<p>To assess your chances of getting merit aid, consider:
- the percentage of admitted students who get merit aid
- the average amount of merit aid
- whether your stats would place you among the top ~25% of admitted students.
(“top 25%” may be too high or too low a threshold, depending on the competition, the amount available, and how much you need)</p>
<p>You can get all this information (and more) from the Common Data Set file available for many colleges. Google “Common Data Set” + (college name). See section C and section H.</p>
<p>Generally, unless your stats are phenomenal or you have some exceptional talent, your best shot at a large merit scholarship won’t be at the most selective colleges (see #3 above). </p>
<p>USC apparently does not publish a Common Data Set. They do offer merit aid and the average amount is relatively high (~$19K). However, it is one of the most selective schools to offer merit aid.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/1174329-usc-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/1174329-usc-merit-scholarships.html</a></p>