It’s been night and day IMHO. My S applied to Duke…Clemson…NC ST and USC. He has been accepted to all but Duke…still waiting but probably a stretch.
I have been really impressed with USC and their constant contact. My S was on the outside looking in on the major scholarships but after each disappointment they have sent a letter explaining the next steps.
I know it is all about recruitment but USC has done the best job of walking us through the process and from early on staying in contact. We have only sent a couple of emails and chats and we immediately got a straight answer.
Chuck222 - hang in there on Duke. My D has same stats and has applied to Duke (and Penn) as well. I don’t think either student is really a stretch for admission. They definitely fit solidly into last year’s admitted profile. Rather, I think they are just like thousands of other top students waiting on what really has become lottery like odds associated with RD acceptance at ivies or Duke.
My D had her alumni interviews with Duke and Penn while also visiting each campus. From these experiences, she said she could see herself attending either. However, she really enjoyed her campus visit to USC and meeting reps from HC. From her first impressions of all three schools, very surprising to me it was USC where she thinks she might fit in best. Not as stuffy or elitist campus atmosphere and sort of big fish vs. little fish vibe in her comparison.
So like you and S, we are waiting on admission from Duke (and Penn), but honestly if USC makes their promised scholarship back in December “official” and delivers next month with what we would project is their Coopers award, with each day it increasingly appears she would pick USC over the other colleges she has been accepted or is still waiting on RD. Probably virtually unheard of in turning away Penn or Duke in favor of USCHC, but should she in fact gain the Coopers, the cost of USCHC would approx be about 1/3 projected cost of Penn or Duke, even when factoring financial aid via Net Cost Calculator.
I’m welcome to hearing opinions. Other than HC admission, USC hasn’t made anything official yet in terms of merit award and her decision isn’t required until May 1, but I think it’s a pretty hard sell for anyone to convincingly state that a Duke or Penn UNDERGRAD education is worth 3x the cost of USC, particularly its Honors College which I hope is as good as advertised in terms of academics and unique opportunities. Admittedly, I worry a little that certain opportunities may not be as widely available as initially thought given what I suspect is a preference to McNair or Carolina winners. Nonetheless, according to many helpful posts of this site, each seemed pretty genuine in relaying how their S or D was not disappointed in what the Honors College offers.
So now we wait and hope USC delivers on promised generous merit scholarship while also waiting on RD from Penn and Duke. LOL, while Duke or Penn claims they are 100% need blind in admission, each does ask up front for family financial data. Part of me cynically thinks she will get in to both because each school would be more than happy to accept a student willing to pay such outrageous tuition!
If that does happen, then I’m sure we will be struggling with making her decision official and potentially turning away a winning lottery ticket.
Very well said. Duke is a " lottery " ticket. Reading the Duke page is intimidating. Makes it feel/sound impossible to get in.
My S would absolutely pick USC over Duke at this point. But not many people give away winning lottery tickets…so if he did get accepted I think that struggle will be tougher than he thinks…plus it is 60 miles from our house.
Finances work out a little better for us because the aid package at Duke is very close to USC ( at least on calculator).
Looks like a couple of interesting months.