<p>We’re in Southern California, and faced the same(ish) situation five years ago. Didn’t need to take out loans for USC but UCLA was less expensive. DS decided on USC because of some smaller merit scholarships and Marshall’s GLP program. He was able to graduate with honors in dual degrees in four years. USC was great… internships, mentors, and so much more. He secured a great post-grad job in September of his senior year and it’s worked out quite well.</p>
<p>That being said, his HS classmates with comparable stats who went to UCLA also did well and thrived in the Business Econ program.</p>
<p>It wouldn’t hurt to reach out to Marshall and explain your dilemma, as there may be some merit scholarships that are at the discretion of Marshall to distribute.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, you have great choices, congrats! But graduating without loans to repay is huge. If we needed to take out loans, we would have chosen UCLA.</p>