I can’t believe this chat has 1400 replies! When I first came there was less than 100!
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Congratulations on the Scholarship invites everyone! Are any of the folks getting invited National Merit Finalists?
Fantastic! Was she notified from the school or was it via the delivery service?
She got an email from fed ex that she almost deleted because she thought it was spam! It told her she was getting a package from USC.
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I just saw this post and to my knowledge, as well as what my counselor told me, it is NOT a binding commitment. However, once you do pay the deposit it is non-refundable.
Best bet is pay the deposit only once you’re 100% sure that’s where you want to go, otherwise you lose that deposit if you choose to go elsewhere!
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random question, i want to change my contact information for emails and stuff but there’s no section in the portal to do this, how can i ?
Hi all,
I received an invitation for a USC scholarship interview last week. The portal says that I will be “competing for a full or half tuition award”. I was wondering if everyone gets this same language in their scholarship invitation or if this means that I am being considered for only Trustee or Presidential. I also recently became a NMF finalist so does this mean I’m realistically only running for Trustee?
Thank you!
My son is a NM finalist and his says the same thing.
Congratulations!!
My son is a NMF, but did not get invited for a scholarship interview.
If only he listened to me . . . 
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@agilemongoose and @rmulvane since you are a NMF and have been admitted, you are guaranteed at least a half-tuition Presidential scholarship. There is a chance, however, that you could be awarded a full-tuition Trustee scholarship. If you decide to attend USC, you need to make sure that you list USC as your first choice with NMSC before the May 31 deadline.
Are either of you following the class of 2021 National Merit thread? If not, you might want to read through it. If you are applying to other schools that offer NM scholarships and list them as your 1st choice and are awarded a NM scholarship from that school, you cannot change your first choice to USC after receiving an award from the other school even if you decide not to accept it. Class of 2021 National Merit Thread - #678 by Suave123
I have been following that thread. Right now my son has no school listed. There is only one other school he might consider putting down that offers merit but he won’t hear back until late March/early April. As long as he hasn’t listed anyone he’s ok, correct? He has been offered other scholarship money based on his NMF status. I have an email in to his GC but we are on break here this week.
As long as he isn’t awarded a NM scholarship at another institution. If he didn’t list a school as #1 then he wouldn’t be offered a NM scholarship there. Regarding the other scholarship money (corporate I assume) I would contact NMSC rather than your GC. Even people at USC aren’t sure how it works. Last year at Explore USC I had to speak to multiple people before I found someone who understood the NM process at USC. Also @amsunshine has been through this before so she knows quite a bit.
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Any update on when Thornton applicants will hear about scholarships?
From everything I’ve read, Thornton applicants will hear about admission and possible merit at same time - end of March - or April 1st at latest.
DS21 did not do much to express interest with USC based on them not considering demonstrated interest . Based on some comments upthread it looks like USC does consider it. Is it too late to show interest now for the April 1 admission decision? If not, any suggestions on how to do that? DS is really interested. He has a couple of great admissions on hand but would love to go to USC (especially with the NMF scholarship). Thanks!
As I have said on this thread before, he can email his assigned AO, copying his top choice School’s admissions email. I would only do so once, and I would make the email relatively short and sweet. If USC is his top choice, say so. If he’s actually committed to attending if admitted, say so. And if anything has changed since he applied (new honor or any significant update), maybe use the same email to bring that to their attention too.
Good Luck…
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Thank you!
You’re welcome.
And I suggest reading through this article before sending… for added perspective:
An Insider’s Look at USC College Admissions • Trojan Family Magazine
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Did anyone get a white box?
Also @momoflyceekid what school did your daughter get into?