Yes, I believe the cost at UCLA is around $35K (tuition/room & board/fees) so USC with NMF Presidential Scholarship is still around 30-50% more expensive depending on how many roommates/meal plan you choose (freshman are required to have the most expensive meal plan).
However, we think the extra cost is worth it because of what USC provides: ease of scheduling (D22 has always gotten the classes that she wanted/needed), smaller class size, access to advisors, research opportunities (even for freshman), housing options for the first 2 years (McCarthy (freshman honors dorm) and Ilium (sophomore honors dorm) are both REALLY nice), among other factors.
Some suggested not reporting NMSF in the application. But in the school specific portion of the Common App, USC asks: are you currently being considered for NMF? S24 answered yes, and that’s the only way we would answer that question. How did people left NMSF out from the application?
A couple of mine got into UCLA & UCB engineering (and USC) and another in a liberal arts major could have gone to UCLA, plus a USC athlete (no brainer, USC all the way on that one). Lots of kids, lots of money on college, so we were really looking, it wasn’t just a USC or bust approach at that time (except for the athlete). UCLA is gorgeous and a great school, no question. UCB has an amazing reputation, (although not a fan of the campus), but for us, it all came down to a few key factors that pushed us to USC:
We like private education. Did public schools up to high school then went private. So we learned the difference there and liked what we paid for.
Being able to change majors (nearly impossible at some publics) and the ease to double major and/or add a minor. One of mine changed majors 5 times (yes 5 times, her advisor knew her well). But it wasn’t till that 5th one that I got the call with tears of joy, knowing she was now in the right major (and now works in said industry). My biggest fear was for any of mine to spend 4 years in a college (and that we were paying for) and stuck in a major they didn’t really want to be in. Two double majored and one did major and minor. Not everyone goes to college knowing what they want to be. I wanted them to be able to explore and if they found a passion, be able to go for it.
The Trojan family network thing - it is real. Connections matter when they get out. I just wasn’t that familiar with grads from some of the other schools actually helping each other out. They didn’t have that family helping family feel that went beyond the four years. Every one of mine uses and has very close Trojan connections that have been amazing from watching a game together with alum they just met when across the country or getting a job and everything in between.
California is crowded and fighting for resources is a daily struggle, didn’t want my kids having to do that in college (getting classes, lunch, opportunities with profs, etc).
We found the cost wasn’t as big a difference when factoring in being assured you can graduate in 4 years (versus paying for more for another year at UC) and bonus of getting 2 majors or major/minor, which can be done (when well planned for) at USC.
And last one, sounds dumb (and helicopter parent kind of thing) but it was big for us at the time, including my student. Room mate selection was random at UCLA, meaning my studious engineer could be placed with two, let’s call it “more party type” major students (no judgement just different). And having to leave room to study seemed a pain. USC had great room mate matching (worked fantastic) and limit 2 to a room in most dorm situations.
But gosh oh golly, money is a big part of the equation obviously, both are great educations and experiences, we just wanted the bit more flexibility that we felt we could get at USC, and believed it was worth paying for. It was. And I do still enjoy getting the fight on sign when traveling somewhere in the world or driving on some interstate when we have something USC visible on us or the car. Little bonus.
We attended a Viterbi information session in October 2023 and the engineering rep specifically said their intention was to admit 50/50 between EA and RD this year.
This is a great point. D22 struggled with deciding between UCB, UCLA, UCSD (with Regents), and USC. Ultimately we feel like she really made the best choice in USC. She has friends that go to UCB, UCLA, UCSD who have had to take summer classes (and pay for them!) just to be able to graduate in 4 years (they couldn’t get into the classes they needed during the school year since they were always filled).
D22 on the other hand has never had this issue and should be able to graduate from USC in 6 semesters (maybe 7) with a major + minor, which would save us a full year (or maybe half a year) in tuition. That definitely needs to be factored into the cost equations.
Mine also took advantage of the Academic Achievement Award. AAA allows Fall or Spring registration of up to 21 units at the standard full-time tuition rate. The purpose of the award is to allow highly motivated students with excellent academic records to complete multiple undergraduate degree objectives without adding to their time-to-degree.
This helped engineer double major in 7 semesters and just take 6 credits the last semester while doing internship.
I checked the PDF saved from common app and didn’t see the question about NMF… Maybe it was not displayed in the generated PDF? Does anyone else remember if there is a question about NMF? My son did not put NMSF in honors but if there is a specific question about NMF, I think he would answer yes
Kid says he does not remember that question (his memory is pretty good but that was quite a few apps ago!). He did have it listed in the honors section.
Congratulations to all who were admitted to USC EA!!! And good luck with the merit announcements to come in February.
Clearly, any highly competitive process that includes such an extremely low acceptance rate is daunting. Those who successfully navigated through that selection process and gained an offer of admission are to be commended.
But there is also no escaping that such a process is a very cruel numbers game for most. It also means that 90%+ of all applicants participating in the EA round saw their final decision deferred to March. I know that any such deferment is disappointing. Both of my daughters were very disappointed by the January results when they applied too.
This process is also very taxing and difficult for the admissions staff at USC themselves. They are balancing a # of factors and points of comparison while trying to craft a diverse and well-rounded freshman class. From their perspective, they are not really passing on or rejecting applicants. Instead, they are selecting a very limited # of applicants to further that goal. They are limited by the reality that they can only target a freshman class of circa 3K enrollees. USC’s projected yield rate also means that they can only admit roughly 7900 in total (EA + RD) by April 1st. No college or university relishes in disappointing more than 90 percent of their applicant pool. And I know that the admissions staff at USC takes their role very seriously. And toward the goal of realizing a targeted core group of 3K or so eventual enrollees, they are also forced to factor in a # of considerations that may be outside the control of each individual applicant… like FirstGen status, legacy considerations, ethnicity, state or country of residence, etc. It is a lot to balance. But it also means that any individual applicant’s deferment or even eventual failure to gain admission cannot simply be broken down to a simple formula for comparison.
The vast majority of students attending USC now… and the vast majority of USC alums worldwide… were admitted in March and not January. 5500 or so more applicants will be receiving offers of admission before April 1st, likely during the last week or so of March. So, keep the faith and remain hopeful.
There is a big problem with third parties charging and trying to grab personal information from students on social media sites. One third party link was already posted up thread.
USC is sending out the Zee Mee link to try to prevent students from naively sharing personal info on unsecure social media sites.
Yes… I am aware. But, I also suspect that the reality for most colleges will be far from such… as they will ultimately tie the admission decisions to other factors… yet the results will still deliver similar ends. I.E. - they will generate similar outcomes in terms of ethnic diversity albeit by targeting other factors known to admissions.
The most recent published freshman profile for USC that I could find was as follows:
USC Class of 2026
New first-year students 3,420
First-generation college-goers 22%
Scions (legacy students) 14%
Female 54%
Male 46%
Race / Ethnicity:
White 25%
Asian / Asian American 22%
International (student visa holders) 18%
Latinx / Hispanic 17%
Black / African American 8%
Multiple Ethnicities 7%
Not reported 2%
Native American or Pacific Islander 1%
I suspect that subsequent breakdowns in the years to follow that Supreme Court decision will still mirror the prior trends to a very considerable degree. I could be wrong, but their goal of a diverse and well-rounded freshman class will likely still survive and persevere somehow.
Correction:
I double-checked with my son. Now he said that he’s not sure. It could be a question from different schools such as UChicago or Vanderbilt to which he applied. The original statement might have unintentionally insinuated that other students misrepresented information, and that’s not what I attempted to suggest.
