<p>I am curious about those who accepted a USC Trustee or other merit award in lieu of accepting offers of admission from Ivy's or Stanford. If so, how has your experience at USC been? Any regrets? Highlights of USC?</p>
<p>Did your daughter accept USC trustee over Stanford?</p>
<p>I know someone going to a top 15 school with a full tuition merit and may be more aid over Trustee.</p>
<p>Yes, she did. Her decision was unrelated to aid. Just to lay that to rest, I do not qualify for financial aid. I value quality education and fully expected to pay for whatever college she chose. My daughter was quite familiar with Stanford and upon placing applications, Stanford was her first choice. </p>
<p>I knew little about USC, other than outdated prejudices. I actually chided her when she said she was applying. There is no separate merit application at USC. I did not know they offered merit aid until she was offered admission and named a Trustee Finalist. As you may know, Finalists and their parents are invited to a weekend of programs and an interview for the student. </p>
<p>I was quite shocked by the experience. The parent program was rich and informative with opportunities to meet department chairs, attend colloquia, dinners with faculty and time to talk with selected students and roam around campus and talk to whoever you liked. The faculty and students were vibrant and engaged. My daughter was equally impressed.</p>
<p>Then she received her Stanford admit. She began a systematic inquiry with students she knew at both schools, reviews of department offerings of both schools, attended admit weekend at Stanford. I hesitate to say anything less than laudable about Stanford as it tends to inflame an audible minority on CC. Stanford is a great University and my daughter would have attended had she not set foot on USC. </p>
<p>It seems to me USC is at a dynamic point in their growth cycle which shines through to present students and those that look carefully at USC. Having said that, the preoccupation in our culture with rankings and reputations seems to distract from realities perceived by individuals as they compare schools.</p>
<p>So, this is the background for asking. I am curious about the process others went through in rejecting a top ranked Ivy or Stanford in favor of a merit award at USC and if after nearly completing a year at USC or more, they believe their decision was right for them.</p>
<p>In today’s economy, full tuition scholarships are golden. Merit aid is working as intended, namely bringing higher quality students to lower ranking and less prestigious programs. Do it long enough and the buying does start to pay dividends. It would have made little sense to forego a small fortune to attend a full tuition school, even if much better in almost all aspects of education.</p>
<p>The money will come in handy later on for graduate school, or to survive the first few years as a communication/journalist major. </p>
<p>Congrats on this great scholarship.</p>
<p>I have not seen much discussion this year about the trustee vs full pay at another school other than yours. There was a thread last year where there were two parents looking at Harvard vs trustee and it was a 50:50 split. </p>
<p>Hopefully some others respond to provide some perspective. The only other parent that I know whose kid won this scholarship also got a full tuition scholarship from WashU and the kid decided to go there.</p>
<p>OP, congratulations to your D on a great decision.</p>
<p>There will always be name-brand elitists (although less than one might expect if they only read cc) who seem to have memorized the rankings. The furor seems loudest in a student’s senior year where classmates who are all in the top of their HS class have become, suddenly, competitors to the most exclusive colleges. Thankfully, a lot of that emotion melts away by the time all these friends are off at their various colleges. How shocking it may seem, down the road, when the student who went off to Columbia transfers out! How weird when a student at State U Honors college gets invited to do nuclear research. And yet, these things happen despite everyone’s certainty that the higher the rank, the better the school. It is to sigh. ;)</p>
<p>You ask about students who chose merit over HYPS type schools and I can report on my own S, who was a Trustee at USC. USC was his first choice, not simply for the scholarship and he received a full-tuition scholarship at WashU, as well. In particular, he loved his program at USC. It is a very specialized major and the program is nationally regarded as #1, so he had no doubt this university would offer him the most in his field. But he was also attracted to the intellectual student bodies and small LAC type collegiality he saw when visiting some of the other outstanding schools he’d been accepted to, and he has found among the thousands of other motivated, happy students at USC and among the 500 or so merit scholars and NMFs in his class alone, a perfect mix of curious, hard-working, creative and fun classmates. But USC also offered all the academic rigor he had hoped for. He was in TO, the honors college, and found those students tended to be pretty dynamic in the classroom–and of a like intellectual bent. He had a great study abroad experience, something he would have pursued at an ivy, too, but the truth was, he missed out on one semester at USC–and there was so much going on. </p>
<p>Aside from classes, internships, research, and hundreds of clubs and organizations, there are literally dozens of inspiring seminars, performances, lectures, readings, and other quality events held on campus every week–too many to choose from. Yesterday, for example, even during finals, USC hosted the TedX conference which was sold out, over-capacity. USC’s campus is the opposite of apathetic or jaded. Perhaps it comes from the athletics (my S is not involved in sports, doesn’t go to games, even!), but the university does have amazing spirit which he loves.</p>
