<p>The list of 100 larger schools was printed in the paper's Education Life section today.</p>
<p>A sortable list of more than 600 schools, including many smaller ones, is online, linked to the story that mentions USC's merit programs:</p>
<p>Does USC tend to give its “merit” scholarships to students who would likely need financial aid anyway or are they truly blind to a students ability to pay when selecting these scholarships.</p>
<p>From our experience, truly blind. Double blind in a way as there is not a separare application for merit awards. Admissions looks over the applications and invites students to attend merit interviews and students and parents to attend an informational weekend. Neither my daughter nor I knew USC offered merit aid.</p>
<p>With an 18% acceptance rate, USC likely does not need to offer merit awards, but I think it illustrates their commitment to scholarship among their students. My daughter and I were incredibly impressed by USC on the interview trip and a subsequent visit to USC which led to her choosing USC over Ivy’s/Stanford.</p>
<p>My experience – USC’s merit award is truly blind. I am attending USC with a Presidential (half tuition) Scholarship, a dept. scholarship and a university scholarship; whereas, I qualified for no financial aid based on need (after filing the CSS and FAFSA) at Duke, Northwestern, WashU, and Vandy. I loved USC anyway, but the merit aid made my decision even easier!</p>
<p>Do they ever post the GPA, test scores of the scholarship winners? Is the selection mostly based on stats or is it “holistic” as well? We will be paying full tuition with no merit or need based financial aid and after reading this site, I think we might be the only ones! (Well there’s Patrick Schwartzenager and Miranda Cosgrove but we aren’t in their league either).</p>
<p>You’re not alone, although it sure feels like we are. I assume that scholarship selection is pretty holistic as I’ve seen various winners’ stats posted (on CC) which don’t seem all that different or, in some cases, are lower than my child’s.</p>
<p>"Do they ever post the GPA, test scores of the scholarship winners? "
No </p>
<p>“Is the selection mostly based on stats or is it “holistic” as well?”</p>
<p>the USC 1/2 tuition National Merit award is based strictly on being named a NMSF , which is based on PSAT scores. The student also has to be accepted at USC, of course, which is not a given for NMSF’s but their acceptance rate is higher than the overall rate. </p>
<p>The Full Tuition + scholarships are awarded holistically after the applicants are interviewed. The students awarded those scholarships are generally among those with the highest test scores. But hi test scores only open the door- the interview seals the deal.</p>
<p>infocus,</p>
<p>The committee had 27,000 applicants for the larger merit scholarships. The selection is holistic. Students with 2400 SATs and 4.0 GPAs were not always chosen. It is not all about scores. Last year some of the students selected sent us notes via private message and listed their accomplishments. There are winners who have had to face physical or other challenges and still excelled. Others have written books, started successful businesses or received national honors or awards. Many of these students do not list all their achievements here for the sake of privacy.</p>
<p>Georgia Girl you’ve confirmed my suspicion that my D’s biggest disadvantage is NOT being disadvantaged in anyway. Also she’s too well rounded knowing that colleges now prefer more singularly focused students. At least she’s going to he top choice school but not thrilled about the outrageous cost.</p>
<p>@ CollegeMom48- tell your daughter to keep her grades up at USC and to get very involved- including volunteering, internships, pursing her passions/ talents in a unique way,etc. My son applied for multiple scholarships for continuing students beginning his freshman year. He was awarded scholarships from various sources- and this year he has added on several alumni scholarships for a total of four different merit based awards.Tuition is VERY expensive when you don’t qualify for any need based aid- but aren’t wealthy enough that you don’t notice/ care about your educational expenditures. However, if your daughter is is awarded some scholarship money in future years these funds truly help! Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for the info b&bsmom - it’s good to know there are still opportunities for continuing students. My D was offered decent $ at several other schools but they were not USC. She does have a $200 scholarship for being “bowler of the year” she won in the 3rd grade going for her. I need to send that in - it might buy a book or two!</p>