Has the Trojan Transfer Portal been discontinued? All references from former years go to 404 pages. Thanks.
Word on the street was that they were going to rebrand it. I’m not sure if that ever happened.
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I think it is just called Trojan Transfer now, not Trojan Transfer Plan, maybe to somehow imply that it is not at all guaranteed and you are just a transfer student.
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We will see how it is worded this year for the folks that get offered it in their rejection letter. It has been such an important program for them and if they degrade the importance of alumni anymore than they already do, it will be interesting.
Hoping someone will post it here or dm a snippet of it to me if ya don’t mind -
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I have a feeling I’ll be able to supply that info to you come 3/24 
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They dropped “Plan” and the letter became way less detailed (I have a collection of them). So think of it as an invite only transfer plan that is not guaranteed but they use to call a “path that was more predictable.”
Here’s last year’s letter
I want to invite you to attend a Trojan Transfer Information Session.*
If you still wish to study at USC, the best approach is to plan ahead. To assist you, we are offering Trojan Transfer Information Sessions. Led by a USC admission officer, this presentation will provide you comprehensive information on how to plan your course of study and prepare a competitive transfer application. With careful planning and hard work, you could transfer to USC as soon as your sophomore year. You will learn how by attending a Trojan Transfer Information Session in June. Reservations will be available in May, in your portal
Hundreds of students pursue this plan each year. Successful transfer applicants work with us to learn effective course planning, and then they earned very strong grades during their first year of college. They typically spend one year at a community college, though some study overseas in Europe (more on this below). They are now fully engaged second-year students on track to earn their degrees on time.
If you are interested, please review the details below and make plans to attend a June session. You should become familiar with our expectations of competitive transfer applicants, and our recommendations on institutions you might choose to attend next year in preparation to apply to transfer.
*I hope you consider attending a Trojan Transfer Information Session. Whatever you decide, we wish you well as you continue your education.
*Best regards,
Kirk Brennan
Associate Dean
Director of Undergraduate Admission
University of Southern California
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Will physical letters come on Friday?
No, they will come later.
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Does Engineering have their own plan still? I knew they offered one that was a bit different. TIA
For the big decisions, we have been there for one of our twins. The other one usually has opened it at school since he has conservatory classes that extend until 5. No videos, though. I agree, we try to live in the moment.
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Hi, everyone. We’re so close to the finish line. I’ve been lurking in the shadows since 2019. My older daughter applied during that cycle and we received the good news of her admission during lockdown. I have a younger daughter who is waiting for her decision on Friday. She was deferred EA and although she got into what we all thought was her dream school EA, it looks like there’s a big possibility she will attend USC IF accepted. I’m praying so hard for this. It would be nice to have them together in one school, even for just one year. 
Thank you for all the posts, I’ve learned so much through the years. If you (or your child) decide to go to USC in the fall, you won’t regret it. Good luck to all and Fight On! 
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Playing it cool. I have been lurking on here and not sharing anything with my student. I don’t want to add to the pressure! 
(occasionally I will mention something I learned here, “Have you checked USC’s Instagram account? Looks like it will be 3/24” 
I do have a question for the group…my son has received numerous emails this week asking for additional info for financial aid. We uploaded everything and had all checks. This is additional info and quite specific. I am taking this as a good sign, but trying to play it cool (haha). I don’t want him to get his hopes up too much because prior to this (and he did get an interview with a member of the film school faculty 
), he seemed to have very realistic expectations. This week - with the repeated emails - I can tell he’s feeling optimistic. Any thoughts on if this could be a good sign?
Best of luck to everyone! I have found this site to be so helpful
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Although it seems to defy logic, Financial Aid and Admissions are on two completely separate & independent paths until when admissions announces its decisions. The FAO will basically learn who is being admitted as you and every other applicant are. But until then, they will work as diligently as possible to get everyone’s FA account/profile completed… just in case any applicant who applied for FA is admitted. And most of their requests are auto-generated.
So, unfortunately, you will derive no hints regarding potential admissions via the FAO or their communications with you. That is just the reality of how they operate.
Good Luck… just one more day - and then you will know for sure.
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USC’s RD decisions are now just One Day away. Tomorrow, Friday, March 24th, likely around 3-6pm pacific, everyone will learn their fate. Good luck to all of the applicants who applied to USC and elsewhere this cycle. Disappointment will unfortunately be experienced by far too many. I urge those experiencing such disappointment to simply focus on the positive opportunities elsewhere versus dwelling on the lost ones.