<p>As for my S’s peers (also Trustee, Pres, etc scholars who turned down ivies to attend USC), they are doing as well as one might expect no matter where they had attended UG. Professors act as mentors and are very willing to help students network into careers. My S is graduating this week and his friends will be attending top med schools, funded PhD programs. They have won national awards, and turned down jobs with 6 figure starting salaries for other jobs with same. One friend (non merit student, btw) had 5 offers.</p>
<p>I hope your D has put in her request for Birnkrandt–the honors dorm. She’ll meet a lot of great people there. </p>
<p>As a disclaimer, I teach at UCLA, so I cannot say I was poised to love USC from the start. And yet, over 4 years we have met only smart, happy, engaged students. I’m sure there are also smart, happy, more partying sorts of students, too. It’s a large university. But somehow the mix of engineering students and cinema students and Greek students and pre-med students and rah-rah students and international students works very well.</p>
<p>Thanks you madbean for such an informed reply. Yes, she has Birnkrandt as a first choice and TO, as well as Annenberg were influential in the academic aspect of her decision. The culture of enthusiasm and excellence, along with a vibrant sense of community were the non-academic factors that greatly appealed to her. Her goal, as well as mine, is to be in the most stimulating, enriching environment for her. </p>
<p>What a wonderful testament you offer regarding your sons experience which is just what I would like for my daughter. She may well change her major or double major. In such a rich, student centered environment, i have no doubt she will achieve the personal and intellectual growth and self-definition an undergraduate education ideally can provide. </p>
<p>UCLA prof, huh. You are brave. I received a number of private messages in response to my question including one from two S alums whose child is at USC and having an experience such as your son. Thank you again for your reply.</p>
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<p>It is not a mystery that many teach at UCLA without being “a prof.” There are 2500 instructors at the extension school, and it is possible for a few to actually be part of UCLA’s faculty. This does not change the fact that every parent is desperately seeking that elusive best fit.</p>
<p>I apologize for potentially derailing the thread but on the topic of something madbean mentioned, I went to TedxUSC as a student yesterday and it was AMAZING! I didn’t know USC was the first organization to host a TED talk independently outside of the national one. I’m starting up a business with 3 other students I met from other schools on campus and we got to network with an amazingly diverse and skilled group of people attending the event.</p>
<p>My daughter too was a Trustee, who chose USC over the opportunity to attend Harvard after being taken off their waiting list 4 years ago. Difficult decision at the time, but now that her USC education is coming to an end this week, she absolutely knows that she made the correct decision. The past four years have been more than enriching…in opportunities to work with top notch professors in research as early as the first semester (as my daughter has done), the TO program which is known to rival Columbia’s in its intense liberal arts program and where courses are taught by the best in their fields, USC’s encouragement to do double majors and minors in disparate fields, the accessibility and willingness of professors to guide and mentor, and the general vibrancy and dynamics of a university which genuinely takes care of its bright and ambitious students. No regrets whatsoever. I second everything that Madbean said.</p>
<p>My son was a 2006 Trustee Scholar and choose USC over 2 Ivys, Chicago, etc, etc. He is now finishing up his first year of a PhD program at Cal Tech. I am positive that the fantastic mentoring he received at USC , and the fact that he was surrounded there by other uber smart, engaged students from all over the country, was instrumental in his success at USC and his acceptance at Cal Tech! He made the right choice.</p>
<p>My S accepted Trustee over Harvard and multiple other scholarships from State universities(including UNC-CH and UVA Echols recognition). He loves the school. One of many reasons he attended USC was because he could double major in business and chemistry while he couldn’t do this at Harvard. He went to Shanghai with the Global Leadership group spring break, is in freshman science honors, joined the Trustee/presidential student group, attends multiple athletic/music events and many social events AND joined the triathlon club(another reason he chose USC over Harvard/Boston.). What an AMAZING experience for an 18 year old kid! He is working VERY hard with this double major but has not regretted his decision at any moment this year. However, he often calls USC the University of Studying Constantly…haha… FIGHT ON!</p>
<p>I am amazed at what a relatively “undiscovered” gem of an option USC is for high performing students. I wish triathlons had existed when I was in college. I regularly compete now.</p>
<p>The TO, vibrant environment, rich and full college life and the amazingly engaged and happy atmosphere on campus are so evident visiting the USC campus. I am very glad to read from posters or their children that it is an experience that carries through a student’s tenure at USC. Thank you for your input.</p>
