<p>Wow! Just wow! One of the things I really cherished when my student was accepted to USC was how much of a family the alum and other parents are. So I’m mystified about alamemom’s comment out of the blue - especially since I rarely post here when she established the “it’s my thread only” rules. But what’s up with the decision to give me an honorable mention for this recent reply to a student in distress?..</p>
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<p>It would be a stretch to imagine that my comment to the student was intrusive, negative or unwarranted. But I have to agree with Snowdog. There has been a certain “double” standard on this thread and it hasn’t seemed to be in the Trojan spirit. </p>
<p>When we first started I often looked to this thread for guidance. But noticed that the advice often didn’t match our own personal reality. Certainly in an earlier part of the thread students were expressing angst similar to accepted students on the 2017 Facebook page - which is the awards were smaller than the USC calculator was indicating and many excited students were having to decline their acceptances because of it. Only here the advice was “keep trying” and “appeal”. And all of it punctuated with “I’m certain that…” even as some students were experiencing a negative outcome. One parent’s experience doesn’t mean everyone else is having the same experience and a thread like this needs multiple people to talk through those examples so that others know there is no “one size fits all” solution to USC financial aid.</p>
<p>During two visits to USC’s campus I sat in FinAid meetings with other (sometimes distressed) parents all of whom were told the online calculator was NOT accurate (in our case our EFC is 2x what the calculator indicated and 4x the FAFSA amount).</p>
<p>Even so - I’m thrilled to be a new Trojan parent and finding those staff and parents to be a lot of fun and very welcoming. </p>
<p>Still, an awful lot of students are now in distress because of lack of funding (good golly Molly - just filling out the studentloans.gov forms is enough to have one run away screaming in terror). Good students are finding they can’t attend USC because the best merit aid scholarships are limited in supply and there aren’t enough to meet the needs of all the really gifted kids. So its a shock and we should be honest about that. USC is expensive and there is no getting around the sticker shock. </p>
<p>So my advice to students and parents - prepare for the worst, and whatever you get will be a bonus. Don’t assume that “meets full need” means merit aid and scholarships. In many cases it means massive loans even in the absence of assets. Only you and your family can decide it is worth it.</p>
<p>First, thank you, I have received a lot of great information from this thread. That said, I think that the discussion taking place has been very informative about the process of financial aid at USC. For those just starting the process the reality of what it taking place with some financial aid applicants is very important information. It is vital for students and parents to know that USC’s calculated EFC can be 2 - 10 times more than the FAFSA or even USC’s calculator.
That is what is going on for some applicants and I know that I for one, would have been in a better position had I had that information. Last year I received $10,000 more in grant money from a smaller, private school with a much smaller endowment than I did this year from USC. (I turned down the other school last year and attended a cc). I know that each school comes up with its own grant formula but I was very surprised.<br>
I wish the best for those of you who will have to attend other schools next year. Mynemezo my condolences to you. You have endured so much this past year. I hope the best for you in the years to come.</p>
<p>Hi, has anyone in this thread been successful at appealing his/her financial aid package? I recently graduated from a private university, which may have affected my brother’s package. He’s transferring as a sophomore in the spring, and we essentially receive no aid. We just found out a couple days ago, which leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Our EFC through CSS is different from USC’s EFC by a significant amount. We’re planning on appealing (I am in disbelief that we have to pay $60k a year), and if you can offer some advice or tips, I would greatly appreciate your help.</p>
<p>Hi all. I filed my FAFSA over the weekend, based on estimated tax figures. We’re both self-employed so we have most of the figures available even before 1099s come out. I did not worry about assets too much because they are pretty low and not really considered on the FAFSA. Probably should have waited a bit but I just wanted to get something done.</p>
<p>Now I’ve read some of this thread and I’m getting worried about how much our (modest 5-figure) bank accounts might cause a different result on the CSS Profile. So here’s my question. If I pay down a large credit card debt before filing the Profile, and can accurately and honestly state my account balances are at a lower level when I file the Profile (than I put on the FAFSA), will the difference in asset levels between the FAFSA and the Profile filing be an issue? I DO have a large credit card debt and WILL actually be paying it off. Since debt is not considered on either the FAFSA or Profile, this will make a big difference in our overall financial picture. So, it’s a good idea, right?</p>
<p>We recently got a kind of generic letter from USC asking us to fill out the Financial Aid Profile. I was wondering if this would be applicable only to families with low or no income? In our case, moth dad and mom are software engineers which makes me wonder if there is even any hope in applying for financial aid? I mean would they consider our home mortgage, car loans and medical expenses as a criteria for determining financial aid eligibility inspite of the amount we make?
