@Cheesecake19 like with admission offers, USC over-awards scholarships. They know that about half of the scholarship recipients won’t end up accepting them. They won’t re-award a declined scholarship to someone else, because they need a certain number to not take them, in order to stay within budget. They try to predict scholarship yields the same way they try to predict admission yields.
@Apple349 The only problem with your numbers is that we can’t confirm how many NMSF (later NMF) are accepted in January vs. accepted in March. I honestly don’t think admissions looks into it heavily for January at least - none of my interviewers knew I was NMSF when I was at Explore (they only found out when they asked me about significant awards I got in high school). Looking at the Freshman Profile for the past year, my stats would border along the 75th percentile but it’s definitely not much higher than that. There are certainly kids with higher stats than me that also has NMSF but aren’t admitted in January. Thus there is emphasis on essays, extracurricular activities, and markers like first generation. Just to re-iterate, USC gives these awards to NMF only and nobody is a confirmed NMF in January when these decisions come out or in February when the interviews happen. True, 15000 out of 16000 NMSF become NMF but nothing is guaranteed until you get that final notice. In January, NMSF holds much less bearing simply because each school, whether it be SCA, Marshall, Viterbi, etc. wants to recruit the best kids who have applied to their respective majors within the schools. NMSF can only serve as a confirmation of your high school achievements rather than being a pinnacle of who you are as a person.
@glasshalffull123 Certainly USC will have a quota but this would be the same for any university with an honors program (and an honors building). They’re going to limit the amount of scholarships based on projected yield rates and just checking off with past historical numbers. We don’t know the numbers or the process they use for this but that’s essentially what goes into deciding which NMF kids to take, certainly not comparing them within a pool of just NMF. I honestly don’t think it matters that the honors housing has only 500 spots - it’s not a prerequisite to stay in the honors housing to maintain your scholarship and the former honors housing had even less spots for the students. McCarthy Honors College was built in 2016 to alleviate this demand but they have consistently given approximately the same amount of scholarships in each class for the past few years. It was very likely a few years back to be NMF and have the half-tuition scholarship but not live in the honors housing. It’s less of a situation now because there is actually more space in the new honors building but there are still going to be people who are NMF and have the half tuition scholarship, but not live in the honors housing.
In the end, a lot of parents and kids themselves put too much stock into National Merit status. Who is to say that kids with National Merit won’t simply apply to just a school that offers full tuition or a full ride with NMF? Who is to say that these same kids would rather go to a higher ranked university that they certainly have the potential to get into? All we’re doing is speculating. The only way I would see National Merit status being a bigger part of your application is if you go to a high school with none to few NMSF or NMF and your state is in the top 10 in terms of score qualifiers (around 221+ SI Index). You’d stand out to your local/regional admissions counselor who initially reviews your application simply because your state is well known for producing high-caliber NMF (typically private schools and top-tier public school) but you came from a relatively unknown high school within that state.
Hello!
I applied by the 1st December deadline to Iovine and Young Academy as my first choice major and Roski School of design as my second. I already heard back from the Young Academy and was selected to interview but haven’t yet received any update on the scholarship from USC. Does anyone know why I haven’t received any update on the scholarship? By the way, I am an international student and reside in India.
I was accepted into USC for the trustee’s scholarship. I’m really bummed though, because it looks like I won’t be able to go to the Explore USC event. I have to travel alone, but because I’m a minor, I can’t be housed on campus overnight. Booking a hotel room will be a financial burden especially bc LA hotels are really expensive I think.
The worst thing is, the explore program is 2/21 and I turn 18 on 2/28. Do you know if it’s worth emailing USC to see if they can make an exception for me?
@Marcie123 do you know if USC strictly only covers half of the student’s airfare to LA? I’m from Virginia and my mom refuses to let me travel alone, so the tickets are really expensive. Plus I can’t take a redeye flight, so we have to stay an extra day in a hotel. My mom is willing to make it work, but it really stretches us thin. I’m just really bummed because USC is my absolute first choice, but my mom is making is clear that I probably won’t be able to attend unless I get Trustee. Also, does USC tend to match EFC? Even for students who receive the merit scholarships?
Question re mid year reports. If counselor has uploaded the report in the common app, and I see that it has been downloaded, do we still need to send it in via the portal or otherwise?
