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hummingbird
Member
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Posted: Sun Mar 25th, 2007 02:20 am |
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USC offers some nice scholarships (Trustee, Presidential, Deans), but it appears they are for freshman only, and it's not clear if they are renewable.
http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/sg/entering_undergrad_meritbased/
Does anyone have any insight here?
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entomom
Member
| Joined: | Mon Mar 6th, 2006 |
| Location: | Oregon USA |
| Posts: | 362 |
| Mana: |    |
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Posted: Sun Mar 25th, 2007 02:30 am |
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I'm not familiar with them, but reading the link, they say that the student must maintain a 3.0 gpa, so I'd assume they're renewable.
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hummingbird
Member
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Posted: Sun Mar 25th, 2007 04:24 am |
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| It was the "for entering freshmen only" that got me. But now that I think about it, I think they mean entering freshmen as opposed to transfer students. Thanks!
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DesperateDad
Member
| Joined: | Tue Mar 14th, 2006 |
| Location: | California USA |
| Posts: | 832 |
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Posted: Sun Mar 25th, 2007 03:27 pm |
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| yes, they are renewable, but very competitive. Even tho USC loves high test scores, a friend with a 2400, 3x800 only recieved a half scholarship (but full ride to Rice).
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WestrnMom
Super Moderator
| Joined: | Fri May 26th, 2006 |
| Location: | West Coast, USA |
| Posts: | 1173 |
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Posted: Sun Mar 25th, 2007 07:55 pm |
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USC gives excellent scholarships and aid packages if you qualify.
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nekogirl
Banned
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Posted: Thu May 17th, 2007 05:00 am |
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I was a recipient of the Trustee (full-tuition) Scholarship at USC. It is good for 4 years, but with a high academic requirement (I think you had to maintain 3.5 GPA to renew every term). I went to school there in the early 90s, when competition was depressed because of school's proximity to the LA Riots. It is much more competitive now than it used to be. I was at the top of my class at a mid-sized public high school, 4 AP courses (all my school offered), 1410 SAT (on the old 1600 scale). I wouldn't expect to be in contention for that scholarship with those stats today.
What I caution people about the merit scholarships at USC is not to judge the educational experience by the price tag. Granted, I don't know how much has changed in the past 10 years, but academic engagement was not a prominent feature of my classes, with the exception of the Thematic Option honors program during my freshman year. USC is very much a social networking school. It's my impression that they've been successful in attracting more intellectual students through the merit scholarship programs, but Greek life still dominates campus social life. I was very shy in high school, so I thought the social atmosphere would help me grow, but after sticking it out for 4 years, I realized it was probably not the best social atmosphere for me. Once I got the scholarship, I was mentally locked in and afraid to even consider going somewhere else, even though I knew some Trustee Scholars who had transfered to other schools because USC was not intellectually fulfilling for them. I look back at my undergraduate years and I wish I had been more open to change. I got a good education, but had I reached out I might have found a school that was a better fit for my personality.
I'm a teacher now and I work with the AVID program to promote college-awareness at my junior high school. When I tell kids that I had a scholarship that paid for 4 years at USC, their eyes pop out of their head. It's hard to get over the dollar amount (which was $100,000 when I went to school and is now probably at least double), but I focus on the message that it really is important to make sure you fit with the school first, and let the financing follow that decision. Reading the Atlantic Monthly article on enrollment management really deflated my idealism. I wasn't aware how much manipulation goes on behind those financial aid packages. I wish money wasn't such a strong incentive, but my own experience is a testament to how powerful it is.
Last edited on Thu May 17th, 2007 05:02 am by nekogirl
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leftcoast
Member
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Posted: Thu May 17th, 2007 08:17 am |
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Neko, here's an article that might make you feel somewhat more comfortable about your choice:
Student loan agency faces new scrutiny
Collection fees, other charges overwhelming those in default
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/16/MNGL5PRQ8C1.DTL&hw=student+loan&sn=001&sc=1000
Here's what happened to another California teacher who attended college about the same time you did: Julie Ahrens, a third-grade teacher in Hesperia in San Bernardino County, originally borrowed $37,500 in federal loans from Sallie Mae in the late 1980s and early '90s. After she was declared in default in 2006, EdFund purchased the loan. It had grown to $86,000 because she didn't make her payments, partly because she was in school and partly because of confusion and disagreement over what she owed.
Within a year of taking over the loan, EdFund added its 25 percent collection fee, increasing the loan another $21,500. Together with interest charges, Ahrens now owes $113,000. If she makes no payments, EdFund's collection fee formula will push the loan from $113,000 to $150,000 over the next four years, according to agency officials.
"I got caught in this quagmire," Ahrens said. "I don't know how to get out of it."
So yes, in hindsight you might have made a choice of a better fit college -- but that money was nothing to sneeze at. If you compare your choice to a "dream school" it may seem like you shortchanged yourself -- but if your finances were limited, the true choice might have been comparing USC to a UC campus or CSU.
In terms of current students looking at today's college costs.... it's good to go into situations well informed and with eyes open, but finances are still an important factor.
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CarolynLawrence
Administrator
| Joined: | Sun Mar 5th, 2006 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 3216 |
| Mana: | |
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Posted: Fri May 18th, 2007 12:25 am |
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nekogirl wrote:
I'm a teacher now and I work with the AVID program to promote college-awareness at my junior high school. When I tell kids that I had a scholarship that paid for 4 years at USC, their eyes pop out of their head. It's hard to get over the dollar amount (which was $100,000 when I went to school and is now probably at least double), but I focus on the message that it really is important to make sure you fit with the school first, and let the financing follow that decision. Reading the Atlantic Monthly article on enrollment management really deflated my idealism. I wasn't aware how much manipulation goes on behind those financial aid packages. I wish money wasn't such a strong incentive, but my own experience is a testament to how powerful it is.
Nekogirl, First, welcome. Second, you are giving your AVID students perfect advice, and that is wonderful.
One thing to keep in mind is that "the best match" is also where you're most likely to get the best financial aid package (maybe not in size but in terms of loans)--those same enrollment managers also use financial aid leveraging to attract the most desirable students.
So, students do have some power in the process IF they focus on that all important fit and cast a wide net. Unfortunately, most students don't have teachers like you leading them through the process and that's where my own idealism sometimes gets deflated.
Last edited on Fri May 18th, 2007 12:26 am by CarolynLawrence
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