Anyone receiving incoming package notification emails from USPS this morning?
Good luck to all USC applicants who applied by Dec 1st. By this Sunday, there should be 1100 or so very excited families. To those fortunate applicants / future Trojans… congrats!
But if the good news does not come this week, please do not lose hope. Over the years, 80%+ of all current and former USC Trojans (including both of my daughters) were admitted during March and not January. USC does tend to be very generous with need-based aid too.
I received an email from the Financial Aid office this morning instead just asking for my parents’ tax returns and it really got my hopes up at first haha
So if you are a finalist for their merit scholarships, does that mean you are automatically admitted?
@bostonpossibly, yes, these notifications include an offer of admission.
D also received an email from USC this morning – just requesting tax info. Not that we expected an email or even contact from them this week, but still gives a surge of adrenaline to see anything from them, especially now!
Ahh… This brings back fond memories of my first child getting the package 4 years ago. He is now a graduating senior at USC. If any of you get the merit scholarship AND are eligible for the Tuition Exchange Program (TEP), you will be pleasantly surprised by the generosity of USC. Good luck to all!!!
Will the notification come as an email or a letter in the mail? I’ve heard both but I’m not sure
@“c.o_20” if you receive acceptance and a scholarship interview, you will receive a white box. Portals will update Saturday night/Sunday. Some people will see the portal update first but still receive a box, depending on where you live. Most will not receive a box. They are only offering scholarship interviews to around 1100. Most admitted students ultimately hear in March.
What does everyone’s financial aid status say? you can check in the USC portal and on the side it says FAST. In that link, does anyone’s show that their financial aid application is completed or stated?
If we don’t receive the white box from USC do we get a mailed letter the same day instead saying “sorry no scholarship” or do we have to wait a couple days for the portal to update and tell us to wait for April?
^^^ via portal update. I do not recall letters going out saying sorry… no merit scholarship. They do post such a letter within the portal as I recall.
USC is very good at not giving hints. Changes to your portal, letters from departments or financial aid or emails about financial aid, etc. all mean nothing. Financial aid processes everything on a separate path without really knowing where you stand until after admission decisions are finalized, either in January or March.
Good luck to all awaiting the news. Hopefully a white box is on its way to you…
Good luck to all! This entire thread has been very helpful. Thank you!
quick little flex
I am so nervous!! I have good grades and test scores, but my extra curricular activities and community service are definitely the most impressive aspects of my application…I worked really hard on my essays as well because I know my grades alone won’t necessarily make me stand out. Although my grades/scores are good, I don’t think they are high enough to qualify me for most merit scholarships. However, I noticed that there is a $10,000 “Leadership” merit scholarship awarded to only 20 applicants… Does anyone have any information on this scholarship or know anyone who was selected for it? I am curious because it may be my only hope for a scholarship!
When portals update, is the merit message on the main page or under FAST?
How many Dec. 1st scholarship applicants do they usually get? How many end up getting good news end of Jan.? Trying to calculate the January acceptance rate here.
@acceptanceflood it’s 1100 out of about 40,000 Dec 1 applications.
Last year they received around 40K applications by the Dec. 1st deadline. They are sending out around 1100 acceptances this year.
I’ve heard that if your financial aid application still shows as “under review” in FAST, that means that that the applicant didn’t receive the scholarship. not sure though. If it doesn’t say under review, does that mean the applicant received it? does anyone not say “under review” for financial aid? does anyone say “under review”?