<p>The “April 1st” date is the same date that appears in all official admissions information and is the only date mentioned in any of the many, many statuses we have seen in the last several years on the USC forum. Never, ever has anyone’s status mentioned any other date for acceptance/rejection notification - including scholarship candidates - so the assumption that having that date mentioned in your status is an indicator that you will/will not receive a scholarship is faulty.</p>
<p>Please remember that applying by December 1st does not mean that your will receive your admissions decision before April 1st - ONLY about 800 of the more than 20,000 December 1st applicants will hear early in order to have time to be interviewed for scholarships. The other 19,000+, and the additional 15,000+ January 10th applicants, will hear - as clearly stated - “By April 1st.”</p>
<p>The “statuses” mean what they say - they are not secret messages that need to be decoded.</p>
<p>Thanks alamemom for attempting to calm everyone down. My son applied by the Dec. 1 deadline, and if students are experiencing anything like what he reports, I guess everyone is stressed out because 1) guidance counselors have mentioned to him that schools that would have been matches for someone with his stats two years ago (such as USC) are now reaches, and 2) even if he gets in, if he doesn’t some sort of aid, how can we afford it? </p>
<p>I know in previous posts you have stressed that all applicants need to get the FAFSA in by Feb. 1, even if they don’t think it’s likely they can get either merit or needs-based aid (our H&R Block tax preparer laughed at us when my husband and I asked if he thought our S would be eligible for needs-based aid - he says the upper middle-class is to a large extent shut out of that). Do you know, in this case, is submitting the FAFSA by Feb. 1 important since it indicates major interest in USC, thus helpful in the admissions process itself?</p>
<p>Judydart, I’d highly recommend that you submit the FAFSA regardless if you may not be eligible for aid. One never knows what could happen in the future, and I believe that if you do not submit the FAFSA in freshman year, you cannot do so in subsequent years. alamemom can correct me on that if I’m wrong.</p>
<p>USC allows you to submit in subsequent years, even if you did not submit for freshman year (this is what USC told us last year, at least - I doubt they’ve changed the policy).</p>
<p>^ thanks for the info…I had vaguely remembered one needed to submit the FAFSA in the first year, when D applied. Perhaps that applied to other schools…maybe the UCs.</p>
<p>Have not been on CC for a long time, but I just want to wish everyone good luck!</p>
<p>My older son was on the same boat this time last year. He had many choices for college but decided to choose USC and five months later, he is now a happy freshman at Marshall School of Business at USC. USC has provided many golden opportunities to freshman students plus the unbeatable wonderful weather. We are very glad with our decision. </p>
<p>Now my 2nd and last son is following his brother’s footstep, he also applied to USC and is anxiously waiting to hear from USC. We just want to wish everyone good luck. </p>
<p>Judydart, as others have said, submitting the FAFSA isn’t necessary in terms of expressing interest in USC, and you can request aid in later years whether you apply the first year or not.</p>
<p>Every student who files the FAFSA becomes eligible for up to $5,500 in Stafford loans, so if you would like your child to “have some skin in the game” in terms of paying for college, that is a reason to file the FAFSA. If the Stafford is the only reason you are filing, there is no rush - you can fill it out after acceptance if you wish.</p>
<p>Your financial advisor is probably correct, but sometimes even they are not aware of the HUGE cost of college these days (~$56,000/year at USC), so some families who do not expect to qualify for aid at all find they do get some. It would be a good idea to do the calculator available on the College Board website to get a rough idea of how much you will be expected to contribute to a school that uses the CSS/Profile. If your contribution turns out to be $50,000+, then there probably is no reason to submit the CSS/Profile.</p>
<p>**MidwestDad2!!! **So GOOD to see you back on the forum and to hear your next son has applied! I hope things turn out as wonderfully for him as for your first son!!!</p>
I try every year - and it NEVER works!!! I vaguely recall telling jazz/sheddermom this winter that I wasn’t even going to make an attempt to calm the status frenzy this year… so much for good intentions! (And she didn’t believe me, anyway.)</p>
<p>But USC seems to - for the moment - have decided to use the same status for everyone - this is ALL new. Maybe 2011 will be a calm and stress-free admissions season? Maybe???</p>
<p>^^^ We can hope! But since I have S2 applying this year (S1 is having a fabulous USC experience), I know first-hand how stressful the entire not-knowing part of the equation can be.</p>
<p>It is SO exciting that you both have applicants this year. My next-in-line kiddo (soph in hs) has no interest in USC (USC does not have his major of interest). Maybe my 9 year-old will apply in 2020… by then I’ll have to change my username to “a-really-OLD-lame-mom.”</p>
<p>Thanks alamemom, I’ve ordered the Kalman Chany book you mentioned and will hope for the best. </p>
<p>I keep repeating ‘college is a match to be made, not a prize to be won’ to all within hearing range. In that sense USC would be a wonderful match for S2, but an expensive one, if he gets in …</p>
<p>If this year will be similar to past years, the first acceptances will be sent this week. The first applicants to receive packages will likely be those in California.
In 2008, my D’s acceptance was dated Jan 26, which she received in the mailbox a day later.
Her separate letter advising her of the scholarship notification was dated Jan 29.
Last year I believe dates were similar.</p>
<p>luckycharm,
The date was a day off, but it was to a scholarship recipient. There may be changes in the notifications this year. All we can do is wait along with you applicants.</p>
<p>Best wishes to all who are hoping for the large packet that says, “Welcome to the Trojan Family!”</p>
<p>Sequoia. Yes, our son’s Acceptance Letter (2006) was dated Jan 26th. He went on to receive the Presidential Scholarship. Good luck to all of you !!</p>
<p>If they did the same as last year, they mailed today (some reports of acceptances on the 26th, which was a tuesday last year). Of course, they may wait longer this year, or mail in the middle of the week. Who knows. But hey, we’ve waited long enough already, we can hold on for 2 more weeks!</p>
<p>Why do people keep refering to people who get a letter from USC as “scholarship recipients?” From my understanding, getting a letter from them for an interview offer is an honor, but it is still a ways to go before anyone actually GETS the scholarship. Wow. After reading that the acceptances came just a few days from today last year…I’m excited haha. I guess if by Wednesday if I don’t have anything from them, it’s over for me haha.</p>
We actually have a sort-of answer to this question this year. Every year, the scholarship candidates are very interested to know what the “odds” are they will be awarded a scholarship, but the answer from USC is always very vague. So we did a statistically-insignificant but still interesting survey on College Confidential last year. I’ll bump up the results next week-ish when the scholarship interview invites start to arrive.
You might want to give it a bit longer - the letters tend to arrive over a period of several days as they travel across the US. OH! Often the first notice comes from an International - they have traditionally received a mysterious DSL email saying a package is on its way from USC a day or so before the US letters appear. They may or may not follow the same procedure this year. Time will tell :)</p>
(And she didn’t believe me, anyway.)</p>