Yes — the aid is graduated – it’s not a shelf that you are on or fall off of.
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Outside scholarships would not replace need aid, right? Because it’s California? My son doesn’t have any, but I’m curious.
What is your kid’s instrument? Mine plays jazz guitar.
He plays classical guitar 
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From USC:
Any scholarships you receive will not be in addition to your need-based financial aid but will change the composition of your financial aid eligibility. In most cases, we allow outside scholarships to reduce the amounts of student loans or Federal Work-Study in your financial aid package .
Scholarships from Outside Sources
Federal regulations require that we consider all of your resources when determining your eligibility for financial aid. If you are a recipient of an outside award not listed in your Financial Aid Summary, please send us a copy of your scholarship award notification so that we can adjust your financial aid package accordingly and notify you of the revision.
Most scholarships will replace some type of financial aid in your aid summary. If you would like to know how your scholarship will affect your financial aid eligibility, please contact our office.
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Hi, does anyone know when the appeal deadline is (or was…)?
Is there info on your applicant portal? That’s where it usually is, not sure of deadline, but results of appeals usually around May 7.
I’m confused…With 90% of legacies being rejected every year, are legacies at a disadvantage then when applying? If there was some consideration given to legacies, you would think the percent of legacies accepted would be higher. So, does USC prefer nonlegacy applicants? I heard from others that USC prefers new breed and that being a legacy could hurt you. Is this true? My daughter is a double legacy and will be applying next year. Should we not declare her as a legacy then? Will that increase her chances?
no. not only are 90% of legacies rejected each year, but so are 90% of all applicants – that statistic is just an indication of how selective USC is. USC has a very strong alumni network so it would be very counterproductive to make it more difficult for legacies.
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There’s no question that the percent of legacy acceptances are down and USC is adding different demographic groups in greater quantities. But I would be true to who she is and always declare legacy. It’s not gonna hurt and you have a better chance getting TTP offered, although certainly not all legacies get this either. And it is offered to non-legacy as well.
We see this questions come up with NMFs as well, some feel they are at a disadvantage because they believe they will only accept a certain amount of NMFs due to the Presidential associated with it, but it would be silly to deny that status. I feel the same about legacy.
In theory, they both should only help an applicant but not hurt them. The best an applicant can do is present a good application that hits the most USC marks they can. But I wouldn’t deny positive qualities in order to play the game of statistics. 10%-ish acceptance is just low. Seeing 70,000+ get rejected this year is just wow. Good luck next year!
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Got it! Thank you
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Thank you CADREAMIN!
FYI – to anyone anxiously awaiting FA info, my son got what we thought was his offer and then we were disappointed because it is nowhere near what other schools were offering. Then, I scrolled down to the bottom and it stated:
“This Financial Aid Summary does not reflect any need-based financial aid because your financial aid application is still in progress. Please click on the Application Status tab at the top of the page to view the status of your application, or [click here](javascript:GoApp()). Note: The Cost of Attendance displayed above is based on an average cost for a graduate or undergraduate student at USC. The costs for your specific program may be different. You should look at your department’s website to get the actual costs for your program.”
So, if you are seeing a package that seems out-of-whack compared to other schools, scroll down and make sure the offer is complete. (In our case, it just showed the Presidential NMF scholarship. I realize this is extremely generous to a lot of people, but still showed us with out-of-pocket obligation of 57K, which is beyond our means.)
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So, the overall acceptance rate was below 10%, but legacies make up 12% of the accepted group. That means there is still a slight advantage for legacies. It is just getting tougher all around. It isn’t enough to just be a legacy. You still have to be an excellent candidate. But I do feel in a year that was particularly competitive, being a legacy may have been helpful in my son getting accepted.
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I appreciate your very fair view towards legacy. However, IMHO the 10% and 12% numbers you quoted are not directly comparable.
The 12% number refers to the percentage of legacy students within the accepted pool. That number needs to be compared to the percentage of legacy in the applicant pool to arrive at the legacy acceptance rate.
Let’s say within the applicant pool, there are also 12% of legacy. Then legacy has exactly the same acceptance rate as the overall group. If there is only 6% legacy within the whole applicant pool but 12% in admitted pool, then legacy acceptance rate is double that of overall. OTOH, if there is 24% legacy in applicant pool, then legacy acceptance rate is only half of overall.
Unfortunately I don’t think the school will ever publish such specific data in today’s admission climate… But I totally agree with you that legacy admission is getting tougher and it’s not enough just being a legacy.
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Fair point. Yes, of course, I was going based on the assumption that legacies apply at the same rate as the general public. Bottom line, though, is it can’t possibly hurt to be a legacy. But it is important for the applicant to demonstrate an interest in USC beyond legacy. I realize essay space is limited, by my son worked in how he wanted to follow in one of his sibling’s footsteps, but also how he would set himself apart at USC.
Great advice. Congratulations again and hope things work out for your family.
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Thanks. He has a really nice offer from WashU, so we’re feeling pretty good. But my heart sank when I saw what I thought was USC’s offer. So I guess that betrays my secret hopes. (I think for my son it was almost a relief, because the discrepancy made his choice easy. But he was also happy when I pointed out that we don’t have the complete package yet. So we’ll see what happens.) Fight on!
(He’s also waiting to hear from UMichigan, but we aren’t expecting much from them. Both USC and WashU are ahead of Michigan for my son, so it would have to be a remarkable offer for him to consider that school. I don’t see that happening.)
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Received just $1875 in fin aid, Berkeley it is ig. Great journey with all of you for the last 4 months!