letter from usc saying no scholarship, no acceptance?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>Soooo basically, i just received a letter saying that i have not been admitted, and as such, will not be considered for presidential/trustee.
what does this mean?
if i havent been accepted (yet?), does this mean that i will not be in the running for the deans scholarship? (not that it'll really matter, since i'm a nat merit semifinalist)
i also applied for the keck bacc/md program. since i haven't been accepted, what are my chances of receiving an interview for this? it seems like those are selected to be interviewed are normally already accepted at this point.
the letter also told me to report midyear grades. my senior grades are mediocre so... any thoughts? how much of an impact do my senior grades have?
I'M FREAKING OUT. people with much better stats than me have not received scholarship interviews, people with lower stats have, and none of this really making any sense..
i appreciate any input! thanks.</p>

<p>Eth: Korean (2nd gen)
Sex: Male
location: socal
school type: small public high school in rich neighborhood, 40% asian, 45% white</p>

<p>Class of 2011
GPA 9th-12th (unweighted): 3.8
GPA 9th-12th (weighted): 4.7</p>

<p>Class Rank:
not reported for our school
class size: ~600</p>

<p>APs:
taken:
Euro hist (5)
Psychology (5)</p>

<p>Calc AB (4)
Bio (5)
Art Hist (4)
Spanish Lang (4)
Chem (5)
AP scholar with distinction</p>

<p>taking senior year:
Economics AP
Calc BC
Comp Sci
English Lit
Physics B
Spanish Lit</p>

<p>total 13 APs</p>

<p>Senior grades:
Econ (B)
Calc (B)
Compsci (B)
English (A)
Physics (B)
Span (A) </p>

<p>comm college courses:
junior year: intro to sociology (A)
senior year: film appreciation (A)</p>

<p>SATIIs:
Math ii: 800
Biology M: 800
Chem:750
World History: 720
Spanish w/out listening: 730
Korean: 800</p>

<p>SATI: CR:730 Writing:780 Math:800
SAT total:
2250 in one sitting,
2310 superscored</p>

<p>ACT: none</p>

<p>Recommendation Letters:
Eng Lit and Eng 2h teacher (same person)
Chemistry teacher (had him for honors and AP)
Essays:
ehhhh.. something about volunteering at the hospital and an epiphany.. not bad, but not excellent, either.</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICS:
400 hours hospital volunteering since soph year - director of activities, appointed head front desk secretary, specially assigned to Emergency Medicine
been a tutor since freshman year
3 years in science research (class offered at school where we go to science fairs)
CSF
national merit - psat 226; (right now, semifinalist)
been playing golf for 4 years (not at school, and no rankings)
club president since freshman year</p>

<p>honor societies:
mu alpha theta
spanish honor society
science nat. honor society</p>

2

<p>Smiley - my son got the same letter. </p>

<p>Does anyone know if this is just a form letter sent out to all 30,000+ applicants? It is from the Dean of Admission and is an update on their process. It says “although I am sorry to say you were not selected for further consideration for the Trustee or Presidential scholarship, you are still being considered for other scholarships. In addition, if you are admitted, named a NMF and select USC as your first choice institution, you will receive a USC Presidential Scholarship.” My son is not a NMF, and USC knows that, so this letter is not completely personalized. It seems to be some type of “form” letter but to how many???</p>

<p>Any thoughts anyone?</p>

3

<p>It is likely sent to all applicants who applied by December 1st and who were not selected to interview for the Trustee or Presidential scholarships. About 22,000 applied by that deadline, and about 1,000 will interview for the scholarships, so it was likely sent to the other 21,000 applicants.</p>

4

<p>I agree, except that my son’s best friend, who also applied by December 1 didn’t receive one today. We’ll see if he gets one next week…</p>

5

<p>There were instances of some applicants not getting the letter last year - jazz/shreddermom’s son didn’t for example. After weeks of theories from some of the kids, it turned out the letter was either not sent to all 21,000, or possibly misdirected in some cases. Getting the letter or not getting the letter did not have any predictive value in terms of who was ultimately accepted.</p>

6

<p>alamemom is right. My son never did get that “no scholarship letter” that most people who applied by Dec. 1 seemed to get. Nor did he get a letter requesting midyear grades (and if you ask me, he seemed to be the exact type of student they would want midyear grades from). </p>

<p>Meanwhile everyone he knew at his and other local schools got both the “no scholarship” letter and the mid-year grade request, including friends both with better grades and with worse grades. It did indeed drive us crazy. Anyway, my son submitted his midyear grades voluntarily, was accepted on March 13 and got a music scholarship.</p>

7

<p>yeah i haven’t gotten that letter, but i was accepted without scholarship consideration. i suppose the letter should come soon?</p>

<p>i’m also upset, I didn’t mark USC on my PSAT, so no scholarship for that :(</p>

8

<p>^^xogenxo–you don’t need to have marked USC for your psat. If you are a NMF, you simply must select USC as your first choice school by their deadline (which is a few months away–maybe 5/1 or?) and if you are accepted to USC, are NMF, you automatically get the Presidential 1/2 tuition for 4 years. Pretty cool for all NMFs who get accepted.</p>

