USC’s NMF scholarship is half tuition. Housing is not included. USC also awards approximately 100 full-tuition Trustee scholarships/year. Obviously, it is very competitive. Your son has the academics to get in. He just needs to work on telling them why he would be a good fit.
I would suggest visiting campus, take both a general tour and the Viterbi (engineering) tour. Attend Discover USC in October. Have him work on his essays and really tell who he is and what he wants to do with his life. They know that things might change, but he should give them an idea of where his mind is at now. Make sure that his “Why USC” essay tells them how he sees himself on their campus and how he will add to their community. Look at Viterbi Voices, Engineering Plus and Grand Challenges.
For the UCs, he should use every possible space on that application to tell them who he is, what he did, what he can contribute to the campus community and, if possible, the larger, more global community.
Spend a lot of time looking at the different UC websites. They are not the same. Each school will tell you what they are looking for. Example: Berkeley’s what we look for, UCLA what we value, UCSC Principles of Community.
UCSB and UCB both have You Tube sites that go into detail about what he should include in his application.
Berkeley Admissions YouTube
- Admissions overview video
- What to include in your PIQ video.
UCSB Admissions You Tube - If you scroll down to the bottom, they have videos for counselors. They are long but they give good insight into the admissions process.