Usually the scholarship odds and ends we are seeing (University scholarship) are added when they are completing the FA package. So if that scholarship showed up, the other parts are likely done and their FA is complete. It will be followed by an email in a day or so that says FA is complete and ready to view in FAST. When that email comes, it is for sure done. Often times aid shows up as loans, which frankly, I don’t think of as aid. If any questions, don’t hesitate to call admissions and ask if any scholarship or other aid likely or if it appears complete. That’s what they are there for.
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Did you get an e-mail for the merit scholarship? Or was it in the financial aid area
The non-big ones (Trustees, President, Deans ) are in the FAST notice in section marked “does not have to be paid back” or some similar language. If you got one of bigger awards, they sent an email last week. Now those too appear in that same section,
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Got our fin aid too today. Cost is $83K after the university scholarship. So far the most expensive one for us. Weighing our options now.
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I told my daughter that its not worth paying this much money for undergrad and she agreed to it.
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One seat opened for WL …buh bye USC.
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Wish you well in your college quest!
And just to note for others on here, USC doesn’t have a waitlist so we don’t go down that rabbit hole. 
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My student received award summary email as well. A few questions:
(1) “University Scholarship”$2K. I was told it is renewable. Has anyone received this? What is this for? I cannot find it in the formal list of USC scholarships.
(2) Is it stackable with $2500 Merit? I saw posts before that if you did not get $2500, USC will give you $1K a year. The amount is different.
(3) Do you still need to add USC as 1st choice if you received Presidential Scholarship, not through NMF? I know both receive the same 1/2 tuition.
(4) What GPA to maintain satisfied academic performance?
Thanks,
Hi, and great to meet you here, @rmb1234 (and also @ViolinCelloDad and the rest of the whole music/strings family)! Congratulations on Berklee – there’s buzz about their announcements just today with the good folks over on Class of 2026 Undergrad/Class of 2024 Grad: The Tours, the Auditions, the Journey as a matter of fact. I’ll DM you! And really, thanks too for that email info just now from Thornton admissions. DD hasn’t pressed accept anywhere else, still at least a day more to go looks like – it’s sure been a long road, but seems it’s not over quite yet for the music crew at least Fingers crossed!
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S22 accepted (Mechanical Engineering)
In State, Southern CA Public HS (10th in Class of 580)
3.9 UW/4.3 UC GPA/ 4.4 Weighted GPA
6 AP’s (all with 4’s, except one 3), 5 more senior year
Mechanical lead for FRC robotics team
Varsity Volleyball (3 years)
Some community service
strong essays
Legacy (parent attended and brother is currently a student)
1550 SAT
Accepted: USC, UCLA, UCB, UCSD, UCI, UCSC, UCR, CP Pomona, CSUF, CSULB, Arizona State
Waitlisted: Notre Dame, CP SLO, Vanderbilt
Rejected: MIT and Cal Tech
Waiting on: Stanford
Tough decision ahead. USC was always his dream school, but it’s hard to justify the cost when he has opportunities at UCLA and Cal.
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Yes,it is. I think it ranked #8 this year for the most expensive schools. My son is a freshman and although we knew how much it cost, the first bill is sticker shock. I think it is absolutely worth the money because of the high level of teaching and the absolutely large number of opportunities made available to students for involvement, internships, and jobs.
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My son is a freshman at USC and I wouldn’t waste my choices on McCarthy unless they are honors students. There were not even enough spaces for the honors students in the Village last fall. Students can apply to live in the Village for sophomore year, since they have priority then. Birnkrant, Pardee, Marks Towers and New North are all nice but older with no air conditioning. My son was in Marks Towers then switched to room with a friend in Parkside Humanities and is happier there, since he is in a suite and it is newer and air conditioned, plus there are in suite bathrooms instead of hall bathrooms. They have so many dorm activities too, which is nice. He is a business student too so not everyone at Parkside is an engineering student. Any housing is fine on campus and pretty standard.
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Was your student accepted early (in February) and asked to interview for a merit scholarship? Were they notified that they received either the Trustee (full tuition) or Presidential (half tuition) scholarship?
Is your student a National Merit Finalist? If they were accepted in March (not February) then they need to list USC as their first choice with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) in order to receive the half tuition scholarship.
If your National Merit Finalist student did not receive a $2500 scholarship from National Merit Scholarship Corporation then USC will usually award a Merit Scholarship of $4K ($500/semester). I say “usually” because I don’t know if the dollar value has changed this year.
The GPA requirement is usually 3.0 but make sure you read the small print for your scholarship.
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Totally agree with the McCarthy comment. IF there were any rooms for freshman (aside from honors) is just odds and end placement (filling holes) and you wouldn’t meet other freshman if you aren’t in the honors housing. It would be isolating if you got one of the random spots vacated by an upperclassmen. The majority of the Village is sophomore housing, save it for that.
My student’s Parkside suite was one of those 8 person with 2 in each room and it was huge. If you don’t room mate match yourself, they do a pretty darn good job with it. Lots of friends were in the quad area dorms, so they just went back and forth, but I’m sure he enjoyed the air conditioning at times. Another one loved everything about Birkrant, and chose it over McCarthy honors as a freshman, then lived in Village as soph. They are away from home, they would make a tent work. I worry more about the annoyance of a bad room mate more than the physical properties of a dorm.
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Does anyone know fin aid office email address? All I can find is a web form but no email. @CADREAMIN @lkg4answers
I am not a NMF
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Totally agree that the dorm/apartment is secondary to the roommates. My son switched from Marks because of his roommate, and moved in with a friend at Parkside and is very happy now. In hindsight, he should have spoken to his roommate on the phone or via facetime instead of just texting.
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I do not. I usually have my student contact them or call if there is an issue. What college did your student get into? Sometimes the admissions team in the individual colleges are helpful with contacts in other departments.
thanks!
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She got into Dornsife.