<p>Accepted USC Trsutee over Cornell for Engineering. Definitely not an easy decision, but the opportunities USC offers to trustee students (and both the football and weather) are hard to turn down!</p>
<p>Docfreedaddy,</p>
<p>S2 (and family) went through the same thought process as you and your daughter did. He gave up Stanford and full -tuition offers from two other schools, as well as offers of admission from UCLA, Berkeley, and Pomona College. USC was everything he wanted in a University, and once we worked thru the prestige factor, it became clear USC was his obvious choice. We had the experience of an older sibling choosing 3 years ago and we went with what we saw with our own two eyes, vs. ratings and rankings books, and it served us very well. When we applied the same stategy to S2, USC came out way ahead. Some important plusses for USC were:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It’s a University on the rise. They are pumping lots of resources into facilities, faculty, and recruiting bright students. </p></li>
<li><p>We had opportunity to dine with faculty and they were welcoming , excited, and just plain awesome.</p></li>
<li><p>Undergrad Business school with Global Leadership Program.</p></li>
<li><p>Thematic Option GE program (this was crucial for son, who loves classics, history, and literature). It filled in nicely as a substitute for a 4-year liberal arts college (Pomona).</p></li>
<li><p>Thorton School of music has some cool minors for non-music majors (and S2 is a huge musician, but didn’t want to major in music, and does want to stay involved in it in college.</p></li>
<li><p>We were all wowed by the campus and the students during Explore weekend. Everyone we spoke to was very happy to be at USC. The campus is vibrant and energetic (vs. Stanford that seemed relatively sterile). It was just plain fun to be there. S2 made many friends in 2 days at Explore, including a cute sophomore girl ;), so he came away feeling like he could adapt there very easily.</p></li>
<li><p>USC wants to pay full tuition for 4 years to have S2 there, and besides the obvious financial benefit, it made S2 feel wanted, and that meant alot to him.</p></li>
<li><p>We all felt that a great undergrad education can be obtained at many different colleges and universities- that it was mostly up to the student’s efforts and motivation. Said another way, we felt S2 would give himself a great education no matter where he went. Good students will do well no matter where they go. So why not save the tuition $$ for grad school and finish debt free.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thank you for your input. Yes, it does parallel my daughter’s and mine. You mention rankings which have obvious shortcomings which have been identified quite clearly. I marvel at the consistency of extremely positive academic and personal experiences students report from USC and how discordant this is from the rankings. Unfortunately for many, they do not have benefit of extensive personal experience to guide their decisions.</p>
<p>Im much older than many of the posters on this board but back in the 1980s I got into Stanford undergrad but went to USC instead. I received scholarships from both schools, based on need not merit. I was a well-rounded, over-achieving high school student, senior class president, played sports, had lots of EAs, etc. It was a very difficult decision then because USC was not the place it is today; however, there were several bright students, including two of my friends who got into S and two roomies who got into P and H. Most of them were either Trustee, Presidential, or Dean Scholars. To me, the main difference between Stanford and USC was that USC had a lot of school spirit and cohesiveness, things I did not find in the typical S student when I spent the weekend there. I did well at USC (Phi Beta Kappa) and ended up at a top ten law school. Its been wonderful watching the universitys reputation grow steadily year by year. One thing that is certain about USC: it attracts high achieving students who are well-rounded and have a lot of school spirit and pride. It was that overall well-roundedness and becoming a Trojan that tipped the scales for me. The typical USC student is confident, wants to go to there and doesnt dwell on where he or she could have gone. As an added career benefit, it has helped graduating from a college with a stellar football program, especially when interacting with business people who follow sports and/or also went to a school with a good program.</p>
<p>I feel like talking about instances where USC was chosen because of a scholarship doesn’t do justice to the school. It isn’t hard to make the economically wise choice and attend a school still ranked in the top 25. Anybody who wouldn’t choose USC in this situation would be crazy…
However, I am certain there are countless stories similar to mine, where students are accepted to higher ranked schools that offer more money, yet they still choose to go to USC and shoulder the debt. Those kind of choices are the ones that really put the school in the best light possible.</p>
<p>Thank you Nihility. That is a very good point. I appreciate your input. My only reason for phrasing the question of USC full merit plus TO honors vs. Ivy/Stanford is that is the situation my daughter faced. I was surprised by the pressure from her teachers, other students at her HS and those on Stanford cc to only consider Stanford. She chose what fit her experience, rather than rankings or ratings as perceived by others. I wondered about others who faced a similar situation. My daughter and I were remarkably, favorably impressed with all aspects of USC and in no way would I intentionally not do justice to USC.</p>