<p>Hi, I’m a junior that really wants to go to USC. However, my family’s income is about 150K+, so to put it plainly, we’re not poor but we’re not rich enough to afford 50K each year because of my younger siblings. Could anyone who’s gotten either the presidential, trustee, or any other scholarships share some of their stats or any advice on how to get scholarships? Thanks a lot</p>
<p>Get straight As, get a high SAT I score, do a lot of activities. or you can take a look at the stats thread and see, it also depends on your major too. My friend with a 2310 was only invited to a Presidential vs Trustee because he did Engineering, when most people with 2300s get invited for Trustee.</p>
<p>Just my opinion…</p>
<p>Hi KB24yo, My son was awarded the Presidential Scholarship and I think I can shed some light on your question. USC allocates a certain number of Trustee and Presidential scholarships to each major.</p>
<p>The important point to understand is that you will only be competing against other applicants in your major. My son was accepted to the Annenberg School of Journalism so he was selected from a group of other Annenberg candidates and then ultmately won the Presidential Scholarship.</p>
<p>Virtually all the candidates that interviewed from majors like Engineering and Cinema likely had way higher stats than my son, yet some of them did not receive the scholarship.</p>
<p>From what I’ve gathered, USC appears to select the top 10% of applicants from each major. This is where it gets tough to try to predict if a certain candidate will be selected to interview for merit aid because it so subjective.</p>
<p>Although there are probably certain minimum acceptable GPA and SAT/ACT standards for each major, I speculate that each major is looking for something different each year to fill the needs of that department. Other elements such as diversity, written essay and extra curriculars will determine the top 10%.</p>
<p>My best advice would be to make sure your SAT/ACT scores are high for the major you apply for, write a great essay that gets you noticed and shows your passion for your major, and get some internship experience in the field of study you are interested in as well. </p>
<p>Lastly, apply to the Ivys and other top schools because you will be asked in the interview what other schools you applied to. They are looking to attract those top students who are accepted to top schools.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>