@CADREAMIN All the kids I know this year with Dean’s scholarship either got it in March or were informed they were bumped down to it in March. Obviously that’s only a few dozen kids so it’s a super small sample size to say anything definitive but that’s the general feeling I get.
I GOT IN !!! School of Cinematic Arts, Writing for Screen and Television :,)))
I’m a FINALIST FOR TRUSTEE!
I’m so shocked, honestly. I definitely didn’t think I had the stats for ANY scholarship, least of all a Trustee one !! congrats to everyone 
Congrats @templarcole !! For SCA, it is about so much more than stats - they are looking for your voice and vision. They must have felt you have a unique and special voice and talent to bring, on top of being qualified for the university.
@CADREAMIN Had never heard of Associates and at $18K that’s a good one! You mentioned spring. Are the kids who are now being considered for other scholarships eligible for Associates or is that only for spring admits?
Applied to Thornton by Dec 1 and still haven’t received a “you didn’t qualify for a scholarship” email or had any change to my portal. Nothing in the mail either. Are there any weird exceptions for Thornton applicants when it comes to merit scholarships?
@from2022 you said “Those awards are approximate numbers but usually 100 for Trustees and 200 for Presidential. The other 700 who interview get knocked down to Presidential, Dean’s, or Director’s. I’ve never heard a case of someone who interviewed but didn’t get some sort of money. Very few people might actually get bumped up from Presidential to Trustee but don’t count on it.”
But if you look at the Freshman Profile for USC for the entering class of 2018 - this is what it says:
USC Mork Family Scholars (full tuition + stipend) 10
Stamps Scholars (full tuition + stipend) 6
USC Trustee Scholars (full tuition) 96
USC Presidential Scholars (half tuition) 440
USC Dean’s Scholars (quarter tuition) 143
Recipients of other USC merit scholarships 96
So I think while 100 for trustee might be close - it appears that the Presidential is alot higher than your 200. Also, they have 265 for NMF. This is just the kids who enroll. There are certainly kids that get scholarships and don’t attend.
Tagging @WWWard and @CADREAMIN too
@CADREAMIN yes I remember we were surprised and also, I’m a She! Lol.
@barbpz the Associates is only about 10 per year so that is probably why most haven’t heard of it.
Seems with those the university also throws in a “university scholarship” because we got $2000 for that for a nice round $20k. We were beyond thrilled to get that after not getting invited for the big ones!!
@treealum I actually caught that I wrote “he” after it was too late to edit, sorry about that!
@NewPoster123 the 440 figure includes both the Pres and NMF. One of the pinned posts above done by experts awhile back (but still applicable) figured that the NMF figure is actually included within the given Presidential. They did the math with stated percentages and working backwards. So that 265 NMF scholars is within the Pres total (and within other scholarships as well) given is the school of thought. It would make sense because they publish a much lower number for Pres and NMF as varies in the Scholarship pdf. I’m not a math person that @WWWard is but it makes sense.
https://admission.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/USC-Scholarships.pdf
This theory has been dis-proven many times. USC’s dean and director of admissions on separate occasions have explained that there is no limit or quota on the number of National Merit Finalists that they will accept. It is true that some National Merit Finalists are not admitted, but that’s not due to USC not wanting to spend scholarship money, it’s due to the extreme competition and perhaps less-than-great fit.
In addition, not disclosing one’s finalist status wouldn’t matter because all colleges receive lists of all National Merit Finalists from the National Merit organization. Those lists include name, state and high school. It wouldn’t be hard at all for schools to check the list against their database.
I was dreading that today would be yet another with dashed hopes in this never-ending college gauntlet. Given the fierce competition among tremendously talented high stats kids, I went to the mailbox expecting nothing. My heart skipped when I noticed a rectangular white box like those described on this thread. Excited, I reached in to retrieve it, only to discover it was my United Mileage Plus 1K credentials. What cruel timing, United.
Adrenaline draining, I then I logged onto my S19’s USC portal. There was an update. Clicked on it. He was accepted into Dornsife with an invitation to interview for Presidential!!! So, so thrilled and relieved. Are there any feels left today?
But then, the next question. What about D19, for whom USC is her unequivocal top choice? I told her to check her USC portal, holding my breath. (Wisely, she did not share her login or password with me.) She yells that she also got into Viterbi CS, also with an invitation to interview for Presidential!
Don’t know how to maintain until ExploreUSC weekend and the results. But so relieved they both were accepted at such an outstanding national university with a possibility for full tuition plus. Feels like we hit the lottery today! Here’s to the legend of the twin hook. Best of luck to all parents and students on this crazy journey.
@NewPoster123 @CADREAMIN is right about how the National Merit Finalists are included in the 440 Presidential Scholars listed. I would definitely say that there’s going to be people who end up not coming here because those scholarships aren’t enough/other schools are a better fit but on the Freshman Profile I’d doubt that they’d include scholarships given but not used… The number of scholarships presented on the Freshman Profile seems very likely because McCarthy Honors College houses 525 residents (all scholarship recipients) and a few will live in other freshmen dorms (by choice or simply because McCarthy is full) and a few will commute or live off-campus. This covers the 552 “big scholarship” recipients who are currently freshmen and attending this university but not those who would’ve rejected the big offers.
@s0meUSCkid95 I hope you are right, as my daughter is nmsf and she did indicate that on her common app. Thanks for the input!
@arg6442 , I applied for Roski too, I got nothing today. Which major you gonna study? Visual art or design?
If we did not get accepted this round is it appropriate to write a kind of letter of continued interest reflecting on any accomplishments that have occurred in the last few months. I have won a few awards since school started that I feel may benefit my application for March.
@collegeboundscal @zzd857 Who knows?!?!?
Very interesting theories out there! I can understand the strategy of not saying NMSF except that any savvy AO could still look up a high testing applicant on Google to find their NMSF status if it really was a determinIng factor.
Many qualified kids don’t get many opportunities, and the kids that were chosen clearly have their own strengths. I guess we just have to have faith that everyone will end up where they are supposed to be and go from there. If not getting a top choice college offer ends up being my child’s biggest problem, then Amen to that.
Best wishes to all from here!
^^^It’s always good to send your assigned advisor an update with significant awards or achievements since applying.
Accepted!!! College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, Political Science B.A. From Delaware, 1580 SAT, 4.35 GPA, top 15% of class, NMSF, pretty good extracurriculars and essays. They said “you have been selected as a finalist for one of our full-tuition scholarships”, but I’m not sure which ones they mean with that. Could someone elaborate that for me? Thanks!
@CADREAMIN , agree, I just sent USC admission counselor assigned to my high school my updates this Tuesday. I received a significant award and nominated for another big one. It is too late to save my life for this round, I hope It is helpful for the next round.
@DJCURRYBEATS19 You were nominated to interview for the Trustee Scholarship, which covers full tuition if you win the scholarship. You’ll interview sometime in February and then find out the final decision (a.k.a. if you got the scholarship or not) in March.
@s0meUSCkid95 , I have a question for you, if some one received scholarship decides not to go, will USC reallocate the scholarship to someone else in March or May? Just curious.