Has anyone received their financial aid/merit packages yet? My OOS D23 was accepted Early Action for engineering back in early December. USC was the first early deadline and first college she applied to with EA deadline in October. She is trying making her college decision this week, as she has heard from all other private and state colleges with their financial packages. The other colleges are already emailing housing, dining, roommate matching info - etc… I am thrilled for her acceptance into USC engineering, but I am disappointed that this is the first school she was accepted to - and ‘crickets’ from financial aid and merit as of yet. When we call they say maybe February- the packages will be released. Sadly, if she hears nothing this week, USC will be a ‘no go’ for her.
What is the rush? She has until May 1 to make her decision about where to matriculate.
I would suggest you be patient and just wait for the SC award package to come.
When my kid applied, (a while ago) she received her package from South Carolina in either late February or early March…and hers contained a big surprise large merit award.
Please be patient.
Thank you- That’s what I tell her. We wanted to make travel arrangements to fly /stay accepted students events. We have Feb and April week vacations off from school. Other classmates are committing to colleges, and she is feeling impatient. I wish price was no object for us, but it is - and we are looking for the financial info everyday in the portal. It seems others have been offered merit aid early, but no info for her as of yet.
It’s hard to be patient. But it’s a life’s skill! Since I think you are probably sending the deposit money…just ask that she wait until she gets the aid package.
I’ll add…my kid was unable to be at the SC scholarship weekend for accepted students. Granted this was in 2006…but they were amazing. They put all the swag aside for her. DH and the kid went the following weekend and they arranged an amazing accepted student day just for her.
Question… if we have already received the in state tuition, am I to assume that will be their financial aid package? My son was not admitted to honors so unless there is more money, then he will be attending one of the other honors colleges he got into.
I don’t know. We weren’t eligible for need based aid…so getting instate tuition AND getting $2000 additional a year in 2006 was big money. It would have cost us less than $10,000 a year to send our kid then.
She didn’t get honors college either, but the school was still her second choice…made her decision on April 30!
Wow. Crazy to think that was only about 15 years ago and with that same package now it’s going to cost 25k!
I pulled this info off South Carolina’s website. It shows what the criteria was for scholarships last year:
| 2022-2023 South Carolina | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| average SAT | GPA | Rank | Annual amount | 4 year | Name |
| 1240 / 27 | 4.2 | 25% | $500.00 | $22,115 | Recognition |
| 1290 / 29 | 4.3 | 20% | $500.00 | $40,784 | Merit |
| 1365 / 30 | 4.4 | 15% | $500.00 | $62,192 | Distinction |
| 1425 / 32 | 4.5 | 10% | $500.00 | $86,900 | Superlative |
| 1520 / 34 | 4.6 | 8% | $2,000.00 | $92,900 | Excellence |
| 1560 / 35 | 4.7 | 3% | $4,000.00 | $100,900 | Elite |
| 1590 / 35 | 4.7 | 2% | $8,000.00 | $116,900 | Alumni |
It looks like they may have greatly lowered the standard though. I know someone with a 4.0 weighted GPA and high 1300s SAT who is around the middle of their class who got the Distinction scholarship. Based on last year’s numbers, they wouldn’t have gotten anything.
Has anyone else noticed a big reduction in the required criteria?
I’ve just discovered that these awards* do not count for study abroad funding. Just a heads-up to anyone else for whom this matters.
*The in-state tuition award/OOS waiver, is what I’m referring to - to clarify, you would pay in-state tuition for the overseas program if it’s a USC exchange program or a maymester type program.
My daughter got the Superlative. She was slightly lower on the SAT with a 1480 but is valedictorian so #1 and has a 105.78 weighted which in her school is 5.0. Happy with what we got for sure but hoped with her numbers she’d get at least one tier up.
Are the listed GPAs based on a 5.0 scale? I can’t imagine a 4.5 (weighted avg) kid from Fairfax scoring ‘only’ 1425 on the SAT. Assuming it’s based on a 5.0 scale, is there a rubric U-SC uses to convert 4.0 based GPAs to their 5.0 scale?
Also, do all these scholarships get their OOS tuition reduced to in-state?