Not to torture families, but it may seem like that. USC fully understands how their large merit scholarships work to entice top students to choose USC over other high calibre schools. They realize, for instance, that very needy families will be able to attend due to large FA grant awards, and that very wealthy families will be more immune to the merit award inducement. But for the middle class/upper middle class families, the decision may hinge on how much their student receives in merit $$. The Presidential award is equivalent to taking about $26K off the price of attendance. So there are some families who will decide it’s smarter to send their student to their state flagship rather than pay about $44K/year to send them to USC. For other families, $44K/year for USC’s vast resources, alumni network, and more is still a much better deal than paying full price at another private. But I believe USC gets that Presidential is not a huge inducement unless one falls into the upper middle income brackets and can bear the rest of the price. OTOH, USC knows that Trustee and above are game-changers for most non-poverty line/non-billionaire families. Perhaps as many as 40-50% of Trustee offers will be accepted over the ivies, et al. Perhaps USC offers as many as 300 full tuition and above scholarships, figuring to yield around 150-160 all together at the end. That number may be off, but it’s probably in the ball park and is just what USC wants.
The interview:
In person, a student can come off uninterested, overwhelmed, and maybe even not as “authentic” as their application essays made them seem. Not everyone loves interviews and it’s tough that so much $ is riding on the scholarship interview but it is the only time USC’s majors can meet their future students. Perhaps (speculating) they invite those students who ON PAPER look like the best candidates for Trustee/Pres–but when in the presence of the judging panel, certain Pres candidates shine while certain Trustee candidates have a bad day. The number they bump up or down is small (and unpredictable since it’s a result of who actually shows up and how they show up) USC certainly doesn’t want to hurt the feelings of these kids, but it inevitably leads to hard feelings (bumped down) or freak-out elation (bumped up!)
In the end, no one should go to Explore gunning to get bumped up. If anything, it may read as too highly aggressive! The best reason to attend is because the student has some genuine interest in seeing what USC could offer her/him, get the best introduction to the school, major, professors, campus because they treat you very very well, and meet other interviewees who all have amazing academic records plus superstar activities. Many of these will be classmates at USC next year.