@TikopiaRock28 You are correct. The letter saying you are still in consideration comes after the acceptance packets have arrived. Good luck though, and don’t give up hope! Sometimes the mail does weird things.
@wormholes thank you!
When your friend who literally lives down the street got a package today but you didn’t LOL. Looks like I’m waiting until April 
so who in this thread is thinking about rushing??
Your username sounds like me. Checked my mailbox, and only a few depressing casino advertisements addressed to my parents. When I left the house later that day, I checked my house’s surveillance cameras and I saw my neighbor putting a white box in my mailbox (my glimmer of hope, I thought that the mailman had misplaced my package). But lo and behold, upon my arrival home, I discovered that it was just an envelope, one of a million pieces of mail I’ve received from Oklahoma about their National Merit scholarships.
Time to binge on some ice cream. I’ve gained about twenty pounds in the past several months. Last week, my doctor asked me if I was working out because I’ve put on so much weight. I told him that I was just stress eating (equivalent to the awkward “Are you pregnant?” situation). I recommend Halo Top ice cream. Tastes like regular ice cream but without the added feelings of regret and worthlessness after eating a whole pint.
I’m in a 3 day USPS zone so I guess I’ll wake up with my scholarship decision. Got a rejection today, I really shouldn’t be expecting anything, but for some delusional reason I have some hope. I want USC so badly.
I received my packet today and I will be rushing!! I am excited to get a tour of fraternity/sorority row at the Explore USC day 
what does rushing mean?
She finally woke up. She is finalist for Presidential. She’ll interview in early March. Yay.
Joining a sorority.
@mmdins I guess USC’s a fan of Hot Cheetos then!! blesst
I’m in zone 8 for shipping. Anyone think I could maybe receive a package tomorrow, or have they all been received?
Someone stated they won’t be physically mailing letter this year, that would be a first, but that exact letter will be in your portal for those that did not receive scholarship. Here is one from last year…
Dear ________
I am writing to first-year candidates who submitted their applications by December 1, in time for consideration for USC merit scholarships. I want to update you on the status of our admission review, and our scholarship selection process.
Scholarship Selection
Over 30,000 students applied in time to be considered for merit scholarships. We have offered admission to approximately 1,200 students who will proceed to the next phase of consideration for our top awards: the Mork Family, Stamps Leadership, Trustee, and Presidential scholarships. I am sorry to say you were not selected for further consideration for these awards.
This notification only applies to the scholarships I mentioned. You will still be considered for other awards, including but not limited to those listed on our Scholarships page. I encourage you to apply for financial aid if you have not already done so. Visit the Financial Aid website for application instructions. Also, if you are admitted, named a National Merit Finalist and select USC as your first-choice institution, you will receive a USC Presidential Scholarship worth one-half tuition.
Admission Selection and Notification
Your application is still being considered for admission. We are planning to offer admission to approximately 7,800 additional first-year students. We will mail these notifications so you have the decision by April 1. I am grateful for your patience as you wait for us to finish this difficult work.
Mid-Year Reports
If you or your school counselor has not already done so, please submit your mid-year report: your final grades from the first term of your senior year. You can report them online at you.usc.edu, or your school can send them to us.
Just to offer some comfort, don’t assume too much by the USPS priority mail map listings! Theoretically, I live in a 1-Day zone in California, but I just got my white box (finalist for full-tuition) today!
Best wishes for everyone! Also, don’t forget that they may still be rewarding Dean’s Scholarships until March!
[asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): n/a
ACT (breakdown): 35 composite; 35 english; 33 math; 35 reading; 36 science
SAT II: n/a
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 21 out of 390
AP (place score in parenthesis): physics 1- 4; english language & composition- 4
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP psychology, advanced choir, AP english lit & comp, AP gov, AP calculus AB, advanced acting
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semi-finalist
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): national honor society (vice president), all-state choir, district honor choir, select jazz choir, theatre productions, dance lessons, voice lessons, student council, academic team, world issues club (secretary), varsity cheer; orchestra
Job/Work Experience: acted in two commercials and got paid, does that count?
Volunteer/Community service: created, organized, and maintained relations between a local non-profit hospice organization and my school; salvation army; pack the backpacks; volunteered for a local children’s musical theatre organization
Summer Activities: traveled and sang in cathedrals in 8 European countries; attended a chemistry academy; became a certified phlebotomist
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Probably at least an 8; I spent so much time on my essays it’s a bit ridiculous, so I hope they were good.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: Not a great writer, but knows me very well. He was my math teacher for three years and he likes me a lot.
