@marlaina my son received an official letter in the mail about his trustee yesterday.
S received official letter confirming Presidential scholarship.
@kcheves I donāt know if this helps concerning University Scholarships and the NMF 50 percent/Presidential scholarship. My daughter is a NMF who interviewed for scholarships and received the Presidential. When she looked at her USC financial aid info online, it also listed Presidential as well as a University Scholarship of $2,000 (renewable). We werenāt sure where the University scholarship came from or what it meant, but a few days later she received an email congratulating her on the University scholarship. The email had a link to the University Scholarship Information Guide, which states āIf you receive a USC Competitive Scholarship, you will be eligible for up to $2,000 of the University Scholarship.ā I think (although havenāt confirmed) that USC Competitive Scholarships include the Mork Family, Stamps Leadership and Trustee scholarships, the half-tuition Presidential Scholarship, and the one-quarter tuition Deans Scholarship. We, too, are grateful for the $2,000. She has just made USC her first-choice school for National Merit, so no word yet on the additional $1,000 NM scholarship.
@marlaina She also received a letter in the mail confirming her Presidential scholarship, but it was a few days after her USC financial aid information showed that scholarship.
Thanks Isoinfo. We received the same email about our presidential scholarship. In our case, I donāt think USC knows yet that my D was a NMF finalist and that she selected USC as her first choice school. We expect the University Scholarship to be reduced to $2000.
@kcheves Youāre welcome although I didnāt help much. I hope you end up with the higher scholarship amount.
@kcheves I was confused by your message to me in #346 regarding the Presidential scholarship connection to the PSAT score. Iām guessing that you meant to tag @CalBearsMom (post #341)?
Like you, I saw my kid go through the NMSF process, and even knowing that vast majority of SF proceed to Finalist, there was still perspiration involved. 
@hafamama, just following up to see if you were able to get a financial aid package that will enable your S to attend USC? Hope you received the help you were looking for to help him matriculate.
Sorry @hafafamama. You are right, I tagged the wrong person.
@hafamama and others. USC is not need blind in financial aid, but it is darn close. I am sure that your sons/daughters will get a package that is competitive. And if s/he has dropped from a higher to lower level scholarship, there is a chance to earn the higher level back during the first year. There were reasons to be invited to interview for T/P scholarships in the first place. They can show them why during their first year here.
Sorry if this has been resolved already. D15 is a Jr/Presidential, and a few years ago when we went to the two-day on-campus event w/interview I asked about the minimum GPA question. We were told that the GPA requirement to maintain the scholarship was āgood academic standingā (i.e., a 2.0). The Viterbi Admissions rep said that scholarship students donāt need to have the stress of a high GPA requirement to work hard. They are chosen in part because they are self-motivated achievers.
As a ChemE itās been nice not having the stress of potentially losing the scholarship if she had a bad semester. Of course, policies change all the time, so I have no idea if this is still valid.
@kevbostic Sorry this is like a week late, but theyāve notified the Fellows by email on the 29th of March. I think there was meant to be a postage mail sent earlier as it was stated in the email that email was there just in case for those who didnāt get the mail.
thanks @MrReshokar. disappointing we didnāt see any email for my son. 8-( he does have some snail mail waiting for him at home from USC (been on spring break for a week), but i think itās for the other scholarships heās received and not this (unless there really was an email snafu - guess we could hold out hope - he was really wanting the research fellow positionā¦) thanks again!
@Nomorelurker Awwwā¦thanks for the follow up! DS told me he got an email asking for some financial info and documents (he swore he had uploaded them before, but the FA office is asking anyway). Iām guessing itās the reason for the hold up.
@ttrojan Iām glad to learn that there is some consideration re: scholarships as he progresses. Thanks for letting me know!
Can anyone tell me if their S or D got a scholarship and acceptance to Thornton School of Music?
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Phew, USC and their tactile mail policy sure does keep anxiety levels higher! Goodluck to those still holding out!
@Isoinfo My daughter got the USC Associates Scholarship ($18,000) and she got the same letter about the University Scholarship and received that $2000 as well. So it must be anything from Leadership and Deanās on up can get the $2000? There are only ~10 USC Associates given so people donāt usually talk about it, but I can say that after being slightly disappointed that she didnāt get to interview for the Trustee/Presidential, we were ecstatic about the USC Associates. It really has made her feel that USC really wants her there as much as she wants to be there!
I did not know about the Associates Scholarship so congrats to your D @TreeAlum. My wife has a theory that USC may have given the extra $2,000 University Scholarship to partly help with the increase in tuition and fees for 2018.
@TreeAlum Congratulations! So nice that USC is showing your daughter some love! Is she definitely going there?
@ Bay Area Mom 2016: My S, percussion, was accepted and received merit aid at Thornton.
@Isoinfo Yes she will be attending USC! From the first time she stepped on the campus, she felt at home. She has always loved Los Angeles. She will be majoring in neuroscience. She is also hoping to do the Freshman Science Honors program. We will be attending the admitted students day in late April!
@Nomorelurker I didnāt know much about the Associates either. When you look at the scholarship list, itās there between the presidential and deans, itās just they only give out about 10 so I never paid attention to it. Also excited for the additional $2K! I know it sounds crazy but paying $55K instead of $75K feels a lot better.