<p>Do the Capstone emails come via email only or is there another place I can check? I have yet to receive any emails from USC and I believe it is my high school blocking them. I received a Woodrow Scholarship and really think I am qualified enough for Capstone. Any ideas?</p>
<p>murphy
call admissions Monday…they really are friendly and will answer your questions</p>
<p>D got Capstone invite in regular mail today. (No previous email)</p>
<p>thanks for your help and advice!</p>
<p>Have all the capstone invitations been mailed out now? Is there an appeals process if one does not get invited?</p>
<p>Cool - DS received an engineering and computing departmental award today! :)</p>
<p>AL34
congrats to S! It’s always worth looking into and applying for those USC departmental awards!!</p>
<p>Have to say, it gives me the feeling that they are actually looking at DS as an individual… which I (of course) really like to see.</p>
<p>AL34,
Congrats on D’s scholarships! They are definitely considering your daughter individually ! My son is in the computer and engineering dept (A junior now) and you will be very, very pleased about the individual attention your daughter receives. The department is excellent, yet small enough that the professors know the students individually and encourage them in their areas of strengths. One professor in the dept. (not even one that son had a class under ) asked my son to do research for him last summer because my son had an interest in writing computer code, and this prof. also encouraged him to write and receive a research scholarship. Needless to say, this type of influence from caring professors can influence a student’s life and help guide a future career. I cannot say enough good things about the computer and engineering dept.! A couple of years ago, the used to have an “open house” reception for the students that had received the departmental awards, particularly the Wilson scholarship. If that was one that your daughter received, and this is still going on, please consider encouraging her to attend. Unfortunately, son was unable to attend and thank the benefactors in person, but was able to write a thank-you note and send it through the department.</p>
<p>^ thanks for the great info greenville - I have not really had the chance to talk with any parents/students from within the department :)</p>
<p>My SON 
is getting more enthused about the possibilities within the department. Hate to have it come down to websites but at least on the face of it USC seems more in line with his more-specific interests than his other choice. What he would have to cobble together between different departments at his other school is already addressed with the computing clusters at USC. That said he is really in live with the whole vibe at his other school, so it may very well come down to having to choose strength of department and strengths of Honors programs, atmosphere aside. Hard thing to separate his gut feelings from the actual facts. There is an engineering and computing reception Friday night which he was invited to, so will split the time between that and an Honors drop-in (also an invite thing) at the new dorms. I have a feeling, at least from what we’ve experienced so far, that both events will be fairly personal, which as a mom, is what interests me most.</p>
<p>Does your son have any input on co-ops etc.? </p>
<p>OK, now I have to ask an obnoxious question,
not like we are not thrilled with the offers from USC, but does it make any sense at all to inquire about additional merit awards down the road? DSs other school has offered full tuition plus a departmental award, which will rise as tuition costs rise. Public schools being as they are these days the additional tuition at USC could really add up over the next four years. As it is there’s about a 6K difference between the two, not a big deal now but not knowing what it could turn into is kind of scary.
Hate to even bring it up because we are very grateful for what has been offered (McKissick, Biedenbach Scholarship and a place in Honors)</p>
<p>The plot thickens - neither of us can wait to get down there Friday!</p>
<p>AL- take this with a grain of salt…university financial resources being what they are now…but there have been instances in the past…not sure about this year where students awarded one level of scholarship will be offered an increase after the process is done ( after the May 1 response date),when students who may have been offered more (ie:Cooper scholarship) turn down USC.</p>
<p>AL34</p>
<p>Your cost differential should not go up much over the four years because you are also getting tuition reduced to in state levels which traditionally have had very minor increases. Most state schools tend to asses higher increases to those paying OOS tuition and protect the in state costs.</p>
<p>good point there eadad! Had not considered that :)</p>
<p>Al, do you mind giving more detail about the engineering department scholarship? did you get in the mail? how much was it? we were hoping my son would get a engineering departmental scholarship but it seems unlikely if you were notified Tuesday. :-(</p>
<p>thanks and congratulations!</p>
<p>It was awarded from the College of Engineering and Computing, DS will be studying Computer Science but that is not mentioned on the award letter. He applied using the departmental scholarship application from the CS website and then also the specific Wilson scholarship form. Heard about it from a Computer Science and Engineering information letter dated Feb. 22, (arrived Feb 27!) deadline was March 1. :)</p>
<p>thanks Al. so the scholarship was the Wilson? does it show on VIP yet? my son got an email Tuesday through his USC email saying “You have new awards or changes to your existing awards for the 2010-11 academic year” and to check VIP but nothing new or different was there.</p>
<p>Not the Wilson, it is a Joseph M. Biedenbach Scholarship which I guess goes under the general departmental scholarship category. So far nothing shows up on is VIP but he has not accepted yet so that may be it. Will know his status after Scholars’ Day this weekend. He’s got some big decisions to make! :)</p>
<p>thanks again al. good luck! my son has accepted and we will be at scholar’s day saturday. it sure would have been nice to pick up a department scholarship too but i guess that’s not going to happen. we are in SC and i think you are OOS so it seems he would have gotten something in the mail before your son. </p>
<p>safe travels!</p>
<p>^ you never know, just when I think I have this college thing figured out something changes 
See you at Scholars’ Day!</p>
<p>moninsc,
When my son got the departmental scholarship (Wilson), it was late in the year --maybe even early summer. We had actually cancelled his room reservation at USC thinking he wasn’t going to get any financial aid, then it began to trickle in. Things have changed, though–that was 2 years ago, and the primary notification at that time was by mail.
Don’t give up yet!</p>