<p>If I receive scholarships after I have already received my package, will USC take money away from my package? I have 42k in grant money right now and another 8 in loans/work-study but I’m expecting another 5k from a local business.</p>
<p>Sorry if this is a ridiculously stupid question, but is it absolutely too late to file FAFSA/CSS? Due to lack of sufficient research, my parents and I weren’t aware of the importance of these forms until just recently (btw, i’m a junior who applied for RHP). Is there any use to file them now - would it still be possible to receive any financial aid after filing these at such a late time now?</p>
<p>^ I was wondering the same thing as the above poster. I realized that USC is my top choice for schools I got accepted to, but didnt realize truly how much the expenses add up. Is it too late to apply for financial aid?</p>
<p>Just wanted to confirm: I don’t need to send in a FAFSA/CSS profile to be eligible for NMF Presidential, right?</p>
<p>I just wanted to point this out—the “Total Remaining Costs” for USC deducts out your loans. Whereas, financial award pages for the UC’s, for example, give you a “Total Net Cost” that does NOT include your loans.</p>
<p>So, even though I thought I was only paying $1-2k above UCLA/Berkeley, I was in actuality paying upwards of $5k or more. I’m glad I have the half-tuition scholarship. A USC education is twice as expensive at $60k!</p>
<p>I received my financial aid reward last night and was not eligible for any financial aid. I received a university scholarship for $3700/year though. The total cost for USC for the 2012-2013 year is 60k…and the little scholarship that USC offered me does not help much. I will have to pay at least 56k for USC which is too much money for my family. Is it possible to appeal the university scholarship to ask for more perhaps for transportation to and from the east cost or for books?</p>
<p>Read page ONE of this thread for the answers to your questions. Repeats of recent questions here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/1315052-fin-aid-lets-get-some-things-straight.html#post14137369[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/1315052-fin-aid-lets-get-some-things-straight.html#post14137369</a></p>
<p>I have received federal work-study at the other schools I know my financial status for. Is this a consistent thing because it is federal and in that case will I receive work-study at USC?</p>
<p>If I did not apply for financial aid, how do the scholarship notifications work? Are they emailed or sent through a letter? If I do not receive a scholarship, do they tell you that you don’t receive one?</p>
<p>i got a "Description for SPRQ.01 is blank " notice, but i never was requested for additional information before… or the info i sent is already recieved… what should i do :(</p>
<p>NEVERMIND I LOOKED UP STUFF & I FOUND MY PROBLEM IN ANOTHER THREADDDDDD</p>
<p>I received my FA package today and it was surprisingly terrible. I have received packages from Brandeis, Rochester, and Emory: each of these asking my family to contribute between 16k and 19k. USC asked for 29k. How is this possible? Was there a big error in calculating? I haven’t heard of anybody else having a big issue like this…</p>
<p>You are certainly not alone. Numerous students that we know from middle and upper middle class families are in your same situation, although I haven’t seen many comments on this thread either. Now is the time to have a serious conversation with your parents about finances so you can make an informed decision. USC is an amazing school and hopefully you will find a way. Good luck!</p>
<p>@Nihility D is in same situation. We had read about how generous USC is with financial aid and were shocked when we saw D’s FA from USC. D received Dean’s Scholarship so we thought FA would be good. But we are required to pay $36,000 plus $5500 in student loans. I thought something went terrible wrong too. Spoke with the Dean of FA personally (very nice gentleman by the way) and he explained how things work. So apparently we got the best deal they could give us, but it so frustrating being in the middle class sometimes. We don’t make enough to actually afford USC, but we make to much to qualify for more help.</p>
<p>My parents don’t want me to appeal my rejection because they are afraid that if I somehow get in on an appeal, USC will not offer me any money in their financial aid pacakge (besides loans) and it will leave a bad impression if I turn down an accepted appeal because of money. Is this true? Do students who get in on appeal not get money like university grants, etc?</p>
<p>We are also stuck-in-the-middle Middle-Classers! Son is admitted to SCA for Animation/Digital Arts, but when we received the FA award last week, our hearts sank (well, ok, it was only mine; son is sanguine about it all).</p>
<p>EFC at USC is an insane $51,000! This is evidently because we’ve been extremely frugal for 20 years and have a lot of equity/almost no debt. We’d be crazy to tap out the house after paying it down for two decades (especially given husband’s 12 year cancer diagnosis, requiring brutal surgeries every few years/into the future).</p>
<p>Son is lucky to have a great choice in Chapman-Dodge. We can manage that out of pocket (thanks to generous merit/talent scholarship) such that it = NO DEBT. And DS <em>loves</em> that place! As I mentioned in another post, we would have liked to see which he’d choose in a fair fight. I guess we’ll never know.</p>
