Trojan Transfer Program - The Paris Option

<p>I just assumed…with all of the other places I’ve applied to, I could access my FinAid package through the portal. i really, really hope we can see it soon! I want to commit already!!</p>

<p>@FMAyodele‌ I just received my net ID and unfortunately it doesn’t include the financial aid info but it does allow me to commit to AUP, decide housing, etc. I visited USC again today and I just LOVE IT. There’s no way I can let this opportunity go. Therefore, I’ve decided to put in my deposit and commit. I’m 80% certain that I’m going but I’ll have to wait until the financial packet comes in to be 100% sure. I’m thinking about creating a FB page for those who are taking this leap with me. It’d be nice to meet some other USC transfer students before our departure. What’d you think?</p>

<p>My son got his FA letter the other day. He got a very small merit scholarship and a small grant. The federal loans were missing. It was underwhelming but my son will still go to AUP (Spring admit).</p>

<p>@GamerGal27‌ Do you feel comfortable giving us a rough approximation of how much it’s costing you for half a year, without scholarships? </p>

<p>According to AUP, the one-semester cost, converted from Euros to dollars at last week’s conversion rate, is $18,929 for tuition and fees. This does not count room and board through Comforts of Home. I am self-employed and my income goes up and down. 2013 was my worst year at <$60,000. This year will be my second best since 2007 which is good news even through FA will drop next year.</p>

<p>Anyway, roughly speaking, his merit scholarship is $2,000 and his grant is $5,000. I have asked about the other half of the Subsidized and Unsubsidized Federal loans (since USC is granting half in the Spring I hope AUP can get us the other half for the Fall.)</p>

<p>If he had been a Fall USC admit we would have received 2.5 times the amount of grants that AUP gave us. But every college is different in their resources and FA philosophy.</p>

<p>Honestly, the extra is worth it to my son in that he gets to be with a cohort of USC students while taking courses that are 100% guaranteed to transfer. Being out of CA we don’t have straight articulation agreements with our local community college and USC so you take a risk taking classes there and hoping they will transfer. Plus since he will be a CS major at USC it will be very difficult to do study abroad his Junior year given how many required courses there are and how sequenced they are. </p>

<p>This is still a great opportunity despite the cost.</p>

<p>I just received an email from AUP saying they are not eligible to give out Federal loans. I assume this would also apply to the AUP-TTP program.</p>

<p>We have just been informed, by the Office of Postsecondary Education, that while our appeal to them is pending, students participating in a program such as the Fall Semester in Paris program are ineligible to receive federal loans during their semester at The American University of Paris.</p>

<p>What this means for you:</p>

<p>•You cannot receive federal loans (Stafford or PLUS loans) during your fall semester at The American University of Paris.
•You can still apply for a private Sallie Mae Smart Option Loan for educational expenses. Sallie Mae is the only option you can use to attend a school located abroad if you begin your abroad experience in your first year.
•This does NOT affect any financial aid or loan eligibility you will have at USC in the future because that university is located in the US. This applies only to your semester spent abroad at The American University of Paris.</p>

<p>Despite the fact that AUP is an American institution, established in a US state and accredited by Middle States, a prestigious regional accrediting organization in the US, the US Department of Education qualifies any institution located outside of the fifty states as a foreign school. We are thus forced to comply with certain constraints in the administration of federal (Title IV) aid. We have been in constant contact with the foreign schools team in Washington and have now received official correspondence confirming two main points: </p>

<p>a) There will soon be an official announcement from The Department of Education further defining the interpretation of the regulations in place for foreign schools;</p>

<p>b) AUP may not process federal loans for students in this program unless this announcement or any future announcements change the regulations currently in place. We have no assurance that this announcement will be coming soon or if the news will be positive.</p>

<p>c) Even though the Foreign Schools team at the Department of Education recognizes the absurdity of these policies in the context of American institutions abroad such as ours, it will take legislative change to alter them. </p>

<p>While we work with our partner schools in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia to create a new category of American universities abroad, we feel that it is crucial to alert you to this situation. If this news has an impact on your planning to attend AUP, we encourage you to contact us directly to discuss your situation.</p>

<p>Randy Vener
Deputy Director of Admissions and Financial Aid</p>

<p>Hi, I was offered the TTP during my senior year of hs (2012). I was real active on the board last year and this was not offered last year with the AUP component. I am very interested to know if the letter says you are guaranteed admission your sophomore year or that it is likely that you will be admitted if your earn a certain gpa. The reason I ask is that it sounds like AUP is just an option for TTP. In other words, I wonder if you could attend a ccc for about $8,000 for the year, (OOS) take the required TTP classes, earn the required GPA and transfer to USC your sophomore year like it did. If money is not a concern then Paris sounds awesome. But, if someone doesn’t want to spend $50,000+ at a school that is not USC then ccc for freshman year with TTP should still be a good option. Either way, work hard next year because USC is awesome!!! Fight On!</p>

