Do you own a home or have equity in it? USC doesn’t rely on just FAFSA, it uses the CSS profile so many more things are fair game to pay for a college education. Many people don’t realize that going in.
@WWWard Thank you for your reply! Look forward to the FA award whenever it arrives. Grateful for USC’s merit, that’s for sure.
@CADREAMIN Yes, but we do not qualify for a home equity line of credit. Will informing them of that possibly change our FA package?
Anyone know how long it usually takes for them to respond to an appeal for FA?
you’re welcome, @CollegeOdyssey2001 good luck with it…
@enroute No, it won’t make a difference. USC sees home equity as money “in the bank” that can be used to pay for college - CSS schools can do this, that is why many people do not qualify for FA.
@enroute I should have added if you have any questions you should call the FA office to get a definitive answer.
Is this NPC the most current? http://esdweb.esd.usc.edu/npc/
I also tried NPC at a few other schools. Using the same data w.r.t income, home equity, investment assets, USC’s gift aid seems to be on the less generous side.
We didn’t apply for FA for fall 2019 since it asks for 2017 income and we wouldn’t have qualified for anything. But we have had big income drop since. Will it be worthwhile to contact FA office and ask for consideration? Or is it too late and better wait for next year?
@OneAndOnlySJ I always recommend trying. If you can save money by qualifying for FA… do so.
For those planning to enroll at USC… at some point, you should take a look at all of the info found here… https://ahf.usc.edu/
The Academic Honors and Fellowships Staff helps undergraduates… whether admitted with a merit scholarship or not… in terms of mapping out their undergraduate career with an eye towards either USC honors, scholarships and awards while an undergraduate or external scholarships, grants, fellowships and the like for the years beyond USC.
For example, they had reached out to my daughter (who was not an USC merit scholar) back in November simply due to her current GPA about applying for a Fulbright UK Summer Institute Scholarship ( http://www.fulbright.org.uk/going-to-the-uk/uk-summer-institutes ). My daughter applied, made it through the various stages and is now a finalist interviewing this Thursday to hopefully be named an award recipient. If so, she will be travelling and studying film and media in the UK this summer at a major university with a fully-funded Fulbright scholarship. Today, she is meeting with the Academic Honors and Fellowships Staff in a mock interview session and to gain their guidance.
Apparently they are there to assist any undergraduate requesting such and do sort of shepherd along their candidacy for all of the following scholarship or fellowship opportunities: Astronaut, Beinecke, Boren, Churchill, Critical Language Scholarship (CLS), Fulbright U.S. Student Program, Fulbright US-UK Summer Institutes, Gates Cambridge, Gilman, Goldwater, Knight-Hennessy, Luce, Marshall, Mitchell, Presidential Fellows Program (CSPC), Rhodes, Rotary Global Grant Scholarships, Schwarzman, Truman and Udall. They include everything from fully-funded study abroad programs while still an undergraduate to fully-funded graduate school fellowships. And USC does seem to produce a # of these winners… including the most recognizable ones… Rhodes, Marshall and Fulbright.
We are certainly fortunate to have learned about this staff, and I recommend it to others so inclined.
@WWWard Thanks for the info and congrats to your D for becoming a finalist. Let us know what the outcomes is.
@cag60093 You’re welcome. And thanks for the good wishes.
Nationwide… they only select between 27 and 90 students to attend 9 different programs (3-10 per program) at that # of colleges and universities in the U.K., but USC produced one scholarship recipient in 2016 and two each for 2017 and 2018. We are hoping that the trend continues 
@WWWard good luck to your daughter!
@lkbux64 Thanks
@WWWard, congrats and best of luck to your daughter. And thanks for sharing about AHF resources. I am really impressed that USC has put forth these programs to better the experience and careers for the students.
@OneAndOnlySJ Thanks. And your welcome. Yes… there is a ton of support for those that may be interested or seek it out. Once you are a Trojan, they really do bend over backwards to make your experience as meaningful as possible.
It is a shame that the 2017 tax bill took away the ability to deduct interest on home equity used for anything other than home repairs/renovations. Before, it was much more advantageous to take out a home equity loan for college. Also, why are parents penalized for having home equity? In some cases it is because they have made a concerted effort to pay down their mortgage. Also, homeowners have no control over how much their house is worth, paying higher property taxes (which leaves less money for tuition) for higher value which may or may not materialize when they sell.
Congrats to your daughter @WWWard! Is it the younger one or older one? I know of friends’ kids who have gone after graduating.
Good luck on the interview.
Thanks, @filmmomvt The younger… the current sophomore. The Fulbright UK Summer Institute scholarship program is only open to freshmen and sophomores.
Is it ok not to take AP exams after acceptance? Do USC asks for AP scores for the AP exams listed (to be taken in senior year) in the common app?