Should I interview at USC?

[leagueofDravenMD]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Just looked at the cost of attendance, which is HUGE and a big concerna as of now. I am doubtful that I will receive any merit scholarship, as USC is the highest "ranked" school that I was offered an interview at. I live on the east coast so checking the school out will cost me 1000 dollars (lost pay, flight, etc).

For sake of simplicity, I guess my naive top priorities are cost of attendance, commute(will I need a car?) and matching into ortho.

Some background:
Accepted at Tufts. Interviewed at UCONN, Albert Einstein and Miami.
74 LizzyM, well rounded EC's (shadowing, volunteering, research, limited leadership), ORM.
I was rejected pre-interview at Uchicago, NYU, Tulane, and BU.

Also, 1 out of 2 parents is employed and makes 120K, supporting 1 other kid. Is this far from "need based" awards?

 

[NotYou20]

Do you like tufts a lot? If there's a chance you'll like usc more I'd go to the interview. 1k is peanuts compared to coa,I wouldn't decide based on that. Isn't tufts really expensive too?

Also, 1 out of 2 parents is employed and makes 120K, supporting 1 other kid. Is this far from "need based" awards?

Very lmao

 

[aalamruad]

Just looked at the cost of attendance, which is HUGE and a big concerna as of now. I am doubtful that I will receive any merit scholarship, as USC is the highest "ranked" school that I was offered an interview at. I live on the east coast so checking the school out will cost me 1000 dollars (lost pay, flight, etc).

For sake of simplicity, I guess my naive top priorities are cost of attendance, commute(will I need a car?) and matching into ortho.

Some background:
Accepted at Tufts. Interviewed at UCONN, Albert Einstein and Miami.
74 LizzyM, well rounded EC's (shadowing, volunteering, research, limited leadership), ORM.
I was rejected pre-interview at Uchicago, NYU, Tulane, and BU.

Also, 1 out of 2 parents is employed and makes 120K, supporting 1 other kid. Is this far from "need based" awards?

Tufts and Keck are the same price

 

[Gibbward]

Tufts and USC are going to cost you around the same price so I don't think that should stop you from interviewing, unless you were given a scholarship for Tufts. You will definitely need a car in LA. USC also matched 10 people into ortho last year according to their news release (I don't know if that's good or bad? But that does tell me that if you have the board scores and the application for it, you should be able to match into ortho). They also have an ortho department so that should be helpful.

I was accepted to USC and I think it's a great program, even if it's gonna cost a lot of money.And at this point what's another 1k when you're probably gonna be on hundreds of thousands in $ of loans for the next 4 years right?? I say you go to your interview, then spend another 2 or 3 days chilling in SoCal. Get some excellent asian and mexican food. Hang out at the beach. Go to Disneyland. Watch a Lakers game. Make a mini-vacay out of it!

 

[yungspleen]

I'd choose Tufts anyways. USC tuition is ridiculous and cost of living will be higher. Also Boston>LA in general, and the area USC is located in is pretty bad.

 

[DokterMom]

Go to the interview. Cost of attendance is pretty similar, and the Boston><LA sentiment is a very personal thing. YMMV

 

[Domepiece]

Since you applied to UCONN, I am assuming you are from NE. If nothing else, you get to kick it in SoCal for a few days for the interview which isn't so bad in the middle of winter.