<p>@Katie617, the OP indicates that the spot is guaranteed: </p>

<p>“I got an email late at night (circa 2:00 AM) a couple days ago, telling me that I was being offered a place in the TTP - Paris program where you spend Freshman year in Paris and have a <em>guaranteed</em> spot (with a certain unit/GPA requirements) at USC your sophomore year…”</p>

<p>Well, I’m doing it!!!
I AM SO EXCITED! </p>

<p>@Katie617‌ Originally USC sent me a letter saying I was part of a “special group” of students who they want to eventually transfer to USC. The dean later emailed several of us and told us about a “Paris Option” in which the Transfer GPA minimum is lower (3.3 instead of 3.7) and that the “USC Admissions [Team] state with a high degree of confidence that students who meet the following conditions are very likely to be admitted as transfer students.”</p>

<p>Did they have you meet up in the summer to create a transfer plan? They were offering me this in the “special group” letter.</p>

<p>@USCdream44 I did fly out to SC during the summer and met with them to create a transfer plan. I then stayed exactly with that plan and earned a 3.9 (33 units with one B). My plan stated the “high degree of confidence”. Paris sounds like a blast! Back to studying for finals. Fight On!</p>

<p>@Katie617 Thanks! It looks like I’ll be a Trojan in no time! </p>

<p>My son will be attending AUP for a year through the TTP. He was offered a very generous financial aid package making it equivalent to attending a Cal State. Before making the decision we spoke to different counselors at USC and his school counselor also did some investigating. This is the first time they have offered this option. If a student completes the program with a 3.3 they will be offered admission as a sophomore at USC. They cannot use the word guaranteed, but basically a student would have to not meet the GPA requirement or not take the courses that have been chosen by USC at AUP. Student WILL NOT have to fill out the Common App.for USC again. They will need to send USC their AUP transcripts and the final transcripts from high school. Students chosen for the TTP in Paris were chosen because they are students who they really want at USC and just could not accommodate. They chose very few for the Fall only option and about double that, for the year program. Anyway, I thought I’d share what I have been told. I’m confidant USC would not enter into this agreement with AUP if it was not legit. USC is a very well respected institution and they do not do things on a whim. I have seen other posts (not here) saying it’s a scam and chances are nil of transferring into USC. USC in essence has an articulation agreement with AUP. </p>

<p>@itsacrapshoot‌ how long did it take you to get the financial award notification? I submitted the AUP financial aid app and fads a two week ago but still haven’t received anything ;(</p>

<p>It took my son two weeks to get his FA. He was awarded a itty bitty amount.</p>

<p>It took about two weeks. It came minutes after receiving the email saying no U.S. Federal loans were going to be given. Fortunately they were very generous. </p>

<p>@itsacrapshoot , By generous do you mean upwards of like 20k? I’m not too sure if I should appeal, I was offered about 16K USD, and idk if that is generous for them or not</p>

<p>Were financial aid packages received by email, mail or through myaup.com?
I still haven’t received mine. :/</p>

<p>My son received his through mail. If he doesn’t get bumped up to Fall we are going to appeal.</p>

<p>Parents, I don’t know if you want your children to go into this program they are offering. As of today, there are a number of kids that do not have the appropriate quarters to live in and for what their parents have paid for! Today, there are kids that are bunking in fours - 4 kids to a room WITHOUT ELETRICITY and an oven, that have to go somewhere else to shower! What a joke!!! There is even one girl who was assigned a place to stay in a red light district! And what did the parents pay for 9 months UP FRONT??? Let’s say $19,000-NON REFUNDABLE!!! What a JOKE!!! There will be a number of powerful and PISSED OFF parents coming back in the next number of days that will have a word with USC. What a shame!!! Before the launch of a program, didn’t they work out the kinks??? What was this? An experiment??? Shame on whoever put this program together!!! And kids, next time, think of how hard earned money is made and stay in this beautiful country - the USA to get far more better education, even though you don’t get accepted first at USC. America has a number of schools you can excel in and then transfer to USC. Plus we have better living conditions!</p>

<p>@AUPReviewer I think you are being overly harsh. For those who don’t know this is the first year AUP used a third party service called Comforts of Home. They underestimated the effort required to bring in an additional 200 USC Spring admits and TTP students into housing in Paris which already has a housing crunch. To try to do this with only a few months was unrealistic. My son ended up in a less than desirable location but the apartment has been remodeled and is huge with three bedrooms and only four roommates. Moms of two of the other roommates say the location is normal city living and to not worry so much. So, rather than yank my son out into a nicer location I am giving it a few weeks to see how my son thrives and let CoH fix things (all but one issue within the apt has already been resolved).
CoH also really underestimated the number of people who would show up right at 9:00 am to check in and get their keys. That was chaos. A big part of the problem is that everyone goes on vacation in August and the locksmiths had not yet come back to make the keys for all the roommates.
Although the first experience was certainly unacceptable I see that things are being resolved as quickly as they can.
IMHO I am not sure why AUP accepted 200 new students. They initially said they would cap the number to around 30 Spring admits and 50 TTP. How it ballooned to 200 is beyond me. They should start calling AUP “little USC”.</p>