Wait I’m confused. Is the CSS profile required for USC? My parents only filled out the FASFA and don’t want to fill out the CSS. My FA portal says action required so do I have to submit the CSS if I want to be considered for financial aid??
Yes.
Yes. I think
Since USC is a private institution, CSS is their main way of determining financial aid…
Edit: I guess you could technically still get aid without CSS but the accuracy of that number would probably decrease
FAFSA will only get you federal aid, CSS is required to get USC aid.
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I’m pretty sure it’s required. Even if it’s not you still want to fill it out.
CSS is a lot of personal information. People that are full pay and not getting merit don’t fill it out, it’s a lot of info to supply if not necessary.
In hindsight… I REALLY wish I knew even half of what know now about the college application journey. A USC acceptance would be an honor for my D, however doing the math unless it were to come with a lovely scholarship it would not be possible to attend. I just had no idea before. Thank goodness for CC. My younger D will certainly benefit from what I have learned in the past few months! 
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Well crap. This whole time I didn’t think it was required. Is it too late to get my parents to fill it out?
I remember watching a youtube video in which a student got into USC but couldn’t go cause they didn’t know about CSS and therefore got really bad aid. They reached out to FA but they said they missed the CSS deadline so they couldn’t get more aid and ended up not being able to attend their dream school. At the end they talked about the importance of CSS and how some schools like NYU don’t give any aid without CSS so it’s better to always fill it out. I didn’t know about CSS till I watched their video.
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You can appeal a late submission in FAST and still submit after the fact i believe (if they approve).
Some full pay just do the FAFSA so their student can take out Stafford loans. Don’t have to do CSS for these, but they are limited, total about 27K over all four years for dependent students. These are loans in the student’s name and some like having their student have some skin in the game if full pay, or just like the additional aid if not.
Sadly, there will be several posters on here that are thrilled to get in (yay!) until they realize they are not getting enough aid to attend. 
We see many each year, but kids (most) don’t always know their parent’s total financial picture, and parent’s don’t know how USC interprets it. So it’s not surprising that there are many that are surprised.
What do you mean by “full pay”?
Write a check for everything, no financial aid. But they may get loans, which USC (and other schools) includes in their % of students getting aid, lol. Paying for college in full. More than half at USC are full pay.
Oh my parents definitely aren’t full pay. They just didn’t want to fill out the CSS profile since it’s super personal and didn’t think it was required. Ugh I’m so screwed😖
@NewParentCA You are not alone in learning how much easier the process can be after the fact! I have been through this several times and with four accepted to USC (but a zillion applications and visits everywhere), it is impossible not to have learned a lot of things that I didn’t know with when starting out. That’s why @WWWard stick around here (at least while we still have a student attending), to pass on anything we can so there is some place for this experience to go…
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Emailed my AO last week and got the dryest reply ever, does this indicate anything
Hi,
I am confirming the receipt of your email.
The decision release will be March 30.
They can still fill it out, the deadline is not hard and fixed. At this point, see if you are accepted tomorrow and if so reach out to FA immediately, its also a matter of are their funds left to give out than a hard fast deadline.
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Doesn’t indicate a thing, and how they should be replying this late in the game whether people email or call admissions. Imagine if every applicant sends in one email (and many send in several), that is 72,000 emails for about 10-15 people to answer. So the fact you got a reply at all at this point in time is amazing. Chuminess is not an indication either, some are just friendlier by nature.
haha true that’s like exactly how my counselor replied to my email. It actually made me concerned cause it was so dry and uninterested that I thought they had already decided to reject so they didn’t care enough to give me a friendlier response but it make sense since they prolly have so many emails and don’t have time to give personalized responses unless needed
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