Teacher Rec #2: My hardest teacher, but he liked me because I got an A in his class both semesters, which is pretty difficult to do.
Counselor Rec: My counselor LOVES me, so I feel like her recommendation was probably pretty great!
Additional Rec: My acting teacher who knows me very, very well. I would hope that her recommendation was amazing.
Interview: n/a (yet)
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: neuroscience
State (if domestic applicant): Oklahoma
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: Native American
Gender: female
Income Bracket: <$100,000 per year
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Native American? I guess
Reflection
Strengths: I think my essays were pretty good, and my test scores and gpa were solid
Weaknesses: I took a year of easy math between pre-calc and calculus, which could be looked down upon, and I am also not taking a science class this year
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I believe I showed lots of interest in the school, and my scores and gpa helped
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: so far, I have only heard back from the University of Oklahoma and the University of Tulsa, both of which I was accepted to
General Comments: USC is my top choice and I cannot wait to attend! Fight on!!!
Does anyone know if any of this applies to Thornton School of Music applicants?
A few answers:
–I am hazy on how many (if any) Dean’s get distributed in March, as my memory from prior years is not what it used to be. Dean’s is 1/4 tuition so about $11K, right? There are other merit awards (smaller!) that get awarded in March or early April in the $2500-7000/year range. Some of these are added to the Presidential/Trustee. All are subtracted from any FA awards. Also, students may apply (now I think) for USC Alumni scholarships and any other local scholarships. After freshman year, most majors have an array of additional merit awards too.
–Each and every year, we hear on CC of Presidential interviewees getting an award letter in March that says they hae been given the Trustee (!!!) Whee!! There are also let-down letters, where the Trustee candidate may only be offered Presidential. And a rare few get offered less. 
For the NMF who knows she’s guaranteed half tuition, I’d strongly recommend coming to Explore and doing the interview if you can at all afford it. For one thing, it’s an awesome event where you get a warm welcome and lots of good inside information about your particular major/dorms, etc. But there is always a chance it can translate into more $$. Why not? (Unless it just is a huge conflict.)
–One of my kids interviewed for Trustee (so so grateful, so so lucky) and when he received his scholarship results letter, he not only received the Trustee (amazing!) he was also given a University scholarship which I believe was around $3000 more each year. I think this is pretty common, so another reason to come to the interview is to perhaps see if the competitive Presidential award comes with that extra good news. Can’t hurt.
–Even though some will receive the white box/admissions this week, I believe (check my facts, CADREAMIN) FA awards letter do not go out until April. So IF you interview for let’s say Presidential, you will not know until end of March IF you get that scholarship (yay), and you will not know until April what your FA award is (if you applied for FA). So this process is complex, and final answers about merit $$ vs FA won’t come through until then.
–I wrote a long post in the stickied posts at the top of the CC Forum about my guesses about how many are actually awarded the scholarship they interview for. I think about 50-66% of Trustee interviewees get the Trustee, so the odds are about even. I based this guess on the number that are invited (around 500ish for Trustee/Mork/Stamps) vs. how many actually come to the interview (around 400ish–based on seeing how many spaces are available on the 2 Explore dates for Trustees) and then the yield (how many attend USC–about 160 all together). My guess is they offer about 200-300 full-tuition + scholarships, and about half matriculate. Of course, these are the very same students who will find themselves admitted to MIT, Harvard, CalTech, Yale, Stanford–you get the idea. So, that’s my guess.
–I will repeat–all the scholarship invitations (Trustee/Presidential that require an interview) get mailed at the same time. But if you do not receive an invitation, just sit tight. The decision letters come out at the end of March and NO ONE has been eliminated by the adcom yet. Hang in there. In recent years, they have sent a form letter (yet, some still do not arrive so cause students extra anxiety) that spells out you have not been asked to interview, but you and everyone else is still in review for admission. This same information will be on your USC portal–we think in the next day or two.
–I and all the other experienced folks reading this thread are really sympathetic to all the pain swirling around. Try not to be too hard on yourself. The odds of getting an invitation to interview are 5 out of 100. So literally dozens of equally brilliant, clever, creative applicants are not getting letters–YET. Might I suggest binge-watching Gilmore Girls?
Hi @madbean can you explain what you mean about a NMF coming out to Explore for interview (and possibly more $)? I thought NMF is automatic half tuition and no more. Also, could you explain how the FA offer works with merit? In other words, does it stack or is it reduced? Thank you!
Has anyone in Indiana/Midwest heard back yet, btw?
Also thank you so much!!! @madbean