Just accepted to USC! Many questions about Financial Aid

I applied to USC through QuestBridge Regular Decision and recently received my acceptance in the mail. I was blown away by it all, as my stats are not stellar for USC. I was even more blown away by the fact that I was selected to interview for the Trustee Merit Scholarship. I live in Hawaii and I am, frankly, very poor. One of my parents is unable to work and the other does not make much money. Using USC’s Net Price Calculator, I found that my estimated cost of attendance after need-based financial aid is $2,500 (Which I can easily cover with outside scholarships). My question is: is this realistic? Does USC actually cover the entire cost of attendance for some admitted students with financial situations as extreme as mine? Is the cost of the flight to Los Angeles for the Trustee Scholarship worth it or should I expect this need-based aid to cover the cost anyway? I apologize as I probably come off as naive and overwhelmed by all this. Any guidance would be extremely appreciated.

This is a good question. It is possible. The NPC is supposed to give you a good estimate of your COA, but it hasn’t always been accurate. We see people posting year after year how it was way off. However, it usually isn’t accurate at the higher end of the scale (for upper middle class and above families). Please also remember that every package at USC also includes loans, and work study— which really shouldn’t be considered “aid”. So if your COA is 2.5k, this is on top of all the loans, and work study.

You can certainly call your admissions counselor and tell her/him your situation. A trip from Hawaii is expensive (much more than the $200 offered by USC). You can also call financial aid and ask them any questions you have.

The other thing to consider- there are some benefits to being a Trustee Scholar that go beyond the money aspect. You can investigate these as well and see if they are of benefit to you personally (not everyone cares about living in an honors dorm, etc…)

@camomof3 Thanks you for the advice. Would outside scholarships be able to cover the loans and work study USC may propose? Or does it overlap?

Outside scholarships reduce “need” so they subtract that amount from your FA grant aid. They do not replace Fed student loans or work study. OTOH, you are not obliged to take out the student loans you qualify for, nor are you required to obtain a work-study job. These are just the components USC FA adds together to account for your full aid package. I think you need to talk to a FA advisor and see if the cost of traveling to L.A. for the Explore interview is worth it in your particular case. The plus of a merit award is it is guaranteed for 4 years, while FA must be applied for each year and if your family circumstances change (a sibling leaves college or the family gets a sudden windfall, sells property, starts a business, etc) FA could go down.

Is the cost of the flight to Los Angeles for the Trustee Scholarship worth it ?
ABSOLUTELY!
USC will make your education and time at USC as a Questbridge student affordable.