I got the Deans Scholarship! I really wasn’t expecting it. For those wondering, this is what the email says:
"Congratulations! I am delighted to inform you that you have been selected as a Deans Scholar at the University of Southern California.
The Deans Scholarship is a one-quarter tuition award. It is renewable for eight semesters (10 for architecture students), provided you make satisfactory progress toward your degree and uphold USC’s standards for conduct and academic integrity.
As a recipient of this award, you are eligible to apply for housing in the McCarthy Honors College, located in the new USC Village. See the Living at USC brochure for more information about this extraordinary opportunity.
If you applied for financial aid and demonstrate eligibility beyond the value of this scholarship, you will receive additional funds from university and government sources. Additionally, if you have been named a National Merit Finalist and you inform the National Merit Scholarship Corporation that USC is your first-choice school, your Deans Scholarship will be upgraded to a half-tuition Presidential Scholarship. This will be awarded once your name is reported on an official list from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation."
Thornton majors - Performance majors at Thornton typically get the scholarships handled separately - they have always been sent out independent of the scholarships sent today as they are sent directly from Thornton, not admissions.
It is my understanding that non-performance majors like MI, etc would have been included in the January offerings/interviews, or be given Deans in this round if applicable. Meaning they are treated like everyone else in this process. Would love to be wrong and if someone in Thornton that is a non audition/performance major gets someting directly from Thornton in the next few days, please let me know. They should have their stuff out very soon too.
I guess they weren’t able to send the Thornton shirts this year, bummer - they don’t sell them in the bookstore so it is cool to get one, I suppose they will send them at a later date.
I got an email today saying I was selected as an Associates Scholar! I’m honestly very surprised and super excited. USC is my dream school so I’m hoping i get more money with my financial aid package!
@CADREAMIN can you verify this for me? I’m ready to commit to my second choice if I don’t get the Trustees. But I don’t want to commit prematurely. USC is definitely my #1–they just have to match the offer of my #2…
Just woke up from a nap to a whole slew of messages on here and a surprise in my inbox in the form of a Dean’s Scholarship! Honestly, I had interviewed for the Town and Gown and was not expecting to receive an offer that was more than their $10k but this is absolutely amazing! It’ll make attending USC cheaper for my family than any of the UCs or even Cal States plus USC is my dream school and it’s awesome that they’ve given me this too
@CADREAMIN You mentioned that “Thornton majors - Performance majors at Thornton typically get the scholarships handled separately - they have always been sent out independent of the scholarships sent today as they are sent directly from Thornton, not admissions.”
What about scholarships for Iovine and Young Acadamy. The letters the students received in January said that their interviews for IYA would also be their interviews for the different scholarships. Would the IYA admits receive notice today or separately like the Thornton admits?
Thank you in advance for your time and sharing your knowledge! Fight on!
Pleasantly surprised that my D received the Presidential Scholarship. She is an NM Finalist so we are assuming that is what she received. She was was not asked to interview back in January. She is so excited to join the Trojan family!
@LosAngSoCalMom I am not super familiar with I&Y, but I did find this from a letter I posted for class of 2022…would think it still applies - per this they are given out separately in early April. The “mass” scholarship notification of today has always occurred in March, always. So saying April below seems to imply it is done separately. Best guess here - good luck!
Please note that every potential Academy student that is interviewed is eligible for the USC merit scholarships, which include the full-tuition Trustee scholarships, the half-tuition Presidential Scholarships, and the one-quarter tuition Deans Scholarships. These scholarships will be awarded upon admission with decisions finalized by early April.
Also, don’t hesitate to call the program directly on Monday and ask - that is what they are there for - if admitted they want student to attend so they are motivated to be helpful!
@CADAd70 - My D is in the same boat as yours, but she received her Presidential Scholarship email. Did you verify that USC was listed as her first choice? If not, maybe the emails come out in batches. Just thinking out loud. Good luck to her!
If you are NMF and select USC as first choice with NMSF you will get the 1/2. The weird thing is usually NMF don’t “officially” hear till later April/May - the money doesn’t credit into account until very late and people start getting nervous but it does show up. I don’t know why anyone that didn’t interview is getting presidential NMF now, that is not the usual m.o. but agree the earlier the better! Call USC admissions if any concerns. Prepare for LONG hold times next week. It isn’t usually bad at all, but next few weeks may be brutal.
@LosAngSoCalMom My D is a sophomore in IYA and received the Trustee Scholarship— it came in the portal a few days later (after the box in her case). We are now waiting for news from Thornton and I see from @CADREAMIN that is also comes separately. More waiting for us but it isn’t over!
Meant to mention if NMF, you will get a letter from USC detailing the scholarship in the next couple of weeks (maybe even next week). You will be required to sign and accept it.
@CADREAMIN I’m full pay (EFC >50000). Music major and I did audition/interview in January, not at the scholarship weekend but for Thornton. I understand from their website that that’s what’s required for the same academic scholarships for music students. Did I misunderstand?
Thanks for reminding me to calm down a bit… I just want a single college to get excited about. I’m ready to commit to a school and I don’t like all the waiting.
@CADREAMIN, I was all ready to buy a Trojan Mom decal for my car when D got into Stanford after deferral. This year they had 5 students from her Bay Area public HS get into Stanford, which is pretty unusual. I always thought D was somewhat indifferent to Stanford because it’s too close to home, and she loves LA, but all of the sudden she is super excited about being a Cardinal. I know USC has so many things that are better, especially in D’s case - the semester system, the dorms, the half tuition, most GE requirements taken care of through AP and community college classes, metropolitan location, etc., etc… - but I guess this year CV changes everything…
@Racingfan53 That changes everything. So hold your horses!!! (As they say) Some scholarships for Thornton are not out and are sent separately! Sorry, I wasn’t understanding the situation correctly.
You won’t know for a few days. Enjoy the choices. Breathe and be psyched these top s books are your talent! How cool is that! Thornton is amazing and you must have another great one too. That’s fantastic.
I’m sure they will be out soon. You can always commit to a school then decommit because of new info, but you’ll likely lose any deposit. Don’t write off USC yet!
My daughter also received the email notifying her of the presidential scholarship. She had named USC as NM first choice previously.
I agree that it was good timing on the notice today. This whole process can feel brutal even if they ultimately have great choices, so it is nice to feel some love.
Do I recall a conversation about honors dorms previously in this thread? I’ll search for it as I’m sure I’ll find other useful info while searching. Sure wish we could go visit - we had postponed USC thinking it would be one of the easier trips to make in April if she got in.