<p>It will make more sense if they post the decisions online first then send the paper decisions. Or do it Stanford style: only send acceptance letters and post unfortunate decisions online. lol :)</p>
<p>I know Iâm in the minority but I liked it better when decisions were mailed by USC. There was more drama! More anticipation! Good old US mail approach was old-school and far superior to this new fangled digital announcement. âEveryone finds out all at onceâ - bah humbug.</p>
<p>Cheers,
Wheaty</p>
<p>^I agree with Wheaty! There was SO much bonding, mutual support and camaraderie here on the forum as decisions came out by mail! Not to mention classic pieces of literature such as Wheatyâs timeless <a href=âhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/883831-my-mailmans-name-richard.html?[/url]â>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/883831-my-mailmans-name-richard.html?</a> It is a must-read as you wait for decisions!</p>
<p>As always, best of luck to all the applicants. You will ALL have amazing and wonderful options to choose from in a few weeks regardless of your results from any one school :)</p>
<p>^wow ⊠that was a beautiful thread. An emotional ending though. Love you guys!</p>
<p>Can you send your documents AFTER you get accepted to the college?</p>
<p>^Those who HAVE submitted all required and requested documentation in a timely manner (in other words - by NOW) will receive financial aid packages about the end of the first week of April.</p>
<p>If you wait to submit required financial aid documents until you find out if you have been accepted, you will NOT receive your financial aid package in mid-April - it will be later, possibly even AFTER the May 1st deadline to commit.</p>
<p>If you are dependent upon financial aid to attend USC you should submit all required and requested documents as soon as you possibly can.</p>
<p>Thank you for the update. I had been wondering when I should be expecting a financial aid package given my early acceptance via merit scholarship.</p>
<p>If I turn it in by tomorrow will I still know how much I get before committing?</p>
<p>^ If you are talking about your tax return copies, yes, turning them in tomorrow should result in an on-time package (assuming everything else is in and they do not request additional documents such as a budget form, etc.).</p>
<p>If you are saying you havenât yet filed the FAFSA and/or the CSS/Profile (yikes!), then it will take longer to receive your financial aid package.</p>
<p>I was originally going to wait for my decision to turn in my CSS, but I just turned it in after hearing what you guys were saying. Will that be okay?</p>
<p>None of us can say for sure, you are only guaranteed a package if you turned it in on time, you can only hope at this point that they process yours by the time you make a decision if admitted.</p>
<p>âŠallow alamemom an incredulous look and a second, more emphatic YIKESâŠ</p>
<p>Okay, I have regained my composure. Officially, USC does NOT guarantee to meet the need of financial aid applicants who miss the February 2nd deadline to submit the CSS/Profile and the FAFSA. Unofficially, I have seen anecdotal evidence here on the forum of financial aid applicants who have submitted late financial aid applications and still received adequate financial aid. Those packages, however, were presented significantly later than those of on-time applicants - many of them AFTER the May 1st commitment deadline.</p>
<p>WHAT YOU CAN DO: (Assuming you are admitted by USC) By the third week of April, request an extension of the May 1st commitment deadline from USC until your fin aid package is received. Be sure to get the response in writing and make note of the name of the person granting the extension (via an email, for example). Do not wait until May 1st, as you will not receive a response in time.</p>
<p>If May 1st arrives and you do not have your USC package, you will have to make a deposit to the school you KNOW you can afford and would attend if USC does not work out. Do NOT just hope for the best and let your options evaporate - make an ON-TIME commitment deposit to a school you KNOW you can afford. I see that your other options are UCs - they will not typically grant an extension while you wait to hear from USC, and they are often inflexible with deadlines. If you later choose USC, your UC deposit will be lost, but it is far better to lose that than to have no school options if USC is not affordable for your family.</p>
<p>IMPORTANT NOTE: When packages are presented in mid-April, yours may appear. It will likely be a package based on you only submitting a FAFSA and will contain ONLY Stafford loans and Pell grant (if you are eligible for Pell) and possibly a Cal Grant. It will not contain USC grants, which are a SIGNIFICANT part of USC financial aid, or work/study. Your full package will be later.</p>
<p>FOR FUTURE APPLICANTS: The USC financial aid deadline is FEBRUARY 2nd for the FAFSA AND CSS/Profile - do NOT miss deadlines if you are dependent on financial aid to attend USC.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Small clarification: The âYikes!â is to v3stige, not War Chant - War Chantâs answer is perfect!</p>
<p>I wanted to update this thread for future applicants who may be wondering if emails from the financial aid office are indicators of admissions. They are not.</p>
<p>I am sorry to report that one of the posters on this thread who was very hopeful that requests for specific and personal information from the financial aid office was an indicator of admission has been rejected.</p>
<p>Future applicants, I encourage you to be optimistic, but to avoid painful disappointment please do not interpret requests for financial aid information as a âhintâ that you have been accepted. </p>
<p>Sorry to hear the news,</p>
<p>alamemom</p>
1 Like
<p>Correct - in fact the note requesting additional documents specifically says (in the first paragraph) that it should not be interpreted as a hint. That in fact they request that information of all or most applicants.</p>
<p>I unexpectedly received Viterbi Notes (not previously ever received) starting on 3/18, 3/22, 3/26 and Financial Aid specific documentation requests on 3/19, 3/26, 3/27âŠand I was accepted. So, you never really know until the Golden Envelope arrives.</p>
<p>grodgr, you received financial aid correspondence because ALL financial applicants receive financial aid correspondence. The FACT that some applicants who received financial aid correspondence were REJECTED proves that. Your post only confirms that ALL financial aid applicants receive correspondences from the financial aid office.</p>
<p>Your post is irresponsible and misleading and if you continue you will be responsible for heartbreak for future applicants.</p>
<p>My post was not misleading as I clearly only posted my personal dateline facts and additionally said âyou never really know until the Golden Envelope arrivesâ which takes away any sign of irresponsibility as people are free to read and use information as he/she/they determine(s).</p>
<p>I disagree. By listing your communications from the financial aid office, you were suggesting that those communications âhintedâ (as stated in the title of thread on which you posted) that you would be accepted. To avoid others making that mistake - which could be a very painful and disappointing mistake - I want to be sure threads like these contain the accurate follow-up information which is: Two posters on this thread who felt financial aid communications indicated they would be accepted were rejected.</p>
<p>Again, all financial aid applicants receive financial aid communications, whether they will ultimately be accepted OR rejected. Your experience only confirms that.</p>