AHHH I JUST GOT THE PRESIDENTIAL!!!
WA State, 1530 Sat, 3.95 UW / 4.45 W GPA
somehow i wrote all of my essays two hours before the deadline. idk
As explained by @CADREAMIN ā¦
First, if you get the package, you are accepted. The package includes an acceptance letter and tells you what major/school you got into and which scholarship. Some will also include invitations to interview for a higher level scholarship with brochures like āExplore USC/Trusteeās Finalistā or other info relative to your specific scholarship. Sign up for Explore USC and interviews open up after the portal updates and everyone knows their status. You will not interview for higher scholarship if there isnāt an invite to do so included in your package.
If you DO NOT get scholarship info within your package but did get the JANUARY white box/acceptance package, in the past it has always meant that yes, you are accepted, and with the Deanās which is 1/4 tuition.
Soā¦ while you can be bumped down, the least you will get, if admitted in January, is the deanās (1/4th tuition scholarship).
ACCEPTED!! Can not believe it.
@collegeboundscal there is an interesting theory out there re usc and nmsf applicants. Itās that nmsf applicants are subject to a higher standard in the March round of admission because usc knows that if an nmsf applicant is admitted, usc will have to pay for half the tuition. So theory goes it may be better for nmsf applicants not to disclose their nmsf status until the deadline in May after you are accepted. Idk, it makes sense but itās awfully cynical. It makes sense because usc will only admit so many nmsf applicants. There must be a finite amount of financial resources set aside for this, so basically nmsf applicants are competing within a more competitive applicant pool among themselves.
havenāt received white envelope yet, but got status from portal:
Scholarship Status:
You have been selected as a finalist for a full-tuition scholarship. A scholarship interview will be the next step in competing for this award. Please see the enclosed Experience USC booklet to learn more about visiting campus.
I was asking earlier about scholarships for Thornton applicants and I just found this on the Music School site. Only wish Iād found this earlier (and I wish DS had noticed it so he wouldnāt have had his heart set on finding out something today).
All first-year undergraduate applicants who submit a complete application by December 1 are considered for the USC Trustee, Presidential and Deans scholarships. Thornton applicants are not required to interview for consideration for these scholarships. Only admitted undergraduates who are selected to receive one of these awards will be notified and should receive notification by April 1.
Iām currently from the class of 2022 so to those who have been accepted so far: congratulations! For those who havenāt: this phase is almost always considered a crapshoot so donāt worry, March will be here soon. Iām hoping I can address some of those who had questions as @WWWard and @CADREAMIN had done for me last year.
@Cheesecake19 Around 900 people were admitted this time of last yearā¦ From what I remember, Deanās Scholarships were not notified in the early phase so itās always going to be Presidential or Trustee notifications in late January.
@MO2019 Having been at this school for more than a semester now, thereās tons more Californian kids here but thatās a byproduct of Californiaās excellent high school education and locality to USC. They donāt receive more special treatment and Iām guessing there are no official stats because USC is a private school, not public.
@hsclassof2023 For last year, it was around 9000 admitted (including spring admits).
@islandbreeze Admissions get tighter each year and I think they mightāve had an over-yield my year (as spring admits were actually looking for housing options to open up). Itās pretty likely only 8000 will be admitted from the Class of 2023.
@blueskies2day Transfers and freshman applications are evaluated differently. Itās not the same case and in addition, most of these transfers come in there junior year and thus arenāt guaranteed housing at all. Two completely different cases.
@nickname121 From what I remember, kids with Deanās Scholarships found out in March, once the rest of the regular decision pool was admitted.
@queend98 Deanās Scholarships were not released in January, it was released in March (at least last year it was).
@duskiyoung Yes, I know a couple kids in WBB currently who were accepted without scholarship (I think they still got notified before the regular decision pool but I could be wrong).
@collegeboundscal I just want to say, I was NMSF and also put USC as my top choice. I still got the January notification and interviewed for Presidential but these scholarships are based holistically. When I went for my interviews, I still met a ton of kids who were also NMSF. The essays definitely matter a ton since youāre competing with kids who essentially have the same stats as you. I remember that during the assembly we had for scholarship recipients, they said they could take only the kids who had perfect test scores and a perfect GPA and still end up with admitting a class of 4000. In the end, I got the Presidential scholarship I interviewed for and got another Presidential through National Merit, but these donāt stack so you only end up with one of those anyhow.
