<p>Financial aid package "0" out of pocket. Nothing, NADA: Thank you USC and gratz to son's hard work.</p>
<p>We made the right choice. UC out of pocket and loans would have been about 12k a year.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your family!</p>
<p>Congrats to you and your son prouduscdad. We are so jealous right now. D was accepted early to USC with a Deans scholarship. But the financial aid we saw online today was nothing like the USC Net Price Calculator. According to the Net Calculator we could afford USC, but not now. USC expects us to pay 38% of our income to them, even though we have 3 other children, one already attending college, and my husband is facing a 20% cut in pay next month. D was accepted to UCLA with a scholarship and UCI with a more generous financial aid package. D is crushed she worked so hard and got accepted and now we can’t afford to send her.</p>
<p>She has also applied to over 25 scholarships ranging in awards from $500 to $5000, but what difference does that make. If she wins a scholarship the schools take away that amount from any help they are offering. So why should a kid try.</p>
<p>I am sorry, but I needed to vent, congratulations to you and all of the other students who can attend their dream schools.</p>
<p>Congrats and I am happy for you! However I wish people would not post the details of their awesome financial packages. It does create envy for other people (yes like me LOL) who are struggling and probably cannot expect the same.</p>
<p>Wait, if I obtain an outside scholarship (local philanthropist here gives quite a few big ones to promising business majors, in the 5-10k range), will that take away from the grant money in my FA package or the loan/work-study part?</p>
<p>@ imjen1: Last year USC sent emails when the financial aid packages were finalized. Students who went on early were freaked out by the financial aid packages because they were incomplete. You may want to call financial aid and see if your package is actually finalized (unless they have contacted you already). Like many students last year, hopefully you will find that you accessed the account when it wasn’t complete. </p>
<p>Contact financial aid here:</p>
<p>[USC</a> Financial Aid - Contact Us](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/contact.html]USC”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/contact.html)</p>
<p>Sorry your right.I was so over joyed and surprized I wanted to show my gratatude.
I feel really bad for you iamjen1. I am sure there is nothing I could say to make yur D feel better.</p>
<p>@camomof3 Thank you for the information. I hope you are correct. My D emailed the financial aid office already and hope to get a response soon. I am too emotional right now I would hate to call them and sound like a blubbering idiot.</p>
<p>@prouduscdad You have every right to be PROUD. Your son deserves it. We just wish the same for our D.</p>
<p>^your package may not be complete! Wait to get an email! USC tends to be very generous!</p>
<p>D received the email tonight, checked USConnect again, and no change. I read how generous USC was and really hoped D would be a recipient of their generosity. I guess it is a good thing she hasn’t declined UCLA or UCI yet.</p>
<p>Just wanted to thank all of you who said to hang in there, that the FA might change. I really needed that this afternoon.</p>
<p>USC is in fact very genorous.
The estimated yearly cost at USC is now 60k!
My family out of pocket is only paying 7000, which is a great relief
as my older brother attends USC as well.
Im being interviewed for the Norman Topping Scholarship soon and I hope i get it, it will cover all the rest of the cost.</p>
<p>Ok this is seriously good to hear because my family only makes roughly 10,000-14,000K and I thought my chances of going (if I get in) would get diminished due to the price. I really hope I can work with it. Anyway, thanks for sharing!</p>
<p>I guess being “generous” is all relative. Even though USC offered our daughter $20,000 in grants her freshman year, all the rest was in students loans and out of our pocket. And, that was only for the first year. On the other hand, had she been accepted to Stanford, her tuition would have been free and we would have just paid for room and board—about $12,000 a year. If we had made even less, it would have been a full ride. So, “middle class” means something different to each university. For USC, it still meant we would be struggling to pay for our daughter’s education. And, we were especially concerned that they wouldn’t continue with the grant after the first year. That happened to a school mate of hers. He’s a brilliant trumpet player who was in their music dept. He had to drop out and finish up at Cal State Northridge after his sophomore year. </p>
<p>Anyway…mostly for financial reasons, our daughter chose to attend Cal Poly SLO. She might apply to USC’s master of occupational therapy program, but I think she really wants to go back East.</p>