Pre-pandemic, they offered a travel stipend to Explore USC for those interviewing for merit scholarships.
It sounds promising. Did anyone who was admitted EA NOT receive it?
Edit: I went back to find the wording from Feb 2020 Explore USC (just before the world shut down). At that time, they stated that they would pay half of a student’s airfare up to $60 for airfare within California or $200 from anywhere else.
Ooh thats amazing to be in consideration for presidential/trustee merit! Yes, my friend didn’t recieve it and he got in EA.
If presidential or trustee doesn’t work out (I don’t get selected after interview), is it possible to get other scholarships like dean’s/leadership?
Just noticed, they are offering to pay for you to visit in April? Sounds like they won’t be having a February Explore USC for early admits.
Oh that’s weird… their wording made it seem like it was for scholarship admits… one of my friends didn’t get that in their portal so I’m not sure what it means
The invite being for April changes the interpretation for sure. They will have Explore in Feb and March for scholarship folks as usual.
We will know scholarship invites soon - good luck everyone!
I think that it means that there is a good chance I’ve been invited for a dean scholarship or lower, instead of presidential/trustee. We’ll see on the 10th though!
Whole message: Congratulations on your admission to USC – come for a visit! We are happy to subsidize travel for scholarship recipients to attend an Explore USC event in April. Explore USC events occur on weekdays (April 7, 10, 14, 17, 20, 24) and on Sunday, April 2. This subsidy will cover your roundtrip costs up to $250 so you can visit campus and learn more about the scholarship community at USC. Reimbursable expenses include airfare, rental car fees, and $0.625/mile if you drive a personal vehicle. Any remaining portion of the $250 can be applied to hotel costs. Meals are not reimbursable, and we cannot reimburse expenses paid using travel rewards/points/miles or gift cards. We hope this offer helps you visit us in April. When you have receipts showing all final expenses and method of payment, please fill out and submit this Travel Reimbursement form no later than June 1, 2023 . Please follow the instructions below to ensure prompt travel reimbursement.
Ya thanks for posting entire message. Maybe it does mean Dean’s…weird though, it is not like them to let stuff slip early, but it would be weirder (harsh) to send that message to people not getting a scholarship.
Wish you the best! And curious to see if anyone else posts getting this tomorrow.
Students and parents do use rankings to some extent and the reputation of a school is important since most do not do in depth research before making a list.
East coast here people don’t get why people paid so much in the scandal to get into USC- def hurt its reputation. My coworkers also joke about USC and the scandal.
Good luck to the circa 2400 EA admits awaiting the merit scholarship announcements tomorrow from USC.
And for those already admitted to USC, but without such good news, hopefully your FA offerings (if applicable) and/or family resources will be such that you will still be able to attend your preferred college or university, whether that be at USC or elsewhere. Ultimately though, around 60% of those admitted to USC in recent cycles chose to attend elsewhere. And that total cost of attendance financial burden to families was likely a major reason why many had to enroll elsewhere.
The lack of a significant merit scholarship will be tantamount to many admitted applicants having to look elsewhere beyond USC. And such is of course a shame, but that’s the reality. The total cost to attend USC and scores of other elite colleges and universities has gotten to the point where many families are forced into very tough financial decisions. So, here’s hoping that most high school seniors not only succeed in getting into one of their dream schools but that they can also manage the financial challenge of being able to attend too.
USC’s FA offerings were such that we were able to allow both of my daughters to attend USC, including one overlap year. Hopefully the same will be true for most of the circa 7900 who will have been admitted to USC by April 1st. Getting in is just the start of the process. Being able to attend from a family’s financial perspective is also a key component. So, good luck to all of you awaiting the news! Fight On! 
I’m following this closely. D23 also had the “Reimburse My Travel” button with the exact text. Fingers crossed that this is a clue!
Explore USC events occur on weekdays (April 7, 10, 14, 17, 20, 24) and on Sunday, April 2.
All applicants, note these dates on your calendar. Many CA schools will be having open houses on Saturdays in April. Explore USC will be on weekdays and on one Sunday, making it easier to attend events at multiple schools on the same visit.
For those who like to plan in advance and want to make hotel reservations, the USC Hotel is the closest to campus.
If you are looking to combine Explore USC with another campus visit, here are the dates of admitted student days at other popular CA campuses.
UCSD’s Triton Day and UC Davis Aggie Day will both be on April 8
UCLA’s Bruin Day, UCSB’s Open House and UCR Highlander Day will all be on April 15
Cal Poly SLO Open House will be April 13-15
UCI’s Celebrate UCI and Berkeley’s Cal Day will both be on April 22
Hello @Janesez @jeff_b
I just saw the Reimburse Travel posts. Where is the “button” - after you click “Explore USC signup” ? (I do not see it)
On the portal there might or might not be a button that says “Reimburse my travel”
okay thanks.
We can speculate all we want about the “reimburse travel”, I will just wait till tomorrow. Good luck all EA admits; fight on!
Do you have it on your portal?
@jeff_b No, I do not see it.
As for GE requirements, the answer is generally yes. Some AP courses will fulfill some GEs. We were surprised and happy to see that USC equipped its students with elements of a traditional liberal arts education along with the more particularized and specialized schools/majors. If you search online for USC GE requirements you will find out more. The requirements changed in 2015.
"Revised in the fall of 2015, the USC General Education curriculum consists of 10 requirements. Students must complete eight courses within six Core Literacies: The Arts, Humanistic Inquiry, Social Analysis, The Life Sciences, The Physical Sciences, and Quantitative Reasoning. In addition, students must complete two courses in Global Perspectives: one in Citizenship in a Global Era and one in Traditions and Historical Foundations. In some cases, a Global Perspectives course may also satisfy a requirement in the Core Literacies.
The curriculum is designed to introduce you to the breadth of knowledge you will need to be a well-educated person in the 21st century, while allowing you sufficient time to add a minor or second major to your degree program.
All undergraduate students must complete the USC General Education requirements in order to graduate."
Hoping that someone will be able to help: USC FA asks us a lot of documents: w2, tax returns, CSS profile and Fafsa. Not only we sent all the CSS and Fafsa docs in October 2022, but I find redundant all these documents. Anyway, they also ask us to enter a code and my D has no idea what it is. I’ll check with her when she comes back from her basketball game but does that mean we have to pay again? Should we write to the financial aid department? They don’t answer very quickely. I understant that they have thousands of application to screen out, that’s why I ask here first.
Thanks in advance for your help