<p>^^ have you already finished the writing requirement?</p>
<p>I am torn because I missed the deadline of Fafsa and CSS of Feb 2nd for USC due to my misunderstanding (I was looking at the “continuing students’ deadline” on their website the whole time although I am considered a “new student” at USC…).</p>
<p>I have already submitted both applications on Feb 19th and handed in my 2010 tax return along with the W-2 to their financial aid office, but I am scared to death now that I might not be able to receive the full money I need to attend USC due to my late submission.</p>
<p>I have more than enough units to transfer and finished the prerequisites, and have GPA of 4.0. It is just so sad to think about the possibility of not being able to go there after all the hard work of last 2 years due to my stupid mistake in the last minute… My EFC according to fafsa is around 8000 and there is no way for me to attend USC without the grants and scholarships.</p>
<p>If anybody is familiar with situations like this, can you please tell me what my chances are of receiving FA from USC? And if I do, how much am I likely to receive? I am really desperate. Thank you in advance. </p>
<p>P.S. I posted on a new thread about this as well under “Financial aid and Scholarships” because I was confused about where to write about this on… if it’s inappropriate let me know, I’ll delete it.</p>
<p>@whisper11–yeah i know what you mean about the confusing deadlines, on the emails its says to get all that good stuff in by march 2nd so i think you willl end up being alright. i don’t know why it says feb 2nd on the internet section of undegraduate students but on all of the notifications it lets us know march 2nd. I don’t think you will have a problem in that sense.</p>
<p>whisper11,</p>
<p>Officially, USC only guarantees to meet need for financial aid applicants who meet all deadlines, and will consider for “reduced aid” those who miss deadlines. Unofficially and anecdotally I can tell you that I have seen posts (10+ posters) who have submitted late FA applications and received the full amount of aid for which they were eligible. (So don’t despair until you see the package 
)</p>
<p>As far as the amount of aid for which you are eligible, please note that USC only uses the FAFSA EFC to distribute Federal aid such as Stafford loans and Federal work/study (you are not eligible for Pell Grants with your EFC). They will use the information from the CSS/Profile to calculate your USC-Determined need and distribute USC Grants. Use the “Institutional Method” calculators at the College Board site (where you submitted your CSS/Profile) to get a very rough estimate of the amount you will be expected to contribute at a school that uses the CSS/Profile.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>jamesbball911: ya the humanities courses are the writing requirement…</p>
<p>@dakhors that makes no sense at all. How is humanities a class that fulfills the writing requirement? Humanities falls under category 1</p>
<p>alamemom, is there any way to lower your EFC and does USC take other considerations into account even if the EFC is high?</p>
<p>My EFC is 22311…however, my parents are in a LOT of debt. I couldn’t get them to cosign a loan because their credit is that bad. I’m not eligible for pel grants, not eligible for the CalGrant and there is no way USC is going to give me ANY aid, even though we wrote about our circumstances on the CSS. </p>
<p>Should I start writing my appeal letter now?</p>
<p>dakhors - didn’t see that. Missjay humanities courses fulfill both category 1 and the writing requirement, I believe.</p>
<p>collegedeb8r,</p>
<br>
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<p>sydneyral, I wouldn’t suggest appealing until you actually receive a financial aid package . Debt is not considered in determining need, but if the package you receive is not enough to allow you to attend, you would have nothing to lose by sending in an appeal - the worst they can do is say “no.”</p>
<p>Do you have significant assets listed on the CSS/Profile that were not on the FAFSA? I cannot predict anyone’s package, but I can give a hypothetical example: A junior applicant with a FAFSA EFC of $20,000 and home equity and other assets on the CSS/Profile of ~$200,000 might be expected to contribute $30,000 at USC. Federal aid (Stafford loans of $7,500 and work/study of ~$3,000+) might add up to approx $11,000. That student may receive up to a $15,000 USC grant, making their total package $26,000.</p>
<p>So unless you have assets reported on the CSS/Profile that are much higher than would be typical, please wait to see your package before deciding that USC is not going to give you any aid at all.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>alamemom,</p>
<p>Thank you for sharing your detailed knowledge. I’m really glad to hear there has been many cases like mine and they turned out fine. I didn’t know about the “Institutional Method” as well, thanks for letting me know. I regret so much that I didn’t check this website until I had a problem, but I’ll keep my head up and try to sleep well at night:)</p>
<p>Do you think it would be wise to make a call to the FA office and ask if I need to write a letter of appeal to explain why I missed the deadline? Or should I just wait for my decision?</p>
<p>If will help your peaceful slumber to give them a call, by all means do so! And then pop in to let us know what they said - hopefully it will be reassuring and others will sleep well also :)</p>
<p>alamemom,</p>
<p>I’ll call the office on Monday and for sure I’ll let you all know their response.</p>
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<p>@alamemom: Okay, I probably should wait before I panic. I have a tendency to do that. Haha.</p>
<p>I’ve worked so hard. I just don’t want to let money be what keeps me away from USC. My situation is very similar to the hypothetical you posted, so I’m hoping that USC is very generous with their aid for me. I would have no problem doing workstudy, and would have no problem taking out a loan that small (I was honestly expecting to be taking out loans of 20k+). If the hypothetical plays out for me (IF…IF…I am well aware it might not), then my parents will have no problem covering the 4,000. </p>
<p>I just don’t want to be punished for my parents’ mistakes regarding money. If USC were to look at my credit and financial history, they’d notice that I am VERY good with my money, but am unable to make more than 12k a year working part time. I’ll do just about anything to afford to go to this school, anything legal anyway.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>@whisper 11–no problem!</p>
<p>btw, does anyone else find it funny that we are all here stressing out about financial aid when we haven’t even gotten accepted yet?? i find it kinda amusing, but we our stress is for a good reason. its just an observation.</p>
<p>I think it just shows how passionate we are about getting in to USC. We don’t want ANYTHING getting in our way of going to school there. Unfortunately, money is a huge factor that gets in the way.</p>
<p>@sydneyral–most definately agreed</p>
<p>$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$</p>
<p>hey guys, I was wondering what your plans were for housing if you got accepted. </p>
<p>is there any chance for on campus housing?</p>
<p>aren’t we pretty screwed because were waiting for our acceptance letters </p>
<p>and if we get a spring grade request.</p>
<p>syndey - I just wanted to clarify that in the hypothetical situation I presented, the family (parent) contribution is $30,000, not $4,000, with a fin aid package of $26,000 for the cost of attendance of $56,000.</p>
<p>so:
cost of attendance: $56,000
Less fin aid package (including $7,500 in loans) of $26,000
Parent/family contribution: $30,000</p>
<p>I hope that clarifies it and that it isn’t horrible news :)</p>
<p>My bad, I misunderstood you.</p>
<p>It is horrible news. We can’t afford that. 
I’m still going. I don’t care how broke I am afterward. I’ll make it work somehow.</p>