@catova there will be people much more knowledgeable than me who can answer your questions regarding EFC and financial aid, including flight reimbursement.
I hope you and your mom can make it work. The Explore weekend is very impressive!
@catova As of last year they covered/reimbursed up to $200. Where are you seeing half? That would be new if so.
I was admitted! I got my mail and status update online this Saturday with the invitation to Explore USC and the notification that I’m a finalist for the Presidential Scholarship. I’m already NMF so the award would be redundant and I’m still debating whether I should attend Explore.
n/m
@CADREAMIN the booklet says they will cover up to half the admitted student’s airfare, up to $60 for students flying from CA, NV, AZ and up to $200 flying from elsewhere. It’s possible for me, but I really feel bad for people who literally can’t afford that 
that’s why I was wondering if USC makes exceptions for those students, if not, then this whole merit scholarship process is pretty unfair.
@2023 college applicant (forget how to tag names with spaces) Explore is an amazing time, you make your first friends, get treated like royalty and may get your scholarship bumped up another $100k. NMFs that got the Presidential should go! Nothing to lose everything to gain.
CADREAMIN,
So an update on recent achievements should be communicated via email to the advisor for son’s HS or the advisor for his application? Or are they one and the same?
ie.son was just awarded best delegate at Harvard Model UN.
Thanks in advance
@catova, Trustee scholarships are worth approx. $220K over four years, and Presidential awards are worth about $110K. For that potential amount of merit money, it may be worth it to some families to stretch their budget to be in the running, or to allow their student to travel to California alone in order to be honored/rewarded. OTOH, students who truly cannot afford the travel and who seriously want to attend USC (this is often the question that comes up at this tough point), it may be very likely their family will qualify for very high FinAid grants (due to financial need). In that case, they are already admitted and will simply have to wait until March to find out how much they will be awarded.
@sunkings They should be one in the same. Advisors for high schools and colleges (transfers) are all found here in this link. Congrats, that is a good thing to mention.
Thank you !!
@Marcie123 Will there be any formal activities/sessions for accompanying parent(s) during the Explore USC events? Trying to decide if both my husband and I should go or just one of us? Thanks in advance!
@megaserindipity yes! There are lots of activities and sessions for parents. I’m trying to remember the schedule but it’s blurring with the summer orientation schedule. We flew in the night before and went to dinner nearby. I can’t remember the next morning but we had lunch on our own with a student from our hometown in the Village (which is beyond impressive. It still blows my mind that my D gets to live there!). We went to a session on thematic option (TO). There was a kick-off in the auditorium for all students and parents. After that I think my D went off to her host’s room.
The parents were wined and dined at dinner that evening where we mingled with faculty. We happened to sit with an Italian professor. We mentioned that our older D was taking Italian at a small LAC. It turned out that her professor had been a grad student of the USC professor. Great speakers at the dinner.
We had breakfast the next morning with admissions staff. It’s fascinating to talk with them about the admissions process. We met our D’s AO. Then we went to a few info sessions. One on campus security which eased our minds. A well-run student panel with students in a variety of majors and clubs. A session on housing. Finally we saw our D again for a farewell lunch. By that point, we were all sold on USC!
There were students there alone, some with one parent and some with two. If you can both go, it’s worth it to both be able to experience what USC has to offer. But if not, it’s totally fine! We are only an hour flight away so it was feasible. But if you’re traveling from far away or have younger children I wouldn’t worry about it.
@CollegeOdyssey2001 My D received the notification approximately 1 week after - I believe it was on 1/28. It’s my understanding that everyone that qualifies for Tuition Exchange at USC gets it from USC because they always have more going out to other schools than coming in to USC. I believe the school you are getting the benefit from may have to have approved you already as well.
I can message you the person that sent the email back in 2017 if you want. I talked to her on the phone after my D’s acceptance and she was very friendly and helpful.
Does anyone know if there is a chance that someone selected as finalist for the Presidential Scholarship can still be awarded a Trustee Scholarship? Is it possible? Or is getting Presidential (half tuition) the best case scenario at this point?
Also, if my D gets the Presidential Scholarship and then (very likely) is NMF, can she still get $2500 NMSC scholarship money if she names USC her first choice? I believe USC scholarships don’t stack up, but I am not sure about the $2500.