<p>Columbia_Student, there is also a “University Scholarship” that is based on merit. I am quite sure about this because I received BOTH a University Grant AND a University Scholarship. (Both on top of my Presidential Scholarship.) The University Scholarship was *in addition *to the Presidential Scholarship and, like most merit scholarships, has a gpa requirement to be renewed. It also will be renewed REGARDLESS of need. (I received an award letter that clearly stated that.) The University Grant only requires continuing financial need.</p>
<p>CSS PROFILE?! Oh no, I filed the profile for all of my other colleges by Feb 2, but when I searched for University of Southern California, nothing came up so I thought they didn’t require it! But after reading this thread, and seeing “it uses FAFSA and CSS profile” I went back again right now and it still didn’t work!
Then I tried just USC (not the full name) and it worked! I’m so upset, it only came up when I put USC, but not the whole name! Does that mean I’ll receive less aid, if any at all now? My FAFSA was done on time-- but because I didn’t think of typing in “USC” instead of “University of Southern California” that day, I have to turn it in late. Does anyone know what happens if you turn it in late (2+ weeks late?!)</p>
<p>Call the financial aid office and let them know you are sending it asap.</p>
<p>Thanks bessie, I surely plan on doing that Monday. Do you think this will affect how much aid I recieve? Also should I explain what happened, or just leave it out?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>tocollege, all the Presidential Scholarship came with $1000 per year. Is this what you are talking about? I called USC last year and asked about University Scholarship and they did not know what I was talking about. After getting transfer around from the admission office to financial aid they said it’s based on need aid. The USC admission officer did not know what it was and if it’s merit aid, they should know. I’m just reporting my experience.</p>
<p>My University Scholarship was for more than $1,000 per year. </p>
<p>From my University Scholarship award letter:
</p>
<p>From the University Scholarship Information Guide enclosed with my award letter:
</p>
<p>As I said above, I also receive a University Grant, and it requires that I apply for financial aid each year. The amount of the Grant will vary depending on my calculated need, while the University Scholarship will not. Both of those are in additon to the Presidential Scholarship.</p>
<p>I got the feeling at the time that they were using the scholarship as a recruiting tool - I received the offer on April 28th and I had not yet made up my mind where I was going - and that extra merit award was what convinced me to go to USC. (Maybe waiting until the last minute to submit your statement of intent to register is a good idea!)</p>
<p>My family did not file for FAFSA originally so that could be the reason. After I’ve read it here, we did try to file it but they did not give us anything. Our EFC is sky high so I was not expecting anything. But I read other mom said they also received the letter and they were Spring admit. So I’m not sure about the theory about waiting till the last minute. But thanks for the clarification.</p>
<p>Does anyone know the answer to my question please. Do you think submitting my CSS PROFILE (due to the reasons I mentioned) two weeks late will affect how much aid I receive, and how? Any response at all would be helpful to me even if it is just your guess</p>
<p>Here’s what we got today in the mail from USC:
Cal Grant $9708
University Grant $21,000
Work-study $2500
Subsidized Stafford Loan $3500
Un-Subsidized $2000
Total $39,000</p>
<p>Expected Financial Contribution from us: $14,174</p>
<p>My Fafsa EFC was $5000. I suspect they looked at our equity on our house, and upped the EFC, thinking we would borrow an additional $36,000 on top of the $22,000. If she went to USC, she would graduate with $58,000 in debt. </p>
<p>Many people think this is great, but I am anti-huge debt. It is not worth it to us or to my daughter. </p>
<p>I just want to leave this thread here, so people coming after me can read it and be warned. It has been so difficult through this entire process to get a good grip on costs of college–how much financial can a person qualify for? What does it take to get the merit based scholarships? </p>
<p>People in real life (not on the forums) aren’t willing to talk about these things. I’ve been fumbling around, coaching my daughter, hoping for the best. </p>
<p>Right now we are going back and re-checking all the other offers from other schools. But USC is no longer an option.</p>
<p>tocollege, did they not offer you the university scholarship until it was getting clsoe to may 1 and you did not submit an enrollment deposit? was it not on your oasis account? D:</p>
<p>happy_sunflower what was your home equity?</p>
<p>I’m very sad to hear your misfortune. 
