<p>which would you pay to attend?</p>
<p>is it true also that things cost more at USC overall than UCLA ne ways so it compensates?</p>
<p>Btw, only 12k out of the total 47k at USC is going to be from the college's grants, the rest are subsidized loans and workstudy programs</p>
<p>and what did UCLA decide? you should go with the school you like the best of course, but if finances are going to be a concern, take the cheapest option.</p>
<p>42K for UCLA? Arn't they a public school? Isn't that what I and everyone else pays taxes for?</p>
<p>ucla is giving me loans but nothing in grants and stuff since im out of state.</p>
<p>you should do a direct comparison of the two financial packages, and also examine the types of loans, and the interest rates accompanying them.</p>
<p>Still there public its outragious</p>
<p>for me UIUC was going to be 26K with loans. FIVE TIMES USC</p>
<p>well UCLA wont give a direct financial aid packet until after June which is far past the time in which I must send a deposit and agree to attend a school.</p>
<p>sounds like you should go for usc since they give you a combo package..but do they cover the whole tuition in the combo package? as long as you have some grants/work study/scholarships to cover it, you won't have to suffer with full tuition loans.</p>
<p>2500 in work study
1380 in fed perkins
2625 in subsidized fed stafford loans
and 11883 in univ. grant.</p>
<p>thats a total of 28718 I still need to pay and about 4000 in loans i need to pay back w/o interest</p>
<p>Go to USC. You crazy, man.</p>
<p>just a little advice..you should also call USC and ask if you are going to receive those grants after your freshmen year because some schools take those away to give to the new freshmen.</p>
<p>It is true that it's important to KNOW how much your package may/will change during the time you're in school. I know USC has SOME scholarships/grants for continuing students (likely a lot of competition for these as well). I have also heard that financial aid sometimes does make more of the package loans as the student is at USC longer but it may depend on the family EFC as well.
It is useful to speak with the financial aid office at USC (or have your family do so), so you have as good a view of the financial situation as possible. $100,000+ in loans is a LOT--$1700,000 is even more. Get details so you know as much as possible.</p>
<p><<it is="" true="" that="" it's="" important="" to="" know="" how="" much="" your="" package="" may="" will="" change="" during="" the="" time="" you're="" in="" school.="" i="" usc="" has="" some="" scholarships="" grants="" for="" continuing="" students="" (likely="" a="" lot="" of="" competition="" these="" as="" well).="" have="" also="" heard="" financial="" aid="" sometimes="" does="" make="" more="" loans="" student="" at="" longer="" but="" it="" depend="" on="" family="" efc="" well.="">></it></p>
<p>I've been trying to research our daughter's grant online and am not finding anything -- nor were there specifics that came in the mail with the award. We have assumed that if our EFC stays roughly the same, the grant would hold steady, and that the only change might be if our EFC went up, the grant could decrease. It frankly never occurred to us they might take some of the grant away in a future year and replace it with loans, which drastically changes the terms of the deal and makes it impossible to plan financially for all four years of college.</p>
<p>If they were to take away the grant and replace much of it with loans, she could no longer afford USC since we already have to fund part of the family contribution with a loan. We'll be talking to USC financial aid about this directly, but does anyone have a link to info specifically about the terms of USC university grants and whether they're allowed to replace grants with loans at will from year to year? And has anyone had that experience?</p>
<p>Here's a page about need-based grants:</p>
<p>Here's a page about merit-based scholarships for continuing USC students:</p>
<p>Lastly, here's a page with info about merit-based scholarships for entering undergrads:</p>
<p>I have read other threads which have discussed that the % of aid packages and/or amount of loan in any need-based aid package may increase as the student continues his/her education, since the student is supposed to pay a greater amount of their own ed expenses. Folks I have personally known who have sent their children to USC & received need-based aid have told me they have found the FAid office very reasonable and fair. It is best for you to clarify everything now, before you make any commitments. I spoke with the FAid office today and found them very easy to speak with and very nice.</p>
<p>I have no personal experience with need-based FAid because we do not qualify. My son will receive some USC merit-based aid, which is guaranteed for 4 years, provided son maintains a GPA of at least 3.0.</p>
<p>Many thanks for taking the time to respond! As it happens, I had read those pages at the USC site, but none of them seemed quite on point, i.e., whether the university has a policy to be able to change at will some of the way they meet "need" in future years by converting grants to loans, and my daughter's $4000 University Scholarship wasn't covered on the scholarship pages (i.e., whether it's renewable annually based on maintaining a satisfactory GPA).</p>
<p>I've emailed the financial aid office with these questions and will follow up by phone this week and/or in person next Sunday. Glad to hear they were easy to deal with.</p>
<p>If anyone has further information on this topic it would be appreciated! I found a couple old threads here (via Google) which indicated that USC may have had a "bait and switch" rep for financial aid in the past, but there was little if anything to substantiate that that is actually a current practice.</p>
<p>The University of Redlands, interestingly enough, commits in writing to increasing the grants slightly year to year to cover tuition increases, if your EFC stays the same, and if your EFC changes significantly they will still meet their portion with the same percentage of grant as in the original package. Right now my daughter is leaning strongly toward USC despite its higher cost (she has an excellent package from Redlands, where she'd be a third generation student for our family), but a lack of commitment from USC to maintaining the aid package for all four years would be a real stumbling block, as it's already going to be a big stretch for us. Hopefully it will turn out to be a non-issue!</p>
<p>My friend's son got a need-based merit scholarship which increased every year to keep pace with increased costs from USC. They also took out loans every year to help fund the balance, but were very happy with his funding at USC & glad he turned down a full-ride at Ripon in Wisconsin; he LOVED his 4 years at USC & is now a Trojan for life!</p>
<p>That is great to hear that USC has been reasonable to work with.</p>
<p>My brother was (is!) a Trojan and put our daughter on their mailing list, so whether she ends up at USC or Redlands, there will be a family connection. We were pleasantly surprised that USC's aid package turned out to be so competitive, it was one of her better offers -- now we just need to make sure it will remain so! :)</p>
<p>i still hear that the cost of doing stuff, within and outside of the college is far more expensive in usc so thus it compensates... true or false>?</p>
<p>How can you be sure the package will be the same? I mean, even if they say so, what if they change the policy after your second year? I am leaning towards USC but have great offers at UCI and CSULB (President's Scholar). I really want to go to USC but we don't have a lot of money and I'm losing sleep over the possibility of taking on so much debt, even with a good USC grant. I am also anticipating outside scholarships but the fin aid office at USC told me I would lose one loan and work study, but still have the Stafford loan, regardless of how much I bring in, plus my family share. Any outside scholarships would reduce the USC grant (I think they should split my outside scholarships or something) but wouldn't directly help my situation. The other schools remove all self-help before they reduce the size of the university grant, but USC doesn't, according to what they told me. I wish they would put all this in writing...</p>
<p>You CAN ask the schools to put everything in writing so you will understand your options, especially as it regards outside scholarships. Good luck--it sounds like you have some good choices.</p>
<p>By the weay, is your USC grant based on need rather than merit? For their merit awards, I understand you can keep them as long as you maintain 3.0 + meeting course requirement.</p>