Hello everyone! I got the benefit information under my USC account. Does this mean I got in???
@Usctrojanhopeful seems to be the trend!
i have been following this thread for a long time, so happy to see lots of you have been admitted, Congrat!!! I am a Marshall applicant, still waiting for the decision. i have one question about the financial message you all talk about. seems like many people got it, but if I never applied for the aid, is it possible to get the message? ppl who got the message, did you all apply for the aid???
THX!!! FIGHT ON!!!
18th of this month??? Damm what major again
For those who received the benefit thing under their financial aid has the message disappeared? @Usctrojanhopeful @scotthock @Transferrring
Lol @daRamz I submitted my SGR around the beginning of May and I’m still waiting
Any Marshall applicants hear anything today?
@Cindyciclta I wouldn’t worry too much! There was one viterbi applicant that got that message 2 days earlier than me so I’m guessing they’re just doing them as they read the applications.
@John6311 It’s still there for me.
@John6311 no it’s still up
@Oneday1997 thanks! fall semester
@zettasyntax thank you! yeah it looks like all the grants (university, federal, etc) cover the entire tuition.
So does this get credited to my account before fall semester starts? If I’m understanding mine correctly, they estimated my total cost to attend is $70,063 (is everyone else’s that high?? way more than i expected) - tuition is $51,442 and their granting me about 1k more than the tuition in all the grants combined.
How soon do I get the extra money (1k) credited to my bank account? My only sense of urgency is I will want to use that extra money for books (maybe parking pass). ALSO, they estimated books to be about $1,200, is that roughly what you’d say you pay?
Books depend on your major but my son, as a Viterbi major, spends $200-$400 per semester. Amazon has used books cheaper than the USC book store.
How long after did you receive acceptance after your financial aid verification?
@journalism89 Yeah, their estimate sounds about right. USC financial aid has generally been very fast for me. From what I recall, they start disbursing funds about a week before the semester starts. When they credited my account with the leftover funds, it was deposited into my bank account the next morning; so fast 
If you get them new, yeah, it’s possible you could somehow spend that much! But like GamerGal27 says, you can always rent books or buy them used, etc. to cut back and maybe use it for other things like supplies you need or the parking pass, as you’ve mentioned. Some books are really expensive (like in $200+ range) and renting them for $20-$40 for the semester sounds like a much better deal to me; especially if you don’t really intend to use the book again. I spent about $200 during my first semester. The most expensive book being a Spanish book that required an online code, so I had to spend $100 on that one so for my other 3 classes, I just rented the books - and the books for one class were very cheap - only $10-$15 new on Amazon.
Edit: GamerGal27 is also right about major playing a part. I was taking Human Language Technology, but had to drop it when they cancelled my lab session due to the low enrollment that semester (only 4 other students were in my section). Anyway, that class didn’t even have any textbooks. The professor said any available textbooks would be way too difficult for undergraduates to understand, so the course was just going to make use of readings he provided for us. So yup, it really depends.
Can anyone tell me about 2nd choice majors? LIke wouldn’t you be at a disadvantage from those who set their major from a different department? (Ex: Viterbi 1st choice, 2nd choice Marshall.
@itslife123 In which way do you mean? My major has me taking some classes from Viterbi even though my major is in Dornsife and I’m definitely struggling a bit, but I get by. On the other hand, there’s this Marshall kid in one of my summer classes right now and he’s so damn smart. I asked and he’s not even a computer science/business admin major (just business admin), but dang, he impresses me 
@zettasyntax Sorry for not being to specific. I mean admission to your 2nd choice major*. I just felt that there may be a disadvantage maybe because we missed say 1 requirment…etc.etc for the 2nd choice. Im applying to Viterbi next year but I heard it got a lot more competitive. So im looking at Marshall as my second choice.
Hey I just received notification from financial aid about ability to benefit.
it reads,
Ability to benefit verification required
At this time, we are unable to credit your financial aid to your student account…
it is requesting me to upload high school diploma.
I am SGR and waiting for result and this showed up yesterday.
what does this mean? anybody?
@Irishrider Hey I noticed that you also received this “ability to benefit verification required” thing. Have you heard anything? I have no idea what this is… do you? man I don’t want to get excited and be disappointed 
@waitgame are you Viterbi?
@Kraz4CocoPuffs Yes, I am. Are you? Is this only for Viterbi applicants? if so, what does this mean? I’m freaking out LOL