<p>Based on the above, our son would gain nothing from a merit scholarship, and for him USC would be substantially more expensive than I thought it would be (going from marginally affordable to unaffordable). I had just assumed that a USC merit scholarship would reduce the loan and work-study in the same way that an outside scholarship would. Now I am not sure it would make sense to incur the expense (and missed school) to get him to USC for an interview.</p>
<p>If you read the very detailed financial aid sticky at the top of this thread, Alamemom has discussed how financial aid and merit scholarships work. It is very very common practice at most schools for merit scholarships to come off the grant portion of a financial aid grant. It is very unusual for schools to stack grants and merit, but some schools do, and some may negotiate this with a desired student. </p>
<p>It EFC is kind of an immutable number-- and while it is not easily affordable to many families–that is the figure they expect us to pay. Merit awards that are larger than the FA grants are helpful, of course, but merit awards at most schools do not stack on top of FA grants. So there is that. But, I caution a little patience. Until you see how FA is calculated at each college/university, it can be hard to pre-judge what the final costs come to be. You may find your S is bumped up to the top scholarship level (it’s rare but around 7 or so report this happening each year on CC–and we are a very limited sample), and students are often offered additional merit scholarships (sometimes called University scholarships, some are given by department) around April 1. Of course, these will often be subtracted off any outstanding FA grants, so… And in addition, many many ccers in the past have successfully appealed their FA awards. None of this is a slam dunk, but until you get all your offers in hand, sit down with the numbers, and see what else comes in, it is often prudent to wait it out. I think the bottom line in costs is truly important, but it’s not always transparent what it all ends up costing until the Financial Aid Lady/Merit Gods sing.</p>
<p>
I strongly advise your son to make the trip and interview. As I and others (see madbean’s great post, above) have mentioned, in April there will be many additional scholarships awarded, and we have seen the Trustee, Presidential and Dean’s scholars receive additional scholarships that ARE applied to the loans. Not always, but often enough that I really, truly think it would be worth his while to attend the interview. In addition, there is the very small possibility of being “bumped up” to a Trustee scholarship - not likely, but every year there are a few who get that happy news.</p>
<p>And please don’t hurry a decision - the scholarships have been added as late as the 3rd week of April. Commitment deposits are not due until May 1st and I advise everyone to take their time in determining which school is the very best for them.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Does anyone know when the Monday/Tuesday interview sessions conclude on Tuesday? I am wondering if we would have a chance of getting our son to his Tu/Th community college class that would start at 5:30 that evening (two hours from USC). </p>
<p>The interviews are on day #2 from about 9am to about noon. There is a lunch after the interviews - you could anticipate leaving by 2 without missing anything. His interview would be over by noon, so you could leave then if you had to. </p>
<p>2-Day Explore Agenda:
<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/dept/admissions/web/explorehost/agenda1.html”>http://www.usc.edu/dept/admissions/web/explorehost/agenda1.html</a></p>
<p>^^Excellent!</p>
<p>I JUST managed to locate the detailed agenda, and it concludes at 1pm - perfect!</p>
<p>Here you go: <a href=“https://esdweb.esd.usc.edu/resrsvp/docs/S_Explore_Agenda.pdf”>https://esdweb.esd.usc.edu/resrsvp/docs/S_Explore_Agenda.pdf</a></p>
<p>Thank you for all of the wonderful information, @alamemom – so appreciated!</p>
<p>@alamemom, @madbean
Thank you for all the great information you continuously provide. Good luck to all those that are still waiting to hear.<br>
Do you know if they help with airfare at all? Do they provide hotel names of where the students and parents can stay?</p>
<p>Hello everyone! I live in Washington and I just received the big packet in the mail today 
I got accepted to the Global Health program at Keck but unfortunately I also didn’t receive any scholarship information 
I’m ecstatic about my acceptance but since I don’t qualify for any need-based aid, I doubt I’ll be able to go without any merit scholarships…I guess I’ll just have to wait and see if I get the Dean’s! </p>
<p>Hi HI2014,
Yes, for the scholarship candidate only, in the past they have offered to reimburse 1/2 of airfare up to $60 for California, AZ and Nevada and up to $200 from the other US states. They did not offer reimbursement for international candidates. The scholarship candidate will get 1 free night of luxury accommodations on the floor of a dorm room and meals during the program.</p>
<p>Would any of you parents mind terribly sharing what you think was the key factor of your child’s selection (eg. SAT, GPA, EC’s, URM, … … ). I would really appreciate if you could share your kids SAT/GPA … or hook.
thanks so much (in advance)</p>
<p>really? no one … c’mon, don’t be shy!</p>
<p>What we have found is that USC’s merit scholarship selection process truly is holistic, and there is no one combination of factors that can be named. This thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/1558825-what-are-my-chances-for-usc-final-answer.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/1558825-what-are-my-chances-for-usc-final-answer.html#latest</a> is an excellent source for information on your question.</p>
<p>I for one am not a bit shy. As a parent, I was so glad to be looking in the rear view mirror at that stressful period of time when my child felt defined by her “stats,” there is nothing in the world that could convince me to revisit that - she, and all of you kids - are so much more than your “numbers” :)</p>
<p>@alamemom in terms of the trustee scholarship interview would you say that if you are considered a “trustee candidate” then you won’t get bumped down below presidential? Because i REALLY want at least half and in case something goes terribly wrong I want to know I have a pretty good safety net</p>
<p>As mentioned earlier, we have not seen a report that anyone walked away empty-handed but yes, at least a few have been bumped down to a Director’s $4,000/year scholarship from Trustee. Please note that those reporting that unhappy circumstance were fantastic candidates and had good interview experiences. It seems to come down to how many scholarships each school or department has to offer and how many candidates in that school or department attend the interviews.</p>
<p>I encourage everyone to go into the interview process feeling confident of a $4,000/year scholarship and consider anything more to be a wonderful bonus. </p>
<p>ccon, why don’t you read the threads already posting a lot of the information you seek? In particular, look at the OFFICIAL Stats of Admitted students thread. Everyone who posted their decision listed amazing gpa/rank/scores/ECs/Essays. And yet, there are many many applicants with the same numbers or higher who were disappointed not to get invited. Check back at the end of March and you will see what I mean. Each year there are admitted students to USC who get notified in March whose raw numbers and amazing ECs seem just as impressive as those who get the lucky finalist status. In general, it’s like admission to a super-selective ivy–or harder. There are many more qualified than spots.</p>
<p>To Ccon66 my S was invited to interview for a Trustee scholarship. While he is a bright kid SAT 2320 and 4.0UW
GPA. He is pretty well rounded, athlete with solid EC’s but he was not a World Champion anything and was not involved with the Human Genome project :). He is hoping to be named a NMF here in the next week but he was really surprised and honored have a chance at the Trustee scholarship. Hope that helps some. It is so easy to be overwhelmed with the achievements of some of these kids but at the end of the day you simply have faith in finding the right fit for your S or D.</p>
<p>gmoneypop, did your S have any activities or leadership that seemed very specific to his intended major? Did his essays reveal something honest about his character that the admissions office might have really felt fit well at USC? I think the university tends to reward applicants who seem less like the “perfect student” racking up awards and doing typical activities for great HS students and more an array of unique individuals who have drive, leadership and a strong view of what they want to achieve. </p>