But, I’m sure your daughter has many great choices to choose from. :D</p>
<p>happy_sunflower, why do you think home equity boosted your USC EFC up about $9,000? I’m curious for my own family.</p>
<p>The numbers don’t exactly add up. USC’s COA is 51,968*. The gap after 39,000 in FA then was 12,968. Or 6,500 per semester. Assuming the student could work in the summer and earn, say, $2,500, that’s an out of pocket expense of 10,500 to send kid to USC for a year. </p>
<p>Agreed that is more than FAFSA EFC, but no one said it would be the same, and it was known that Profile and home equity might play a factor.</p>
<ul>
<li>[USC</a> Financial Aid - Applying & Receiving Financial Aid - Undergraduate - Costs](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/applying_receiving/undergraduates/costs.html]USC”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/applying_receiving/undergraduates/costs.html)</li>
</ul>
<p>My home equity is $250,000–we bought our house below market value a while back. I imagine that sticks out esp. in this economy.</p>
<p>In the letter, it states the estimated cost of attendance is $53,768. Total financial aid is $39,594. Our EFC is $14,174.</p>
<p>You know, I really believe in not expecting a handout like you deserve it, so in the end it is fine. It’s not meant to be. I believe that in God and that he does have a plan for us, and knows where my daughter should be. It was just hard getting the package and having our expectations be so high. In retrospect, I should have just been more careful–but then again, it’s hard not to get your hopes up–maybe that is just part of the process.</p>
<p>There is a happy ending though. I had her go back and look at all her offers one more time. She had been offered a Regent’s from UCSB, but never logged in to see the full offer. Other UC schools had given her the Regents but the rest were loans–so she assumed it would be the same story at UCSB. But lo and behold, it was a full-ride offer! And without work study or any loans–except a $5000 loan to over our EFC. Ha! And it even included money for cell phone expenses! We couldn’t believe it.</p>
<p>Wow! That’s crazy. She’s one of the very few lucky ones getting a full ride to a UC (the economy makes the odds even tougher). Congratulations. :)</p>
<p>To beat the dead horse a little more, remember that the Profile taxes parental assets, including home equity, at 12%. An asset protection allowance is provided, variable by parental age, but if the oldest parent is 50 the allowance is about $50,000. So $200,000 of the home equity of $250,000 was considered available to add to the Profile EFC. 12% of $200,000 was $24,000. So it seems USC actually cut you some slack somewhere. It is true that home equity is a blessing and a curse.</p>
<p>Is it mostly just home equity that would up your EFC or are there any other big factors? What about military benefits and things like that?</p>
<p><em>maybe I should just wait instead of asking so many questions haha</em></p>
<p>Assets are taxed at one percentage. Income another. There are many exclusions, adjustments, and allowances that go into figuring what assets and what income are included. </p>
<p>Home equity is considered an asset just like cash in a shoebox. Even though home equity is much less accessible than cash. And even though on the coasts modest family homes are much more expensive than in between.</p>
<p>So whether home equity ups your EFC or something else does depends on what you have to start with. All assets are taxed the same.</p>
<p>I don’t know what you mean by military benefits. If you mean military retirement checks, then yes that is income. Discounts at the Base Exchange, not.</p>
<p>I will say this: It is a recurring, frequent and constant theme on CC that people are shocked to find out how much the FA formulae think they should pay for their kids’ educations. If you haven’t done your homework and know the formulae, get ready to be shocked.</p>
<p>dt123:</p>
<p>Our EFC from FAFSA was $14,000 but USC says $22,000. Our home equity is only $60,000 and oldest parent is 55. What would the allowance be? Syracuse uses the Institutional Method like USC but their EFC is $15,000 using CSS. The college board calculator estimator using the IM method came closer to the $15,000 than the $22,000.</p>