<p>We watched the numbers very carefully over the last few admissions cycles. In general, about 20,000 applicants will apply by the December 1st deadline for scholarship consideration. The last week of January to first week of February, somewhere between 800 and 1,000 of those applicants will be invited to interview for the Trustee (full tuition) or Presidential (1/2 tuition) scholarships. So perhaps 5% of all applicants are invited to interview. As a percentage of admitted students, 24% of the 2010 entering class was awarded a merit scholarship. <a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/1011/FreshmanProfile2010.pdf[/url]”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/1011/FreshmanProfile2010.pdf</a> So if you feel you are well-qualified for USC and are likely to be admitted, you may have as much as a 24% chance of receiving a scholarship. (This is an exaggeration, because it doesn’t account for students who choose not to matriculate… but I like the sound of it 
)</p>
<p>For the most part, those invited have very strong academic credentials, but a significant number do not have the “perfect stats” that “chancers” will tell you you need. Some applying to the SCA, Roski or Thornton catch the attention of USC with their portfolios. Others have something special in their application or essay that makes them stand out.</p>
<p>So in determining if it is “worth it,” you should consider the cost to you to apply by December 1st instead of January 10th. If your only cost is the opportunity to procrastinate another month before completing your application, then yes, it is probably very much “worth it.” Do you have something else keeping you from applying by 12/1?</p>
<p>You can find lots of useful links here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/952301-new-applicant-toolkit.html?highlight=toolkit+2011[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/952301-new-applicant-toolkit.html?highlight=toolkit+2011</a></p>
<p>Good luck!</p>