<p>This is the official "bumped down" thread for those who interviewed for Presidential's/Trustee's and were actually bumped down. I flew out there for the presidential session, felt really good about my interview, and got a slap in the face in the mail today when I read that I was only being offered the Dean's scholarship (1/4 tuition).</p>
<p>hey dont you be greedy. there are 1000s of students out there who would love to be in your shoes.Your lucky you got anything</p>
<p>well, i suppose i'm just bitter because i flew out there and everything and my expectations were higher.</p>
<p>point taken, though.</p>
<p>Allstar, what a shame!! i know they mean these scholarship competitions to honor wonderful students such as you, but it hurts when the outcome is less than one hopes for. I'm sure you had a great interview and, no matter what happened this time, you will have wonderful success coming your way.</p>
<p>can you get bumped down from trustee to presidential? or is it just trustee to deans?</p>
<p>yes, you can get bumped down from Trustee to Presidential and from Presidential to Deans. On the other hand, you can get bumped up as well.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Someone at my school told me that they got knocked down from trustee to dean's, so i guess that's possible too.</p>
<p>Really, no one has been "bumped down." We all arrived at Explore as scholarship candidates and had been awarded nothing at that point. Any Dean's, Presidential or Trustee scholarship award is a bump UP!!! Allstar24rk, you are in the very top 2% of the best group of applicants USC has EVER had. CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR DEAN'S AWARD!!!</p>
<p>allstar24rk,</p>
<p>It is very helpful to next year’s applicants to have this information, so thank you very much for posting. I am truly sorry USC bumped you and that it felt like a slap in the face to open that letter - you certainly didn’t deserve the experience. </p>
<p>I think one of the problems is USC does not openly acknowledge that Trustee and Presidential interviewees may be ‘bumped’ to a lower award level, so when it happens, the students (and their parents) are caught unaware and it does hurt. Yes, Trustee candidates can be bumped down to Presidential or Dean’s. Yes, Presidential candidates can be bumped to Dean’s. But all we hear about, usually, are the cases when Trustee's candidates instead get the Presidential and the (rare?) cases where a student is bumped up from Presidential to Trustee. (Natural, I think, for students and parents to share the good news but not the bad.) </p>
<p>As I have said before, the possibility of interviewing for one of USC major scholarships during the Explore USC marketing events is used to get students and parents onto the campus, often from great distances. If USC let it be known that instead of a full or ½ tuition scholarship, an interviewee may instead be offered a ¼ tuition scholarship, some families might forgo the expense of attending the Explore sessions, especially if traveling from a great distance. </p>
<p>Kudos to the OP for sharing your experience. It will definitely help next year’s USC scholarship candidates make somewhat, more-informed decisions. And, hopefully, it will help temper expectations, at least a bit, so students aren’t so surprised to get a bump letter when it happens.</p>
<p>Thanks, guys, for the sympathy. I know I really shouldn't be complaining because a scholarship is a scholarship; I didn't mean for the original post to be a sob story- understand that I wrote it in the heat of disappointment. Greta brings up a good point, though. I do find the whole scenario odd, to put on a grand presentation to advertise USC when the real reason all the students and their parents show up is for the scholarship. Considering how unpredictable it really is as far as what you'll end up with, they should make it clearer about what can actually happen.</p>
<p>allstar: I ran into a friend whose son is a senior at USC. He was up for Trustee as an incoming freshman and did not get it. I know she was strapped for money at the time so I asked her how things had worked out over the years. She told me he ended up getting other scholarships (departmental, etc) and was very well rewarded financially by USC. Don't worry: they have a lot of ongoing merit/other aid at USC.</p>
<p>My s also went from Presidential to Deans. Not upset. ANything is better than nothing.</p>
<p>Congrats to all!!</p>