<p>I'm attending Penn State for my freshman year but I've always been a USC fan. Great all around school and I love the location. (LA and Cali) My high school stats aren't necessarily good enough so I didn't apply. (3.6 gpa, 1830 sat) What can I do to improve my chances of acceptance after freshman year besides get a high gpa? And I don't want to be in 200k dollars in debt after if that is possible.</p>
<p>Well if you don’t wanna be in debt, then you should get the highest GPA possible there and apply after 2 years in order to be considered for the merit scholarship…other than that…USC offers great financial aid actually, very generous.</p>
<p>Fight on!</p>
<p>Not quite sure why you didn’t apply, it wouldn’t have been impossible haha. But yeah, get as high of a GPA as you can and look into what classes you can take that USC will give credit for.</p>
<p>Do you think they are generous enough to pull me away from the 18k tuition I’ll be paying at psu? I’m from a slightly above middle class family so idk how much aid I’d get.</p>
<p>retake the SAT and ACT</p>
<p>It depends. USC’s grants, which are like scholarships but need instead of merit based, would help in not putting you in high debt. They don’t have to be repaid, but since they are need based, it might be hard to get one if you have a high EFC.</p>
<p>Apply for outside scholarships and keep in mind that your aid at USC could change after your first year if you are awarded USC-specific scholarships and grants. You could potentially pay less in your junior and senior years if you are diligent and keep a high GPA.</p>
<p>I know of several second year transfers. Do well and show initiative at Penn, get good grades and show interest in USC and you may have a good chance. Your SAT won’t matter as much.</p>