My D was offered spring admission, and the financial aid offer just came in. Basically, if she takes the $5500 loan and works to pay for all expenses herself (besides tuition, fees, and R & B), it leaves a parental contribution of about $17,500 on a yearly basis (not possible on our income). For another private school that meets full need, that figure comes in about $14,500 for her, and at two top instate schools that meet need it would be about $11,000. (Her FAFSA EFC is about $13,500, by the way.)
So I don’t think USC has really met full need, at least according to how most others define it. However, the USC appeal form basically says that they will only consider new, changed financial info, and they won’t consider what aid anyone else gives. Or in other words (it seems), “We’ve already decided how much we think you can give, and if it turns out to be 5% more of your income than other schools do, that’s just the way it is.”
Has anyone had success appealing financial aid here? (Without having circumstances like a job loss, sudden medical bills, that is.) We’d like to try to make things work for our D as far as at least having USC as an option, but it’s not looking good.
And yes, I am certainly aware that no one is guaranteed a package that they consider affordable, and that parental loans are an option (even at the lower figures we plan to take out at least some). I’m just wondering how much effort USC makes to get to somewhere within the neighborhood of what is considered typical need.