Is the University Scholarship, $2000 for the first year in our case. Is that generally renewed for all the 4 years or only first year?
Thank you. This is so helpful. I have my fingers crossed that their estimate of our need is not that far off the mark from our surprisingly realistic EFC of $22,500, but at another private school that uses the CSS, they decided we could pay $66,000. 
I have more hope for USC because they don’t use home equity. Or, sometimes I feel hopeful, sometimes not.
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Yes. Since described as a Scholarship and not a Grant, it should replicate itself annually. University Grants can contrarily go up or down, all based on the family’s perceived ability to contribute to the student’s COA.
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You’re welcome. Hopefully so. Good luck…
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Seconding the above that usually book costs come in way under the allowance and you can choose a less expensive dorm first and second year and a less expensive apartment years 3 and 4 (and less expensive meal plan) and you keep the savings if they are less than the allocated average amount .
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@BeverlyWest also most colleges will let you waive the mandatory health insurance if you have family insurance that provides adequate coverage for the area. That can save a couple of thousand each year , depending on the college. Note that I don’t think any college lets you waive their health center fee for the on-campus clinic.
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Yes… that is the case with USC too. You can potentially waive the health insurance premium.
There is also a small fee of around $80-100 per term that you can waive related to tuition insurance or the like.
And I do think that most of their projected #s related to Housing, Dining, Books & Supplies, Transportation, Personal & Miscellaneous and Other Educational Costs are generous / inflated. Most families will likely discover over time that those estimates are such that they will realize a few thousand dollars per year in savings versus the true out of pocket expenses.
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I think you mean to address this to someone else. I don’t know anything about spring admits. Congrats, though!
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I just read that only 12% of accepted students are legacy this year. It has been shrinking quickly since I think a few years ago it was 19%. My son is a legacy but I don’t think it mattered much at all. I know double and quadruple legacies that have been rejected.
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My daughter applied to Roski which was also a required RD major. We haven’t heard anything about merit either so assumed she didn’t get any. I hope we are wrong and that there are still some merit awards coming!
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Does anyone know how many Trojan Transfers are offered and what the odds are of getting in after one year studying elsewhere?
Just curious, where did you find the info that 12% of accepted students are legacy this year?
It is an article from USC Annenberg Media dated 3/29 and it quotes Brunold the admissions director. Here are the stats he quoted for the class of 2027 admissions:
- 9.9% fall admissions rate
- 12% legacy
- 23% first gen - the highest ever
- 19% international, which is high compared to prior years
-3.9 avg GPA with 41% having a 4.0
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I don’t know the number, but in the past the odds were good if you had a high GPA coming from whichever school you attended. It is not a guarantee though.
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In 2019, USC received 9,503 transfer applicants. The school accepted 2,335 students. Therefore, the transfer acceptance rate for USC was 24.57% that year. That includes those offered TTP.
That same year, the fall admission rate for the freshman class was 11.4%. So, at least back then, it was twice as easy to gain admission via transfer.
If the formula stays consistent & the # of applicants for transfer stays consistent too, USC is likely admitting 20-21% of their transfer applicants each cycle. But the # of perceived spots available could vary by year, and clearly more and more applicants are applying to USC each cycle. But clearly it is easier in terms of percentages to gain admission via transfer.
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Good luck to those awaiting decisions from Stanford and Duke today. Most will be able to move on toward making their enrollment decision thereafter… or at least after also being able to evaluate the actual costs of attending at each admitted option.
For those already admitted to USC, did “Ivy Decision Day” yesterday help to cement your own decision about enrolling somewhere or complicate it further?
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Still nervous and not super hopeful for financial aid, given that they could decide our need is any number…and my son got a package today that feels like a shirt or some such thing, and that’s fun. 
Was he admitted to Marshall?
Question for those who’ve done this: do you know if the cost of Thornton is different from the typical USC cost that’s estimated on the website? I just learned that different schools may have their own prices.
Thornton, and the return address is specifically that school.
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