I know I posted this in the Clemson forum, but was hoping to get the USC side of things as well as this is my first choice school.
I was accepted to both Clemson and the University of South Carolina as a OOS (New York) transfer student, currently a sophomore, and both schools basically told me that they offer no need-based aid, grants, or any scholarships in general to OOS transfer students. With a family income of <40k it is just not the least bit realistic to pay 35k out of pocket for either of these schools as a pre-med/pre-PA student… But I want nothing more than to be able to attend these schools at a more affordable price. I hate it here in New York, and cant imagine spending the rest of my college experience here.
Anyway, has anyone had any luck with getting more financial aid after attending a semester at USC or even after their first year at USC? Or should I expect to be paying full OOS price my entire time there? Thanks in advance to any responders, also fairly new to these forums but have been doing quite a bit of reading lately!
I don’t think grades are too important as a transfer, but my GPA is above a 3.5, with no high school scholars or anything like that as I never planned on attending college and didn’t treat high school the way I should have.
I find it odd that they wouldn’t offer you any need-based aid, whatsoever. I mean certain things they have to offer you if you qualify, such as the Federal Pell Grant and the Stafford Loans. But I would say, they aren’t exactly generous with institutional aid. All of my funding, except for $500 comes from either the SC government or the federal government.
For what it’s worth, as an in-state student with a 0 EFC, I was offered the following federal money this year:
$10500 in loans (sub, unsub, and Perkins)
$2500 in work study
$5730 in Federal Pell
$1500 in the Federal Supplemental Grant
Otherwise, I got about $7000 between my Life scholarship (only for SC residents), SC Need-Based Grant, and an in-state scholarship from USC.
I would tend to think that if you file your FAFSA extremely early in future years and you have a low EFC, then you would probably receive more money. I was told that things such as the Supplemental Grant and Work Study are given first-come first serve based on FAFSA file date and EFC. So if you have a 0 EFC and file really early, then you should be at the top of the list for those grants.
You can also apply for departmental scholarships and I HIGHLY recommend this, because even if you receive a small $500 scholarship, then that would probably qualify you for reduced out-of-state tuition. (I’m not exactly sure what the cut-off is, but it is definitely something that I would look into as an out-of-state student, because all of a sudden that small $500 scholarship could be worth $1000’s.)
Do you play a band instrument? From the Carolina Band website: All out-of-state full-time Carolina Band students who are not already receiving a tuition reduction from other scholarships or sources on campus will receive a tuition reduction for the fall and spring semesters of the 2015-16 academic year. Based on the 2014-15 tuition rates, this waiver reduces out-of-state tuition from $14,520 per semester and $29,040 per year to $7,992 per semester and $15,984 per year. That’s a savings of over $13,000 for out-of-state students marching in the Carolina Band!
These are PUBLIC universities. Most public universities don’t give discounts/FA to OOS students who are not residents of the state, whose parents are not either taxpayers or voters of that state. Read the school’s FA webpage for its policy regarding residency requirements.
Then apply to PRIVATE schools. Private schools grant FA without regard of your state residency. Don’t waste your time pursuing the public schools which clearly state they don’t give aid to nonresidents.