USC is clearly a great option for college, but it is also only one of many potential pathways to greatness. There are literally scores of elite colleges and universities out there, and many of them can serve as an equally valuable foundation for your eventual success.
I have made the following statement each cycle, as I believe it to be very true…
Unfortunately, rejection does come along in life. It’s what you do next that matters most. Steven Spielberg desperately wanted to attend USC SCA… so much so that he tried three times to gain admission. He was rejected all three times. And now there is a building bearing his name within the SCA complex. Another film director, Bryan Singer, tried and was rejected by USC and SCA. He tried a second time and got into USC but again not into SCA. He then succeeded as an internal transfer on his third try and was finally admitted to SCA. Persistence can also pay off.
Many have faced rejection to their dream schools. In my day, for me… it was Harvard… but Harvard saw it differently. Harvard also rejected Dr. Harold Varmus twice. He simply went on to win a Nobel Prize in Medicine. Harvard also rejected Warren Buffet. They surely would like a do-over on that one.
Every year around this time, it is important to remember that rejections need not control our lives. And with the way that things have evolved… with the Common Application making it far too common for high school seniors to apply to 10+, 15+ or even 20+ schools, those rejections are bound to add up. My older daughter was rejected by 12 out of 17 in 2014. But these rejection letters are not true assessments of student aptitude or ability or the quality of an application. They are simply the natural evolution of a cruel #s game.
USC could clearly admit tens of thousands of quality applicants this year. They are instead stuck with the arduous, unwelcome and nearly impossible task of only picking circa 7900 out of a field of 80K+. They already admitted 2400 or so EA and will now add another 5500 or so tomorrow. In that process, USC will even have to reluctantly disappoint 90% of all legacy applicants.
As Warren Buffet says in the article linked below: “The truth is that everything that has happened in my life…that I thought was a crushing defeat at the time, has turned out for the better. A temporary defeat is not a permanent one. In the end it can be an opportunity.”
To all of you active on CC or just following along without posting… good wishes and the best of luck getting in. If you do not get into USC, hopefully you will find your place at another great option. But clearly some will face disappointment. Some will not gain admission into their dream school. I wish it could be otherwise.
Here’s a link to an excellent article on the subject of those who went on to great success after facing such a similar set-back as aspirational high school seniors aiming for that dream school scenario…
Before They Were Titans, Moguls and Newsmakers, These People Were…Rejected
Some of the biggest names—Warren Buffett, Ted Turner and Nobel laureate Harold Varmus—were once rejected by the school of their dreams.
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They are not required to have the apartment plan, it is optional. Oh wait, you are saying if they are in on campus apartments. Sorry!
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I’m waiting one more day before loading a lot more tax forms. I spoke with someone in the FA office, and they were so helpful and kind. They said they’re having a problem getting what they need from the IRS. Also, aid offers will not be included tomorrow. They’ll come later. Just FYI.
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@j44ckson @CADREAMIN It was not buried in the letter. It was on the same spot on the portal as the Applicant Affirmation and Notice of Potential Audit… above the “Application Checklist” I’m looking at my screenshot now. The deadline was I think end of Jan (edited because 2/2 I originally stated was SMU deadline… I checked we submitted 1/24).
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I thought the same thing during EA period, we/parents got a letter in the mail that sounded so promising - signed by both Financial Aid and Admissions office, saying don’t wait for an admissions, please apply etc… and signed off with “we look forward to working with you, we are delighted by your child’s application.” And then DD did not get in during EA which was a big turn off for us for USC, they should qualify those types of letters, it really plays with emotions! So agree with the other poster that said, it has no bearing and will provide no hints as to whether your child gets in. Thankfully DD has great other options, good luck to everyone!
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I have thought about this issue often with my first child going through this experience. I was lucky enough to have a friend who recommended a private college admissions counselor because my husband and I were clueless, let alone my daughter. This counselor generously offered us a partial scholarship for her services, otherwise we likely would not have been able to afford her. Her high school counselor was worse than useless. The system is definitely set up to benefit experienced and well-resourced families.
I am highly impressed that you’ve been handling a lot of this process on your own. I imagine that you are going to end up at a school that values this. Good luck with the rest of this month!
I called USC admissions today. They told me that the Final Merit Scholarships decisions will be sent on April 1 by email. I mentioned it was to be in late March, he said April 1 is the current date. I just noticed that April 1 is a Saturday.
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