<p>Yes AMPH007</p>
<p>ndude- Also, length of an interview does not equate to a superb one.</p>
<p>AMPH007, if they applied by the Dec. 1 deadline, theoretically, and according to USC a couple of years ago, yes. </p>
<p>But practically speaking, a few seem to slip through the cracks, whether by fault of the USPS or USC or who knows. If you don’t receive the letter, just pretend you did (my son’s admission counselor told him as much when he didn’t get it).</p>
<p>And based on past years, if that’s worth anything, the “Deans wave,” if you will, wwill be mailed very shortly. I think some have been reported here already by people who received acceptances but no P/T interview.</p>
<p>bookworm, my Why USC essay wasn’t great—I got hung up on the one-paragraph limit. My engineering essays were better and more unique. Also, I live in San Diego, so you are probably right. Thanks for the info.</p>
<p>Yeh ik ndude. Its very unfortunate since I am also from SoCal. I feel “underpriviledged” haha. Fortunately I still got in, but no P/T 
I blame my location! But then again, if I was not here I would probably think USC was a bad school…</p>
<p>I keep reading this letter over and over but I don’t understand what the point of sending it was. I mean, I probably didn’t receive the big scholarships because I never got a red envelope in the first place. Yet they still want to tell me I may qualify for scholarships. But they don’t want to tell me if I will get in. But they say at the end, “You will be hearing from us soon.” Sounds positive? Anyways, I say that from now on, The CC community refers to this letter as the MLON—the Mysterious Letter of Nothing.</p>
<p>thanks for the reply jazz/shredermom.</p>
<p>So does that mean that all the Pres/Trustee scholarships have been dealt out and know Dean’s are the only ones left? I just can’t seem to get my head around how USC is going about this whole process haha.</p>
<p>ndude, I think they send it because they know that people like you are hearing about others getting early acceptances w/ invitations to scholarship interviews. If you applied by Dec. 1, they want to let you know they didn’t forget about you.</p>
<p>I know how hard it is, though. Believe me. And from what I can see, I’m sure you’ll have amazing offers from lots of schools, probably including USC.</p>
<p>AMPH, we just don’t know. If you receive the “no scholarship letter,” it means you won’t be one of the few who get the P or T scholarship. If everyone else begins reporting those No Scholarship letters, we might begin to assume the P’s and T’s are all mailed. But perhaps there is another wave. We can hope. And we can certainly hope there’s a new wave coming of early acceptances with the Dean’s. </p>
<p>Alamemom?</p>
<p>Disappointed. My daughter a NMSF, and two of her classmates NMSF, no letters yet. </p>
<p>I know it is competitive, but with SAT 2310, Presidential Scholar nominee, max AP schedule, State finalist 2 sports, accomplished 2 musical instruments, public service and sibling at USC. I didn’t imagine her ap wouldn’t get an explore invitation.</p>
<p>^^pundad, it may be due to the college your DD applied to and how many others did too-nothing more. competition is especially fierce this year, since USC now accepts the common app. I’m sure when they release the total # of applications the numbers will be very hi.
I’m pretty sure the invitations to interview are “divvied up” to the various colleges at USC, and are not just sent out to the statistically “best of the best” students overall. If a student has skills or interests that a dept is looking for, he might be offered an invitation over other statistically “superior” students applying to different majors. The interviews are conducted by a prof from the college the student applied to, in addition to an admissions officer and a current scholarship winner from that college.</p>
<p>^^^that</p>
<p>I think part of the reason I was admitted is cuz i had diverse interests. I am going to be an Economics major with a Pre-Medical emphasis. If you went to “Meet USC” events, all they talk about is diversity in students education. To me it seemed like that was all they were looking for. Someone who can do an Art and Bio major, or a chemistry and english major.</p>
<p>
Note: The “blank piece of paper” was the address page that showed through the window in the envelope. It has nothing to do with the Dean’s scholarship.</p>
<p>The early admits who did not receive an invitation to interview for the Presidential or Trustee are the ones most likely to receive word that they have been awarded the Dean’s scholarship. Those who have not been admitted yet and who applied by December 1st are eligible for the many other USC scholarships that will be awarded in late March.</p>
<p>
They say “by April 1st” in several places on the admissions website, and it has been my observation over four cycles that there have been no postmarks later than April 1st. The “early April” statement allows for the variations in USPS delivery.</p>
<p>If you are admitted and choose to wait until after the deadline to respond, feel free to do so. There may or may not be space when you do get your commitment deposit in.</p>
<p>yes to menloparkmom - I think you have it. The P/T interview booklet that arrived in the acceptance package stated that they are looking at much more than pure stats. It is who the particular person is as stated in his/her application that attracted the admissions/college faculty to that student, along with what they think that student will bring to USC as a whole. The interviews are to verify their interest is my guess. I can’t quite remember all the wording, but passion, drive, talent, leadership, vision - these come to mind.</p>
<p>Seriously though - this generation of kids has it tough and it is even tougher for admissions to try to sort through all of you - you are all really great. It will work out - I promise you, as having gone through this already with an older one. Just hang in there. This time next year the chances are that you all will be extremely happy.</p>
