a foreign student's blues...

[alamemom]

<p>

You see, as with most foreign nationals, an amount of $20K, which is of course quite substantial, doesn’t really cause much of a dent in the whopping $56K required from my side. Hence, I was basically talking about my chances of getting the Presidential.

The Presidential is approximately $20,000/year as well, and cannot be combined with the International Freshman Scholarship. You probably are referring to the Trustee, which is approximately $40,000/year.</p>

<p>To address other questions/issues:</p>

<p>In past years, about 800 - 1,000 of the 20,000+ December 1st applicants have been invited to interview for the Trustee or Presidential scholarships. The interview is mandatory, even for International applicants. (All the official information says this is an absolute, but we have had a couple of examples of candidates allowed to interview by Skype.) About 130 applicants will eventually matriculate with the Trustee scholarship, and about 250 with the Presidential.</p>

<p>As Arctic92 points out, it isn’t neccessarily high “stats” and test scores that earn USC’s top scholarships. The only way to find out if you will be selected for a scholarship is to apply by December 1st.</p>

<p>An additional note:
As an International applicant, you are required to provide proof of ability to pay tuition and living expenses before a letter of admission can be sent (this isn’t MY rule, so please do not get angry with me for mentioning it):

Financial Statement of Personal or Family Support
The United States government requires all international students to provide proof of ability to pay tuition and living expenses before a formal letter of admission, or the forms needed for obtaining a visa, can be issued.</p>

<p>Each international applicant relying on personal or family support must furnish, at the time of application, a completed Financial Statement of Personal or Family Support (found here or in the online application) and appropriate original financial documents, such as savings deposit and checking account records or bank letters signed by bank personnel, stating the sponsor’s name and address and verifying the ability to pay the annual cost of education-related expenses for the first academic year. The financial document must be verified by a bank.

[International</a> Students - USC Undergraduate Admission](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/apply/inter_students.html]International”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/apply/inter_students.html)</p>

<p>*$56,000 is daunting for *US nationals *as well, I assure you.</p>