@txmom19 Incoming freshmen who live on campus via USC Housing are guaranteed a spot for their sophomore year and then can try to gain spots for their junior and senior years via the housing lottery, if they wish to do so. Most juniors and seniors do not though. Most juniors and seniors seem to prefer to live off campus. My older daughter lived within USC Housing for her first three years (Webb & then Centurr for two years). My younger daughter though will have lived off campus for all four years by the time she graduates next May. So, it can really vary. But USC Housing is only guranteed for the first two years. Finding other off campus options is not really an issue though, and it is often even cheaper. And again, most juniors and seniors prefer living off campus anyhow.
@WWWard Can freshman live if off campus housing as well? I thought dorms were their only choices. How do you find out about alternative housing?
@CarBarlos Congratulations on your FA award! It sounds like you’re well on your way to an exciting college experience! Bravo. 
As for USC financial aid, I agree with the above statements that CC is usually reseved for those complaining… and not for those who are fully content.
My daughters received generous financial aid from USC, enough so that both could attend… including one year where they overlapped. From our family’s perspective, USC was more generous than all other private universities, other than Princeton and Emory - who were even more generous in terms of financial assistance.
Many of the FA questions being posted here on CC are answered better and more efficently by USC FA themselves online…
http://ask.usc.edu/app/answers/list
I suggest reviewing the frequently asked questions there and then following-up as teh FA Office itself suggests. Exhaust every possible method for FA remedy before giving up on your dream of attending USC. It will not necessarily work out for everyone, but it clearly does for many.
Good luck…
@VivienL Yes… but as a warning, doing so (not living within USC Housing as a freshman) means that the sophomore housing guarantee no longer applies. My younger daughter did so as a freshman only because her older sister was going to be a senior, and they wanted to live together. It offered pros and cons. The main advantage was it saved me money versus the cost on campus. The main disadvantage was that it made it harder for her to socialize and meet new friends among her own class. Her three roommates were all seniors. She remedied that though once she joined a sorority during her spring semester freshman year. She then lived at the sorority house for her sophomore and junior years and will live at Gateway next year with three of her sorority sisters.
@CarBarlos I agree with @CADREAMIN to answer all questions about your FA before committing. I was just curious whether you had, not suggesting in any way that you should have already. So glad it looks like it is working out!
@CADREAMIN and @WWWard thank you for answering my questions about housing.
@WWWard Good tips and insight! Thx! 
Does anyone have any insight into whether fall semester will be online or not? News trends like this one are concerning that colleges won’t be back on campus in 2020 and class offerings will be reduced.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2020/04/19/college-furloughs-have-begun/#7fbcf82423cd
They are working towards being back in fall. That’s 3 months away and a lot can happen in even just a few weeks as we all know. That article is addressing furloughing staff at one school since summer sessions are online and it’s slow then anyway.
@CADREAMIN and @WWWard , you know lots of intricate things about all the processes at USC…
My daughter got many acceptances from colleges, including Berkeley with a scholarship, but not from USC, her dream school. She, however, got TTP, decided to go for Colorado (Aerospace Engineering), and wait to do TTP next year. Then she decided to file an appeal with USC. She is now wondering whether her appeal can ruin he chances for TTP transfer next year. Will just the fact of filing the appeal threaten her TTP changes?
Also, she figures that last year was an unusually good year to get accepted off the appeal. Do you have any idea about this year?
And the last question, to put everything into one post. She is afraid to win the appeal, but to be assigned Spring admission. She wants the whole freshman year experience… So, theoretically, if she wins the appeal, and it is Spring and not Fall, and she denies it - will she be able to do TTP next year?
Yeah, I know. Convoluted… But this year drives everyone crazy, and my daughter is not an exception.
