They aren’t even looking at a student’s choices until app closes, but you will be able to see the housing you can register for when you go to select your choices. Merit kids should see all the various configurations in McCarthy and other dorms like Birnkrant, Parkside, etc. You can always change housing choices after merit decisions come out if you don’t think you will have the priority to get what you want.
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Sorry to hear that but completely get it - it’s good for them to understand what is and isn’t doable. In the long run, it’s a great lesson. Best to him wherever he lands!
Curious how are the students chosen for merit scholarships ? Is it the academic rigor and GPA ? wondering why he isn’t moving forward.
They base it more on holistic factors, community involvement, leadership, academic achievement…
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Not sure I would agree. My daughter was the perfect holistic candidate for merit. Her own 501(c)(3) (that is real and active and has been awarded grants), numerous elected leadership positions including student government, newspaper, mock trial, NHS, and more. Multiple internships with government officials. Service awards. Academic awards. A state level government leadership position. A sport. And she wasn’t chosen. She also has a 4.4 GPA and a 35 ACT. She could not have possibly done more except in grades and test scores. So I am guessing grades and test scores were prioritized. The academic rigor was also there. IB program with HL courses at top school in the state.
Sorry to hear that. She has amazing accomplishments and drive.
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It’s not just rigor and grades, it’s much more holistic. They turn away 4,000+ with 4.0+gpa and 99th percentile test scores. Students with great/perfect grades, taking the hardest AP classes are everywhere. Not to take anything away from their hard work, but these days it is common place. And a lot of the activities students do are repetitive throughout the applicant population. They are looking for unique contributions to the class. Whether in experience or thought processes, they are looking for standouts and individuality.
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I think this is 100% correct. You need one or two things that no one else has done/tried which increases your chances. It is very hard to find these opportunities because many of the activities offered by the high schools are the same.
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Just for fun, the one example that sticks with me that was shared by an insider was a the midwest kid that worked odd jobs to pay for and get his pilots license all on his own (not from a wealthy family), then applied for aeronautical engineering with plans to build rockets or enhance the design of something or other, and of course had started a flying club at his hs, and taught younger kids about his flying experience. He didn’t do any of this to get into college, he did it because it was his passion, and it showed on his application and he was awarded the biggest scholarship at that time.
Not everyone can be all that, but there are kids like that out there…and there are only a few scholarships to go around.
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Is anyone waiting for the SCA results? Do they send out merit scholarship invitations today with the EA applicants or at a later date?
For those applying for financial aid… please just keep in mind that the eventual FA offering uses averages for the estimated cost of attendance in terms of tuition, student fees, room and board, travel, and other miscellaneous expenses. This is often to your advantage. Many end up spending less. Those estimates are not specifically tied to your real situation or eventual costs. So, in terms of housing, you will be evaluated based on the average expenses of a freshman for room and board. You can therefore choose a less expensive scenario, should that benefit you in terms of your needs related to the expected family financial contribution. And in doing so, you will benefit directly from that differential. And of course the same is true in reverse. You can choose a more expensive scenario, but that will not lead to more aid being offered. In essence, your family’s financial contribution will have to augment accordingly. Just something to keep in mind when choosing housing…
Your daughter will find her best school. My DD24 has impressive profiles but got deferred in EA. Another friend’s child got deferred too even though he got accepted to MIT in EA. I can only say USC is very hard to predict this year.
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This applies to all schools that have holistic admissions. It isn’t a check list of what you did. It is more about why and how you ended up doing it. Why did you get involved in a particular activity or organization? What did you learn from the experience? What impact did it have - not only on others, but on you? Did it motivate you to try something different or to choose a certain major? Did it influence your career aspirations? Did you take initiative? Did you tell about your drive and ambition? Schools know full well that college is a time of discovery and that plans will change, but they want to hear more than than a title/position and name of an organization.
As an example, one student writes that they were president of the HS robotics club that won a national competition. The title and the competition are impressive, but it doesn’t tell about the student. Another student writes about trying to fix their family’s outdoor table. They watched You Tube videos on how to weld it. They found welding interesting, got their welder’s certification and started making metal picture frames to give to their friends. They had a booth at a local holiday craft fair. They want to major in engineering, but would like to take business classes as well. Very different activities, but one tells more about the student, their motivation, their drive, etc.
USC in particular, wants to know why you feel that USC is the place where you want to pursue your education. They want to see that you’ve done research into opportunities at USC and that you convey how you will take advantage of them if admitted.
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Just FYI… in 2022 D22 was allowed to list only 3 McCarthy configurations at most. USC Housing told us it was the first year they limited it to 3. The rationale was that if there wasn’t space available in McCarthy then they needed to know the other dorms that she wanted (instead of randomly assigning her). Makes sense.
Also, you need to have lived in McCarthy freshman year to be eligible to live in Ilium (sophomore honors housing) the following year. Ilium is also in the Village and is super nice. Village housing as a sophomore is not easy to get - you need a very good lottery number to have a chance at the non-honors Village apts. However, living in McCarthy freshman year pretty much guarantees you a spot in the Village sophomore year (Ilium) which is also something to consider if your McCarthy-eligible student is considering living elsewhere freshman year.
Ilium-eligible students have their own lottery and room assignments the week before everyone else (I think it’s early Feb their freshman year).
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If your potential-merit scholar likes McCarthy I would list McCarthy configurations as their top choices. If they do not get awarded a merit scholarship in mid-March they can log back into the housing portal and change their housing choices. I don’t believe the housing lottery/assignments get held until late April or early May so there’s plenty of time to change your choices.
As a reference, D22’s year all Trustee and Presidential Scholars who wanted McCarthy got it. And some Deans Scholars as well, but not many.
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For what it’s worth, my kid toured in October with no expectations (we are not “dream school” people per se), found that it would appeal to all of their current interests/pursuits (STEM, arts, athletics), and it suddenly became a top school experience for them. Big enough, but small enough. Able to pursue and expand upon what they are already doing.
Unlike @pgray’s kid - sounds like they already have large merit awards currently, which is excellent and hope they capitalize on it - my kid has acceptances, but is not up for any awards nearly as large as USC’s at the moment, so the stakes are high here. Rigorous coursework well beyond their school’s offerings and a strong single-sitting test score, along with arts, volunteering and sport. Like many other wonderful kids out there who applied.
A kid can only attend one school. The best thing families can do is sit down together, run the numbers, and pick an option that is affordable/able to be paid for. I have been discussing with my kid the bind of student loans. So I told them they need to bring discount coupons (ie. scholarships) to the table as best as they can - that is their job. Then, we will run the numbers.
It’s possible that USC will be within range of any other school they get into, depending on how things go down the road. Hope all our kids get options that work out well for them.
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McCarthy is in the Village and so is Cale & Irani. McCarthy is only for freshmen merit scholars but Cale & Irani is open to all freshmen. But I believe Cale & Irani is mostly occupied by sophomores so there aren’t a lot of spaces for freshmen.
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Students are chosen for merit on a holistic basis. All of the candidates being considered already have high stats.
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You won’t hear anything from SCA until RD decisions. The scholarship announcements come out after RD decisions, so you would find out then with everyone else. In addition, SCA has SCA specific scholarships that came out in May last year. My daughter did end up interviewing with SCA before decisions were announced. We don’t know if this was for admissions or a scholarship, but she was a NMF so she would have received the presidential scholarship in either case.
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Yes, imagine being the “perfect holistic candidate” for admission and being deferred, much less receiving merit. That’s a ton of other amazing kids who didn’t fit into USC’s institutional priorities…and no one except admissions truly knows what those priorities are.
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