<p>Pundad - Your disappointment is misplaced: if she is accepted and names USC as her first-choice school by the deadline, your daughter will receive a Presidential Scholarship (1/2 tuition) + $1,000 with the advantage that there is no possibility that she will be bumped down to Dean’s or Directors as some of the Trustee and Presidential interviewees will.</p>
<p>
Though this was not the information you were hoping for, it is information nevertheless.</p>
<p>The letter you received contains the following information:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>You have not been selected to interview for the Presidential or Trustee.</p></li>
<li><p>Your application is still under consideration for admission.</p></li>
<li><p>If admitted, you are eligible for one of the many other scholarships USC offers to December 1st applicants.</p></li>
<li><p>Your decision will be mailed by April 1st.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>There are many other posters who very much wanted to know one way or another so they do not have to wonder if they should run to the mailbox each day, or if their scholarship invitation was lost in the mail, or sent to a wrong address, or their application was incomplete. </p>
<p>I am sorry you are disappointed. The college application process can be a very difficult time.</p>
<p>alamemom–I see where you are coming from. I kind of figured all that already, but I’m sure that there are plenty of people out there who do have those concerns and anxiety. It does feel a bit better to have some “closure” haha.</p>
<p>Alamemom - I’m afraid my sardonic sense of humor is lost on you. Of course the blank piece of paper is just an address page. But the recipient of this letter is anticipating good news regarding a scholarship, and when there is no mention of any scholarship, and just an address page, the fact that he or she is admitted gets totally deflated. Just look at all the confusion on this thread. The applicant is thinking, “Yeah, I guess I’m happy I’m admitted, but I thought I’d be hearing about a scholarship. And all these other people are posting about their scholarships, and others are telling me to sit tight because in past years students in my situation typically have been offered Dean’s scholarships a week or so later in a separate mailing.” For crying out loud, mail the Dean’s scholarship offer with the acceptance letter!</p>
<p>My suggestion for giving admitted students the ability to wait until after May 1 to notify USC of their decision to matriculate was also meant to be taken ironically. I’ll be honest: I get the point about the nice package being sent via USPS for the scholarship recipients. But for everyone else - admits, deferrals, and rejections - on April 1, hit the send button. </p>
<p>By the way, the last post by the USC Admissions Department on their blog was January 18. Today is February 1. Because I have no clue as to when they’ll venture back into cyber space, I’ll take a random guess and set the over/under at Valentine’s Day for the next post. In the meantime, long live CC!</p>
<p>It’s a frustrating time for many on this forum who have an application in this cycle (or a S or D who is applying). It seems a lot of people accept that admission results to the top 10 schools in the country are amazingly hard to predict due to the fact there are many more excellent applicants than spaces available, but then are surprised and angry about USC merit decisions. But with 27,000 students vying for 1000 spots, only 3.7% this year received an invitation. That’s crazier odds than any ivy–and among a pool of equally highly gifted hopefuls. Just think, it’s about twice as easy to get accepted to Yale or Harvard than it is to get a USC scholar invitation. </p>
<p>As for all the confusion and strain surrounding notification, I agree with those who would prefer online notification at a pre-selected date. Admittees would lose the excitement of receiving the traditional admissions packet, but a vast number of kids and families would get relief and closure. There is charm and tradition in the old way, but when news and even misinformation travels at the speed of electricity, people have a new urgency to get their news fast. The time may have passed for the vagaries of snail mail. In our world of instant online data, I expect all schools will transition to the high tech notifications in the next few years. I know some alums may regret the move, but I believe clear, effective and authoritative communications are a way for the University to show compassion to all the nervous students awaiting answers.</p>
<p>
Yes, I know that you were in on the original exchange about the address insert. As I am sure you are aware, posters coming into a 20-page thread rarely look at any page other than the 20th page. I felt your “sardonic sense of humor” in purposely posting misinformation would re-ignite the confusion from several pages back for those new to the thread.</p>
<p>Many of your complaints about USC are actually about social networking sites. USC didn’t post that people were receiving scholarships (until yesterday [url=<a href=“http://twitter.com/USCAdmission]Twitter[/url”>http://twitter.com/USCAdmission]Twitter[/url</a>] ), USC didn’t post that if you are admitted early you are likely to get a Dean’s, it was all on social networking sites. USC has been consistent in their information - it is the information from posters like me on college confidential with which you seem unhappy (which is fine - in many ways I agree).
Yes. And my reply that you should give a whirl and see what happens if you do wait until after the deadline was meant to be in jest. Well… mostly in jest…</p>
<p>alamemom - “mostly in jest…” Touche! I like it. And fair enough on your immediately previous retort. The fact we’re on the 20th page of this thread might be telling us something, however. (By the way, I love the information you provide.)</p>
<p>madbean - very well said, much better than my attempt.</p>