@ZBlue17 I have 33 superscore. I recently learned that they dont superscore
Woo! I’m sooo happy that I got into my top choice school!!! Does anyone know if there’s an accepted students FB page or GroupMe yet? Congrats to all those accepted. To all those deferred, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for your RD acceptance, because I’d love to have you in school with me!
I found that I was a finalist for the full tuition scholarship this morning and just got my white box from my mailbox!! For some reason I still haven’t gotten an email from USC though.
Thanks, this helpful perspective for those who have been deferred. My daughter is NMSF and has been deferred.
**Decision: Accepted (Trustee Scholarship Finalist) **
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1440 (didn’t send)
ACT (breakdown): 35 (34 M 33 S 36 R 35 E)
SAT II: 760 Math II and 740 Chemistry (didn’t send)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 10/596
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Chemistry (4), AP English Lang (5), AP Spanish Lang (4), AP World History (4),
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus AB, AP English Lit, AP Spanish Lit, AP Biology, AP Environmental Science
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Hispanic Scholar, National Merit Commended, AP Scholar w/ Distinction
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): HOSA (President/Webmaster), NHS (Vice President), Spanish Honor Society (Vice President), Academy Ambassadors (Lead Ambassador), Basketball (9,10), Math Honor Society
Volunteer/Community service: ~250 hours
Summer Activities: Volunteered in emergency room of local hospital, was a counselor at a camp for kids with disabilities, nothing that amazing
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Outside Academic Interest SA: Talked about my interest in chasing my hispanic cultural roots (9/10)
Major SA: Really emphasized how I wanted to pursue enriching research and shadowing opportunities at Keck Medical Center (9/10)
Description blurbs: Definitely had fun with them, my hashtag was “#USC21butstillsecretlywaitingformyacceptancetoHogwarts” (10/10)
Common App: Didn’t really like at the time, spent a lot more time editing before January deadlines. (7/10)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 10 (My best friend read it and said it was AMAZING)
Teacher Rec #2: 9 (I got it from a teacher whose class I REALLY struggled but always tried 110%)
Counselor Rec: 8 (large public school, didn’t even know her name until this year loll)
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: N/A
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Neuroscience
State (if domestic applicant): TX
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Mexican
Gender: M
Income Bracket: ~150k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM
Reflection
I was so surprised that I got it because I definitely haven’t done anything truly amazing to distinguish me from the thousands of AMAZING applicants that also applied. I’ve concluded that competitive college admissions is 50% stats, 50% luck.
Strengths: ACT score, GPA, very clearly demonstrated interest in medicine, URM
Weaknesses: Nothing that distinctive? I haven’t really achieved much more than
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: URM, ECs that I was passionate about, ACT score
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: UT Austin, TCU, Texas A&M, Baylor
General Comments :
Congrats to everyone who got in! To those who did not, don’t blame yourself. I’ve had my share of disappointments during this college process and I know how frustrating it can be when you feel like your hard work hasn’t been rewarded. The admissions process becomes arbitrary once you start dealing with high caliber programs because objective stats become common and you’re judged based on things that are open to interpretation. Keep on pushing and know that you’ll end up in the right place!
hi! i was accepted into usc but my letter did not specify presidential or trustee, so i assumed i was getting deans. (no box came in the mail) however when i go to my portal i can sign up for explore usc. what does this mean?
@ZBlue17 It does sound like you would qualify for need based aid, but every school has their own methodology. Financial aid is more complex than just calculating income and number of kids in college. Best to wait and see. Hard I know.
@niceokay Check the tiny print at the bottom (or back) of your letter. Does it reference a certain scholarship? What brochures did they include?
From my understanding, explore USC isn’t just for presidential + trustee, it’s just that it’s required in order to get the scholarship. Good luck!
Can presidential scholars get dean’s scholarships too?
Okay, I am very annoyed that my “accepted” thing didn’t turn green 
Oh well lol
No they do not stack. Or do u mean bumped down?
@CADREAMIN so I can only get the half tuition and no other scholarship?
@Jray2711 still nothing. I emailed my college counselor but she hasn’t gotten back to me so if I still haven’t heard anything tomorrow I’m planning on either calling or emailing my regional rep so I will let you know if I get any info
We’re u invited to interview for others?
@Jray2711 also music industry majors aren’t eligible for any thornton-specific scholarships so we’re only being considered for academic ones which is part of why I’m confused because our scholarship info would be the same as every other school and isn’t specific to thornton
sorry landing I am offline for awhile maybe someone else can jump in…
No just presidential @CADREAMIN
There r smaller scholarships sometimes added in top. But much smaller. Check out the stickiied thread in top of forum about Scholarships. Gotta run at gate!
@marg928 , SDA notifies admitted students with the rest of the USC admissions at the end of March. In prior years, some admits get a “hint” they are admitted (although, not if they were admitted BFA or BA) if they receive a postcard invitation to SDA’s preview day (in April, includes tickets to the musical).
@NameAlreadyInUse , after interviews a very small number of Pres interviewees may be moved up to Trustee (less than 10%). 30-60% of Trustee interviews are offered lower awards. These are very rough estimates taken from observations here on CC over the years.
@ZBlue17, you should run the FA calculator to get an estimate of grant aid at USC. Having a sib in college helps a lot–they tend to cut your EFC in half–but only for the years you have a sib in college. This has shocked some in the past when their sib graduates and they are not expecting the huge change. OTOH, if you should have more sibs in college (3 one year, for example) your FA grant aid should go up, presuming family income remains stable. As for your second question, if the FA office determines your grant aid should be $27,500, and you were to receive a presidential scholarship for half tuition (let’s say that = $27,500), the merit would simply erase the financial aid. You net the same amount. 
@mintyicedtea nothng!