<p>It is wonderful seeing how generous USC is with low income/hardship kids. Love it! Appreciate it!!! I just wish there were reasonable options for middle-class folks (beyond liquidating our houses and/or taking on massive loans as we plan for retirement). We knew nothing was guaranteed; that’s why DS planned for (and now has) other great college choices. But I remain disappointed in the FA outcome at USC. We held out hope that they’d meet us at the outer edges somewhere, maybe with $8-10k, rendering USC within reach–barely–for a regular family such as ourselves. Looks like it’s close but no cigar, however: we are $10-15k short a year no matter how we stretch or how mightily we sacrifice.</p>
<p>The crazy thing that keeps sticking in my head: H and I brainstormed all week trying to figure out a way to go forward with USC on the table (should DS conclude that maybe he <em>does</em> prefer SCA). And we managed to come up with an extra $9k a year. But even with our $41,000 (X 4) generated by hook or by crook (seeing no movies and not eating out for 4 years, selling a car, taking no trips, working even MORE overtime, car-pooling, selling personal belongings, cashing out an IRA that H will never live long enough to see)–it <em>crazily</em> isn’t enough.</p>
<p>$164,000 and it still isn’t ENOUGH?</p>
<p>This really drove home for me how out of control college costs are for low income AND middle class people.</p>
<p>And so, I wonder: in ten years, will USC be populated largely by the poor and the very rich? There won’t be many middlers, like our son and so many of you, I imagine. And that’s a sad thing.</p>
<p>We are happy with his choices, just the same, and DS is <em>very</em> happy–that is all that matters in the end. It will be bittersweet to wave goodbye to the School of Cinema Arts, but that’s how it’s looking today. Good luck, everyone. Here’s hoping things work out for you all, one way or another. :)</p>
<p>gladiator, I have absolutely no authority on the subject, but I sympathies with you. I was also admitted to SCA for Film. Before you give up on the school I would contact the financial aid office or your sons advisor, let them know that Chapman is offering you something better, see if they will match it. Just make sure your son lets them know how much he loves USC! No promises this will work, but if your close to ruling it out anyway there is absolutely no harm in asking. Just make sure it comes from your son! Good luck and I hope to see your son at SCA next year!! (Oh, and I visited Chapman Dodge as well, and worse come to worse that is definitely not a bad option. The school is quaint, adorable, and also offers great opportunities).</p>
<p>Agree that it COULD be worthwhile for your S to at least ASK USC about offering a bit more in FAid and tell them about his offer at Chapman. USC told us they DID NOT match other Us, but when we talked to them about how much S wanted to attend but how a competing (Santa Clara) offered slightly more (about $1K or so more/year), they did increase his merit award by that amount.</p>
<p>Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I’d say. Unfortunately, I must admit cost of attending USC has gone up every year D has been in SCA there. There are lab fees & other costs–not sure whether those are part of the COA budget, but it really does add up, as well as travel to get there & back home. Would probably be more comfortable for your family not to cut things so close. Your S could always consider going to SCA for grad school with the $$$ you’ll be saving with his merit award.</p>
<p>Thank you. 
We’re not expecting anything, but DS did contact USC last week and I will follow up with a call to FA. Pursuing it even that far feels odd and entirely incongruent with our family’s sense of self-sufficiency and belief in living within/below our means. Those values have served us well. So, although we are smitten with SCA and its glamour, we’re not willing to ruin our lives paying USC an EFC of $204k. That’s insane for a middle class family. There will be no HELOCS or refi’s in our future. We have taught our son that hard work and freedom from debt will get him where he wants to go–not crippling loans and the abject, corrosive fear that they bring. </p>
<p>I frankly think that USC would do well to find a way to keep young people like our son and all you middle class kids in the mix. It’s USC’s loss if many of you are shut out. </p>
<p>Thank you for your suggestions and kind concern. This has helped our family sort things out. I do very much love CC!</p>
<p>It is unfortunate that prices at USC are so high. Our D is full-pay at SCA. Fortunately for us, she did take 3 semesters of CC, so that helped her get a lot of GE courses out of the way and allowed her to focus more on what she really wanted.</p>
<p>It is great that you and your S have good options and are making realistic choices so no one is saddled with crippling debt. D was able to transfer into SCA after she started at USC as an undeclared major, but that was VERY competitive and challenging.</p>
<p>heres another crazy FA story.</p>
<p>Income of ~60,000
USC EFC of ~56,000</p>
<p>what?! We have no significant assets, no extra houses, no savings, etc.</p>