Hi Furyshade,
I'm confused...you say you didn't know where to expect the Cal Grant because this is your "first time" but you say above that your brother got a Cal Grant last year --- so just saying it seems like you would have noticed the lack on your tuition bill and done something about it last year. Not trying to be snide...just seems like if it wasn't there you would have noticed right away when you had to come up with an extra $10K.
You say: That is pretty snide, my parents and i assumed we'd get a check reimbursing us later, we weren't sure if we were supposed to get it through the school or independently and since this was my first year we didn't know whether or not it was supposed to show up on my financial aid report.
then above that you say: just for an update, we looked and my brother did receive Cal Grant last year so it isn't an income thing, since i'm pretty sure my parents filed both of our fafsa reports at the same time we have no idea what happened
well the fact that we filed everything made us trust that USC was going to send the money. we didn't think about the possibility that they just didn't register the cal grant. now that we realized that it is very likely that they have not sent us the money. i don't know if every university deals with it the same way, my brother goes to a different school so we don't know how the different financial aid departments work. for instance there was a research grant that was added to my financial aid for last year because it extended over the summer. for all we know USC adds the cal grant later than university grant, now we realize that isn't true.
Just to clarify, furryshade, the Cal Grant does not come from USC, it comes from The California Student Aid Commission. If you feel you were under the income/asset limits and should have qualified for a Cal Grant, you need to check with them.
If you filed your FAFSA before March 2nd the year BEFORE you started college (March, 2008 if you just finished your freshman year) AND submitted your GPA verification to the California Student Aid Commission before March 2nd (most California high schools do this automatically), you would have been evaluated for (but not necessarily granted) a Cal Grant. You can check here: https://mygrantinfo.csac.ca.gov/logon.asp
So I check my email this morning and I have an email from USC financial aid appeal saying it was accepted and they have modified my FA package.
Went on oasis, and the award is stll the same, but oddly enough I got that email at 1:23 AM (idk if it was east coast time or west coast as I never changed my laptop back) so I'm presuming it hasn't been updated yet, or I will give them a call later on to make sure.
Thanks for everyone's support, apparently if you really did go through something since the first documents were submitted they will listen
Just to give everyone an idea of my situation (not that comparing or anything is really possible but I mean at least you can kind of guage where your chances are, heh, sounds like HS again -_-):
There was a 35% drop in total income as my stepfather went from IT work to being a temporary EMS for a private company, reducing his check from 60-70k a year to 25k, and my mom makes about 35k after taxes (ironic she was considering quitting before the layoff).
Because of that, we nearly risked foreclosure when the bubble burst, thankfully my parents did know a bit about what they were doing and get it refinanced and paid off, I submitted those documents as they said they look at the imputed value of the house as well and consider it, however with interest rates on the mortgage and whatnot I don't believe it was as high as the CSS profile made it appear.
Finally I described in detail how my father no longer pays child support, etc etc. I don't know if that had any real bearing as I told them that I still see him sometimes but receiving money for school would be really difficult.
Along with those documents USC has you print and fax I also sent a copy of the previous and modified mortgage, the updated W2s/1040s (this all started because my mom thought she updated it but it didn't submit), Fafsa, and any little addition I thought would help. Now I guess I'll wait to make certain I'm not getting played.
hyakku, that's wonderful news for you and a huge relief!
On another note, I just checked USC epay to see if the total amount due for this semester is up. I still have no idea what housing and extra fees are going to amount to. I was a bit shocked to see a due amount of nearly $20k, which is tuition and some minor fees.
For those who have Trustee or Pres scholarships, do you have the same? Is it normal that the scholarship amounts are not yet credited?
I'm pretty sure scholarship info gets posted today or sometime around mid july IIRC.
So I just checked agan and they indeed gave me an additional $3,000 in grant money which greatly helps out. I also realized that since I'm not in new/north and don't have the meal plan it won't be as expensive as last year so I'm trying to figure that out now too. I believe with the additional aid and the reduction in room and board I think this will be alot more manageable now, great way to start the day .
I'm happy for you hyakku. Still, it must have been a lot of pressure on you to deal with this unease for the last couple of months.
Do you know where we can find out what out what the housing is going to cost, specifically Cardinal Gardens? I've misplaced the website address. Not having a meal plan will help out here too, though D will have to do some good budgeting.
hyakku,
The same thing happened to me a couple weeks back. I got an identical e-mail, also at an obscure time (a Saturday at about 2am). They ended up giving me an additional 2k in grants. I was a little disappointed, but, like you, will be helped greatly by the extra help.
I was slightly disappointed grey, but the 3k with the extremely lower cost of living compared to last year really only increased my tuition by 2 or 3 thousand I suppose, which is an excellent value compared to the additional 10-14k I was expecting.
Sequoia, last year, our scholarship didn't get credited until after s has started school. One of his scholarship hasn't even been posted on his Oasis yet. And yes, we have the same amount posted on epay. Housing amount isn't up yet and none of this is due till Aug something. As long as the scholarship is on her Oasis, you have nothing to worry about. We didn't even receive any email about scholarships being posted on Oasis at all. It's frustrating that it's so inconsistent.
hyakku, that's great news. My appeal is in process right now, hopefully it'll go through >_<! *crosses fingers*
My brother is what they call "adult children" I guess, getting his masters :/ which requires alot of money. And my dad doesn't make that much money to start out with... and with the exchange rate these days, it went down about 10K from what he had (so in all its like 35K a year for the entire family). My brother pays full tuition at cornell and he's about -65K himself. Good times hopefully they'll accept the appeal. T_T.
I don't know why my fin aid package dropped from last year although my father makes less money than previous year. I guess it's because of my brother (was undergrad last year) but in reality its alot worse this year.
I could be wrong but I recalled my daughter said the scholarship amount for Pres Scholarship has been posted(but not the NMS Corp scholarship). I guess that won't be posted until school starts.
I think that graduate students are no longer considered to be under the umbrella of the parents, and thus are no longer taken into account in determining your EFC. Someone should correct me if I'm wrong.
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