UCLA and USC

College Search & Selection
1

<p>For some reason, I am drawn to UCLA and USC as my out-if-state picks for undergraduate study. Both schools appeal to me academically (for someone looking at medicine as a possible field), but are they worth applying to? Do they offer merit-based scholarships?</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

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<p>“Worth applying to” in what way? Both are very good schools and you’d get a fine education at either one. Do you mean what are your chances? We’d need to know your stats for that answer. </p>

<p>As for merit-aid, UCLA is a public university. Generally speaking, public universities tend to be more generous with their in-state applicants and those truly in need. That doesn’t mean you won’t get non-loan aid it just means there may be less to go around for OOS applicants. USC does give merit aid and is especially fond and generous to National Merit Finalists and Semi-Finalists.</p>

3

<p>UCLA is now relying heavily on OOS students to pay the full sticker price; very little aid is given to OOS students. If you can pay in full, both are worth it, as both offer a comparably excellent education. If you’re looking for merit-aid, USC is the better choice (and that goes for in-state students as well).</p>

4

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<p>True for out-of-state students. USC has a slightly higher list price than UCLA’s out-of-state list price, but USC appears to have more merit scholarships, and better need-aid than UCLA does for out-of-state students.</p>

<p><a href=“and%20that%20goes%20for%20in-state%20students%20as%20well”>QUOTE=phantasmagoric</a>.

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<p>However, in-state students would need a lot of merit-aid for USC to match UCLA’s in-state list price. For example, USC gives a decent number of half-tuition scholarships, but the remaining cost ($36,795) would still be more than UCLA’s in-state list price ($31,555). UCLA’s in-state need-aid is also reasonably good.</p>

5

<p>I would be an out-of-state applicant, so for these two universities some sort of merit-based aid would be absolutely necessary! Thank you for your advice, I will look further into the opportunities of both and make a decision from there.</p>

6

<p>To assess your chances of getting merit aid, consider:

  1. the percentage of admitted students who get merit aid
  2. the average amount of merit aid
  3. whether your stats would place you among the top ~25% of admitted students.
    (“top 25%” may be too high or too low a threshold, depending on the competition, the amount available, and how much you need)</p>

<p>You can get all this information (and more) from the Common Data Set file available for many colleges. Google “Common Data Set” + (college name). See section C and section H.</p>

<p>Generally, unless your stats are phenomenal or you have some exceptional talent, your best shot at a large merit scholarship won’t be at the most selective colleges (see #3 above). </p>

<p>USC apparently does not publish a Common Data Set. They do offer merit aid and the average amount is relatively high (~$19K). However, it is one of the most selective schools to offer merit aid.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/1174329-usc-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/1174329-usc-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

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<p>Well, that rules out UCLA… (unless you can get some external scholarship.)</p>

8

<p>why those two schools?</p>