Does anyone know how much weight USC puts on 7th semester grades? And how much do they pay attention to ACT sub scores?
Hey guys I have a question. So i’m a national merit finalist, and usc offers half tuition scholarships automatically for nmf’s, so would I still be able to receive the presidential half tuition scholarship as well? I’m at usc currently for an interview for the presidential scholarship. If i could receive a full tuition scholarship to usc…well, that’d be…wow.
@musicpen No, the NM scholarship IS the presidential scholarship (as long as you name USC #1 for NM), so you can’t double the money. At the financial aid session they specifically said this.
@musicpen no it isnt possible to stack scholatships, but it is possible for USC to bump you up to Trustee if they were super impressed with your interview. Then that is the only way to get full tuition scholarship. Good luck!
Around when do they release the date at which they’re sending out decisions?
Trustee and Presidents scholarships will be released “by April 1” as they repeatedly said during our visit.
USC’s party line is “by April 1” date for all decisions. In the past, finalists have received their award letters at least a week earlier, and certainly before the Ivy decisions come out on April 1. 
Ahh I don’t get why USC insists on notifying their students via snail mail first before updating the portal. Just makes the whole process that much more nerve wracking
I just got an email saying they have completed a preliminary review of my application and are now requesting that I send my first semester grades. Does anybody know if this is a good/bad thing or does everybody get this email?
@GlennRobinsonIII you were supposed to send first semester grades as soon as they became available to you.
Guys, only a month away from all of our acceptances.
@majesticmarmarr my school automatically sends first semester grades as soon as they become available but they said in the email that I need to send them personally. Is this how it is for everybody because I was not previously told that I would have to personally do it.
@GlennRobinsonIII you can self report them on the USC portal. On the left after you login…self report mid year grades.
I emailed admissions last week asking for reqs. for my mid-year grades since I am an international student and our grading is very different. They responded to my question and told me my application appears to be complete but then finished the email off with:
“We expect to have decision letters mailed by April 1st to all applicants who submitted a complete application on time. Equal consideration is given to all applicants who submit their applications by the deadline specified in the application.”
I had never mentioned anything about whether it was late or not and now I’m worried. Are they reassuring me that everything is fine or alluding to the fact that something may have been in late? 
I think you’re reading too much into it. That sounds like a standard closing line from any number of admissions offices. They have to be very specific in anything they put to writing to avoid confusion or even potential lawsuits. I wouldn’t worry about it.
How does USC deal with an incomplete first semester because of transferring schools? I am not sure if I should mention it was for medical reasons or not because I do home/online schooling now. I’ve already contacted my admissions counselor, but need advice from here.
I will be graduating on time, but at the current moment do not have first semester grades to provide. Any advice?
@mash97 Standard pasted response. Means nothing, they are just covering all bases in one response as mentioned.
@40yearoldvirgin. What? It is confusing. I get that you are still finishing up first semester and I assume through online schooling, so did you mention this to your USC admissions counselor? A zillion kids do homeschooling - you should be putting it all out there with them. And it is certainly fine to tell them it was for medical reasons, you must have told them something, right? They can’t read your mind…and would need to know why your application is not complete. Perhaps you called and they haven’t called you back? Did you actually speak or have email exchange with her/him?
@CADREAMIN I talked on the phone with the admissions counselor and she told me to submit it anyway with an explanation. Yes, I did tell her I was finishing first and second semester simultaneously now through the online school. I also emailed USC. I’ll definitely take this to the homeschooling forum. I just hope it doesn’t affect the admissions decision in a negative way. Thanks for the quick response.
I applied to USC last year for freshman admission and I know the decisions were sent out around March 23. The acceptances are sent via priority mail in a big yellow envelope and rejections are sent out by first class mail in little white envelopes. Typically the acceptances arrive a day or two before the rejections but this is not set in stone since mail is unreliable, so don’t think that since you didn’t get a package on the first day, you’re automatically rejected. If you follow USC Admission on instagram you can scroll and see all their posts from last year at the end of march showing all of the yellow envelopes. Hope this helps some of you guys!