My D thinks that it is a very generic letter and there is no need to fill out all those forms and I am confused as to what we should do. Can anyone please advise?</p>
<p>We NEVER submitted any financial data to USC and never requested any FAid. The only aid we wanted to be considered for (which was awarded to S) was merit aid. If you only want merit aid, I’d ask USC if you need to submit any data. When our kids attended, if you applied by the deadline (Dec 1 for entering freshmen), you were considered for merit w/o any financial docs.</p>
<p>@dibm96 - we “fell for” the same generic letter and painstakingly went through the process of filling out all those forms. After getting a bit more educated on who qualifies, it did end up being a terrific waste of time. I remember a friend telling me her husband yelled “I’ve had it with these forms, just give me the checkbook!” I heard you do it, however, in case things change and you need it down the road in a future, but not sure I understand that, seems you would just apply that year or do you have to start freshman year to get it junior year? idk. Maybe someone can clarify…</p>
<p>I would read “Paying for College without Going Broke”, likely available at your local library (although the new edition is less than $20 at Barnes and Noble), and then decide if you want to fill out the forms. Yes, in general, they do take into consideration mortgage and medical expenses especially.</p>
<p>We have been very happy with how generous USC has been to our D.</p>
<p>We received an email today from IDOC.collegeboard.org with a subject of “IDOC Notification - Your Next Step for Financial Aid” with the following paragraph…</p>
<p>The financial aid office at one or more of your college(s) or scholarship program(s) collects additional documents, such as federal tax returns, from students and their families through the College Board’s Institutional Documentation Service (IDOC).</p>
<p>I thought these forms went direct to the school and not the College Board?</p>
<p>I am really sorry if this has been covered in the past 90 pages of posts, but I can’t seem to find anything with the new “search” feature (since I can’t seem to search only this thread…)</p>
<p>Anyway, here’s what I did. Submitted FAFSA and Profile with “estimates” (wanted to be sure to get them in on time), several weeks ago.</p>
<p>Finally completed (yea!) my taxes last night. Filed electronically (Fed and State). Numbers are actually a little lower (income, taxes, etc.) than I’d predicted. Just a little. But apparently just enough to now qualify us for a small Pell grant.</p>
<p>Son also filed his taxes, this morning. His income was a little higher than predicted.</p>
<p>Corrected FAFSA - changed to “already filed” for son and parents, corrected numbers. Can’t use “Data Retrieval” yet, since info not processed.</p>
<p>SO, what do I do about the Profile? Should I do a corrected profile (if so, how do I do that?) or just wait for USC to request my tax returns? Send them now? ???</p>
<p>Our only Profile schools are USC and one other (University of Denver). I don’t even know if Denver uses IDOC or what they want. I know I can’t just correct the Profile online, but how do I do this?</p>
<p>You can hand correct the Profile printout, scan it and upload it to USConnect. I’ve done this. I’m not convinced the FA office looks at updated Profiles (just based on personal experience with a revision last year), but that’s the way to get it there. You upload your 2013 federal return through USConnect also. That I am sure they review. </p>
<p>hi so on my usc financial aid page it says that
We have not received any application documents for federal or USC need-based financial aid programs.</p>
<p>To initiate an application for federal or USC need-based financial aid, please submit a FAFSA. We will notify you if any additional documents are required.</p>
<p>If you wish to be considered for only a Federal Parent PLUS Direct Loan, please submit a FAFSA and complete an Enrollment & Housing Form.</p>
<p>If you are not applying for financial aid but are expecting to receive a scholarship, please direct any questions to the department or organization issuing the scholarship.</p>
<p>but all my other schools received my fafsa and my css. is this normal?</p>
<p>Make sure they were listed correctly on your FAFSA and CSS (i.e. instead of US Carolina). Then call them directly. With 50,000 applications it might have gone astray. Did you keep copies or screen shots of the forms? If so, fax them with a note. But call the FA asap. Usually, within a week or so of submitting the forms, the USC student portal would have changed to reflect that you were done - or to ask you to upload additional documents as pdfs directly to USC.</p>
<p>So call. I had a question about a new form for returning students and the office was very helpful.</p>
<p>"Please have your parent submit documentation from his or her last employer to verify his or her termination or separation, retirement, reduction in wages or disability, or other change in status.</p>
<p>Include the date of the status change, all income received through that date, and any other income to be received (such as severance pay, pension, etc.). Include a copy of his or her pay stub showing year-to-date income."</p>
<p>I feel like a moron for not knowing what they want from me…can somebody please explain?</p>
<p>Neither of my parents are unemployed at the moment or have been fired. Neither of them have had reduced wages.
My mom has a seasonal job where she works for half the year and the other half she receives unemployment benefits. How do I go about submitting this?
I’ve been accepted and all this financial paperwork is making me nervous like they won’t give me any aid :(</p>
<p>^ Roy - I don’t understand how your mom could be collecting unemployment unless she is in fact unemployed. USC wants more information about the job she was let go from in order to collect those benefits, it sounds like? Your best course of action is to call the financial aid office Monday morning and ask what specifically they are looking for. A counselor will open your file and tell you.</p>
<p>Can the University grant be used for things other than tuition? I’ve read the financial aid site but I was wondering if the left over amount can be used for regular expenses. Hypothetically, if tuition for a semester was $10,000 and the university grant was $15,000, will the remaining balance of $5,000 be available for use to pay Non-USC related expenses? (Non staying in USC housing). Can it be used as regular funds like a debit card? Will the remaining funds be direct deposited into your personal account?</p>
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