@ykim525 Those awards are approximate numbers but usually 100 for Trustees and 200 for Presidential. The other 700 who interview get knocked down to Presidential, Deanās, or Directorās. Iāve never heard a case of someone who interviewed but didnāt get some sort of money. Very few people might actually get bumped up from Presidential to Trustee but donāt count on it.
I was accepted into Marshall so for those who might have specific questions about interviews and whatnot, please feel free to send me a message and Iāll do my best to answer it/get you the right information. I get what you guys are going through and good luck with the rest of your college applications!
@zzd857, wow, your D sounds like an academic superstar like SO many others who are posting here. You all deserve extra prizes and for many of you, those will come at the end of March with many great admissions.
For those applying to portfolio or audition based majors, like SCA and all the arts Schools, since the invitations for this merit round are selected by the adcom in that school, after looking at grades/stats, emphasis is often placed on those supplementary essays and talent-based materials, as well as extra consideration on outside of HS achievements in that art field. These days, that can be anything from shipping a successful (!) mobile game (for SCA Game Design) to invitation to exhibit artwork at known gallery, etc. Itās crazy what some kids bring to the application. That said, USC knows so many kids are just finding their artistic voices, may have had limited opportunities at their school or community, but still have great passion and potential, and many of these excellent applicants will be admitted and thrive. Hang on.
But for this extra selective scholarship round, where about 2.5% of applicants are moved forward, weāve seen the Schools pay attention to those with established proven leadership in their artistic fields, essays that display considerable thought leadership, and even then, we can never know just how many kids with national/international honors and achievements are in the applicant pool.
It never feels good to get this sort of bad news, but I hope we are all here celebrating a lot of great news in March.
One last thing, those with NMF will, of course, get 1/2 tuition anyway, if admitted. But what many might not realize is for those families who will qualify for FAid, the merit grant money will be subtracted from your FAid grant award. So, if you were to be awarded $20,000 in need-based grants, and if you also get the Presidential Merit, that merit award effectively wipes out the need aid. They do not stack. I only mention this bitter bit of news (to some) since itās no use feeling bad about missing out on one scholarship (Presidential) if you are in line for large FA grants.
@lisalisae I have the same question. I applied to music industry and have not received an email or gotten anything on my portal.
I also applied to a talent-based major (Glorya Kaufman School of Dance) and have not been notified of scholarship decision. I know that it is possible to be a talent-based major and recieve a scholarship, but I believe believe they are going to finish all auditions before notifying talent-based applicants of scholarships. Hope this helps @lisalisae @scp403
i got in and Im still in shock
I havenāt received any email at all. Is this normal because people have gotten emails earlier today. Should I email the admissions office?
How many people interview for Presidential vs how many get in? Does anyone know the stats for that?
@WWWard just want to point out kindly that you are wrong in one of your above posts. IF you get in in January and get an interview for the Trustee/Presidential, it is not correct to say that the least you will get is the Deans. I know firsthand from a child who went through this a few years ago. They interviewed for the Trustee and ended up with $3k or $4K a year. It is not a guarantee of Deans. Just FYI
@WWWard and @CADREAMIN it sounds like from the above poster that last year - Deanās was given out in March too. It was not sent in January.
congrats!
is there an accepted groupme or thread?
Accepted for USC Roski school of Art and Design as a presidential scholarship finalist!!!
From Iowa, I still havenāt received a package though, just the portal update.
@hcmom65 Yes, there is also the āDirectorās scholarshipā that is like $4k that virtually know one hears about until someone is bumped down with it (and $4k isnāt much of a dent, frankly, neither is Deans, but everything helps.) There have been several posters on here the last couple years that were kind enough to acknowledge that their student went from Trustee interview to this $4k level. Prior to that, no one had posted that could happen (Iād probably be too frustrated to post about it!), so the assumption for a long time was the lowest was Deans. That has to be disappointing. Good news is the kind of students that are nominated for Trustee have other great options and they landed at fantastic schools.
I didnāt think about it until @from2022 mentioned in their super helpful post, but makes sense there were no Deanās last year in January. I honestly donāt remember hearing about them in January or any/many in March either. The Pres and Trustee get the press and in March the thread grows to thousands of posts and moves at lightening speed so they would be easy to miss! Frankly, I thought it was a āno Deansā spring it was that quiet about them - figured they must have given too much away in January to have anything left for spring since they were over-enrolled. Didnāt realize none had gone out in January and no one mentioned it either - snuck one by us!
The other one that did catch my attention was the Associates given in spring for 18K, thatās pretty sweet, just about 10 of them. @TreeAlum was the first poster to share getting that nice surprise last year (and after he/we thought there were no more biggies to get).