<p>onthefly
My S and a number of his friends at USC are McNair winners. While there is a number metric for SAT’s and GPA’s that you can look up it is based on more than just that.</p>
<h1>1 you have to be willing to fill out the additional application, which some students are just too intimidated by, or just dont want to bother with after slogging through all their other admissions stuff. It is long, and involved.</h1>
<h1>2 the McNair committee,or judges, or whomever is deciding, look for some specific characteristics.Their philosophy is that they are providing this amazing opportunity for students on the campus,and those students should be future real contributors to the USC community…scholarship wise, and leadership wise. You shouldn’t just be showing them 60+ hours of community service…they want to know what made your service hours stand out. You have to show them you had initiative in H.S., and that you will continue on that path in college. You have to knock that application out of the ballpark!!</h1>
<p>There is an interview weekend associated with the scholarship as well. S’s interview committee enjoyed the fact that he held a leadership position in an organization, played a sport and held a paying outside job concurrently.They like your summers to have been well spent and of course, academic rigor goes w/o saying…have you taken AP’s?Honors ? College classes?
Be prepared to discuss matters outside of your studies…current events,books you read for pleasure,etc.</p>
<p>As far as getting a “free ride” USC is a place where this is possible…maybe rare, but possible They do allow the stacking of scholarships,so if you get an in school academic one, plus maybe an outside one,plus a departmental one, they will all be allowed to be used against your costs.In some cases, you can be awarded two in school merit scholarships (not departmental),the Lieber scholarship for National Merit Finalists is an example of one that can be stacked with a McNair, or Carolina or other merit ones.
As far as applying for the departmental scholarships as MeKimber mentioned, USC reserves applying for those until AFTER you are accepted AND enroll.Then they will notify you of the availability in your major dep’t or you can find the opportunity on your dep’t websites.
Good Luck , and apply early!! Just PM me if you want more info.</p>