@ElenaParent Not confusing at all, simple answer:
She was 100% right to appeal and it will have no bearing on TTP. One could argue most TTPs should appeal. Appealing shows you are really interested, that’s all good. Last year was the first year in 20 years that they accepted more than 10-20 appeals. (Many years it was under 10.) The scandal likely messed up their forcasting. Could Covid 19 wreak havoc and make more space again? Maybe, but we don’t know yet, as they admitted a whole lot more too.
So if she gets appeal, great, all good, she is in. If she gets appeal but for spring, she can turn that down and still get TTP, IF she keeps grades and classes in order. But you are not going to know or feel confident about acceptance till the next April/May with TTP, and she has to apply all over again - write the essays…common app. She has to effectively explain that coming in fall meant more than going to USC in spring. Then things can happen that you can’t prepare for…(ha as we are all seeing now) that could affect the grades she needs… emotional/socia issues, gets sick during deadlines, meets someone, oversleeps on a midterm morning - you know, those things we don’t see coming…Not sure I would turn away an admit from a dream school over a maybe a year later. But that’s a problem you don’t have yet.
For now, just know applying for appeal is only a good thing in terms of TTP. No harm at all.
My d was offered an University Grant which looks like it will be enough aid for us to send her to USC. How do University Grants work? Do we reapply each year for it? What are the chances the aid will change from year to year? If the amount can change drastically year to year, that makes difficult to know if we can make Financial ends meet in the future. Any insight on this is much appreciated.
@findcollege2020 University Grants are gift aid within the spectrum of financial aid. Every year, you need to submit a new FAFSA and provide whatever else USC FA asks you for. They usually do not ask you for the CSS profile again. If your family’s financial situation remains constant, so should the university grant portion of your FA offering. But it can vary if your family’s income or overall finacial situation varies first. It will not change drastically from year to year unless your family’s financial situation does so first.
Ok, thank u for your response! We ended up getting aid on a financial aid appeal and we are extremely thankful to USC for working with us!! We just hope it stays consistent throughout the years and we don’t end up in an bad financial position a year or two down the line if things were to change.
How many days it took them to review the appeal? Thanks
Thank you for your response. I sent the link to my daughter, she also says “thanks!”.
I wanted to concentrate here on your words “they admitted a whole lot more too”. Is this statistics out already?
Also, if they admitted a lot more, and “misread the leafs” they may have more freshman kids that they wanted. Will that affect the next years TTP admission rate (which, as far as I understand, if you do the right courses and have the right grades - is close to 100%) negatively? Or they will press hard down on the admission rate of regular transfers, and not TTP?
And one more question. How hard is it to change the major, before you start your study, from the admitted major to another major within the same school? Say, from Civil Engineering to Aeronautical Engineering?
@findcollege2020 You’re welcome.
@ElenaParent Yes… USC announced that it had increased its acceptance rate to 16% for fall 2020, offering admission to 9,535 freshmen this year — about 2,000 more than last year. That’s the university’s highest admission rate in three years — up from 11.4% last year — and the largest number of students admitted in at least a decade. As for changing majors, usually it is easy for majors within the same School, in the case of Dornsife. I am not sure about changing engineering majors. That is likely harder and may require approval. Once they assign an academic adviser, you can ask them.
@ElenaParent Yes, they admitted 9500 compared to 7600 in recent years, that number has been posted. Admit rate 16% this year, up from 11%.
TTP is virtually guaranteed - outside circumstances won’t effect that. Hit a 3.7 - 3.8+ and express interest well in essays. Basically, if she doesn’t screw up something badly, she will be fine.
Within engineering there is no sense in changing before you get there - you can move around freely within Viterbi once in there. Kids change majors all the time within Viterbi. If she wants to let advisor know she is switching from civil to aero she can do that and/or include it in her app, but the first year they take a lot of math, physics and intro courses regardless of major. If taking major specific classes, she would sign up for those at orientation and let them know then of the major change. That’s the beauty of USC, changing or adding majors/minors is very simple and do-able. (When moving between schools there can be hoops but still do-able.)
Does anyone on this thread know a current or past USC tour guide? Thanks