9

<p>Help. Daughter rec’d acceptance letter yesterday but no letter regarding any scholarship. She applied by the Dec. 1 deadline, has a 4.5 GPA, 2300 SATs, and is a NMF. Our school submitted the semester grades on Jan 22. I am a USC alum. Any theories as to why she hasn’t heard either way? Should she hold out hope for some kind of scholarship at some point? I’m getting too old for all of this stress. Pass the tequila.</p>

10

<p>She’ll still get the NMF Presidential. She doesn’t have to interview for it, it’s automatic if she makes finalist and lists USC as her first choice school.</p>

11

<p>PS - She did not fill out any of the internal applications - merely submitted all of the paperwork by the Dec. 1 deadline. Do you think she w=might still be considered for some kind of stipend even if she wasn’t specific about it?</p>

12

<p>Sheesh - she has 2 friends who rec’d “you are up for Trustee scholarhsip consideration” letters with their acceptances yesterday and these two have no intentions of going to USC becuase they’ve already been accepted at Yale. In this case, would USC offer these unused funds to someone else - at a later date? Pass the Budweiser.</p>

13

<p><<she’ll still=“” get=“” the=“” nmf=“” presidential.=“” she=“” doesn’t=“” have=“” to=“” interview=“” for=“” it,=“” it’s=“” automatic=“” if=“” makes=“” finalist=“” and=“” lists=“” usc=“” as=“” her=“” first=“” choice=“” school.=“”>></she’ll></p>

<p>Her Nat Merit standing was “Commended” (PSAT 2180). Also when would she be receiving anythng that asks her what her first choice is? The nly thing mentioned in yesterday’s acceptance was a $300 “commitment deposit” due by May 2. Is that the same thing?</p>

14

<p>Our kiddo received a no merit aid letter from USC–I believe it reminded him that even if he didn’t get merit aid from that letter, he could still get a NMF Presidential 1/2 tuition merit award. </p>

<p>In late March, he received an acceptance letter. He did get that 1/2 tuition, $1000 from NMF & a small award from Viterbi every year for the 4 years he was at USC. I’d say DON’T PANIC! There is still other merit & FAid and time for more acceptances.</p>

15

<p>OK, this thread is very useful for us. We will wait a couple of days more for the letter. IF there is no ‘Admission’, then it will very likely mean that my son is not running for baac/md, and so will not do the css profile by wednesday.</p>

16

<p>One thing that is pretty clear–if you do not turn in FAFSA & CSS Profile by the USC deadline, your student WILL NOT get priority consideration for FAid. Failing to meet that deadline is NOT negotiable. If you want to give your kiddo more options, it would be safer to err on the side of submitting it than not and perhaps having regrets.</p>

17

<p>^ ok, that makes sense too. So far, from my two sons, i have direct experience with various schools on finaid. And I will come back in early April and tell you how reasonable or how expensive USC is, in comparison to other schools. my bet is, it will probably be more expensive than uchi, but will see.</p>

18

<p>HiMOM said: “Our kiddo received a no merit aid letter from USC–I believe it reminded him that even if he didn’t get merit aid from that letter, he could still get a NMF Presidential 1/2 tuition merit award.” </p>

<p>D’s acceptance letter said absolutely NOTHING about scholarship - either way. There was nothing that said “sorry no merit aid.” Just the customary “Congratulations! I am pleased to offer you admissions to USC …entering class of Fall, 2011” along with another page directing us to sign in online to submit the $300 Enrollment Commitment Deposit.</p>

<p>So confusing. Should we give up hope of a Presidential?</p>

19

<p><<himom: one=“” thing=“” that=“” is=“” pretty=“” clear–if=“” you=“” do=“” not=“” turn=“” in=“” fafsa=“” &=“” css=“” profile=“” by=“” the=“” usc=“” deadline,=“” your=“” student=“” will=“” get=“” priority=“” consideration=“” for=“” faid.=“” failing=“” to=“” meet=“” deadline=“” negotiable.=“” if=“” want=“” give=“” kiddo=“” more=“” options,=“” it=“” would=“” be=“” safer=“” err=“” on=“” side=“” of=“” submitting=“” than=“” and=“” perhaps=“” having=“” regrets.=“”>></himom:></p>

<p>Pardon my ignorance but how would submitting these need-based FAid forms have anything to do with merit-based awards? Ithought merit-based awards were need-blind?</p>

20

<p>I’ll start with some good news:</p>

<p>In the past, students accepted in the first wave without Trustee or Presidential invitations were often offered the 1/4 Dean’s or smaller University Scholarships later in the process.</p>

<p>And then on to the bad news:</p>

<p>I am sorry, Westide Worrier, but “Commended” is not the same as a National Merit Finalist. USC does not have an automatic scholarship for NM commended students.</p>

<p>Re: Unused Trustee/Presidential: USC carefully calculates their yield and expects that some will not attend. They have already allowed for that, and do not redistribute any Trustee or Presidential funds later.</p>