Thank you! Congratulations and fingers crossed for both of our kids!
and Thank you @CalDreamin!!!
@juleval my daughter lived in McCarthy last year. Let me know if you have any questions about it. Congrats to your daughter!
@typiCAmom gonna pm you
@typiCAmom I am too.
@marcie123 can you give a rundown about your daughter’s experience at McCarthy? Was it enjoyable even though it was off the main campus? Does it have a stigma? Was it fun for her and very social? Were the dorms really nice or average?
@onlyworthypotato Congrats!
@typiCAmom This year… due to all the uncertainty in the world… I suspect that many may opt to choose a college closer to home. Both of my daughters chose the trek from FL to USC, but I am not sure if such would have been the same if admitted this year versus 2014 and 2017. Good luck to her wherever she decides. She really cannot go wrong choosing between Stanford and USC.
Here is a link to the honors residential college…
https://housing.usc.edu/index.php/buildings/mccarthy-honors-residential-college/
@biochemmajor11 Yes… basically. Think of it this way: Your eventual FA offering is first going to calculate all estimated expenses, as they see it (based on overall student averages and not really you specifically)… for travel, tuition, fees, room, board and misc expenses, creating a projected grand total. They will then deduct for any and all scholarship dollars that they are aware of, leaving the remaining balance. They will then evaluate your family’s financial situation and calculate what they perceive your family can afford to pay toward that remaining cost. Typical FA offerings can include one or more of the following (depending on family income and assets): university grant, federal grant, student work study and loans. They do not calculate the aid and then give you extra credit for a scholarship. It is unfortunately the other way around. But you should know for sure what they are offering in the next few days. In our family’s case, USC was rather generous. Only Emory and Princeton were more generous in terms of financial aid. And only the FL schools were more generous in terms of total $ offered, including merit $. FA offerings can be all over the place, but at least USC seems to be rather fair about it. Of course they are using their own reasoning and not your family’s. Good luck getting #s that work for you and your family.
@biochemmajor11 @juleval
Happy to share my daughter’s experience with McCarthy. She lived in a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom suite. It was the nicest dorm room I have ever seen. Huge and clean. Bathrooms were cleaned twice a week. She went random with her roommate and they got along well. Not good friends but good roommates.
She spent a lot of time in the McCarthy lounges. She met a lot of people that way. She loved living in the Village. The campus is not very big so she didn’t feel isolated from the main campus. Most of her classes are on the part of campus close to the village.
What she didn’t like- that it is called “honors” housing. Everyone at USC is smart and involved and no one really knows why someone gets a scholarship over someone else. Her stats were lower than some of her non McCarthy friends and they pointed that out to her. So she wishes it was just called McCarthy Hall and McCarthy dining hall and the word honors was removed.
You are correct that the suite style is not as social. Her best friend lived in Birnkrant and loved it there. They met at summer orientation so my D spent a lot of time there. She liked their open door structure that she didn’t have in McCarthy.
Overall, there are pros and cons. I’ve heard her say that she would choose McCarthy again. The location, air conditioning, and size of the room were bigger priorities for her.
She chose not to live in the sophomore honors dorm this year. She wanted to live with the Birnkrant friend. They didn’t get a spot in the village at all so she is glad she got to live there for a year.
She made a few friends in McCarthy and a few friends in classes. Most of her friends are from the admission center where she works and one of the clubs she’s involved in.
Hope this helps!
D20 also received the email yesterday informing her of Presidential Scholarship! She is NMF who was not admitted in January.
@WWWard, thank you for your kind words. I wonder if top colleges are adjusting their admission decisions this year towards local admits, recognizing that some kids ready to venture far under normal circumstances would now prefer to stay closer to home
I’m trying to get a realistic idea of what USC will cost. For those of you with kids already at USC, what did you pay for other than tuition, housing, hospitality and books? Were there lab fees? If so, how much? Club fees? If so, how much? How about entertainment and social life, approximately how much per month did your kid spend? If a student were to join a fraternity or sorority, approximately how much do those cost? Any other enrollment fees or add on fees associated with housing?
@lkg4answers, thanks for your post. You asked the same questions I had.
@lkg4answers I’m sure @CADREAMIN and @WWWard will have some good answers here — but I can share our experience.
With USC Housing and the meal plan, especially freshman year, the kids are pretty well set with food and a lot of socializing happens in the dining halls. The kids all seem conscientious about money so eating off campus is limited but there are lots of Starbucks runs! There are lots of things to do in LA but it doesn’t have to cost much (beach, museums, shows). My D got an on campus job as a Tour Guide so she used that money for anything social. I recommend that for sure — there are lots of jobs with flexible hours they can apply for.
She occasionally had to buy materials for class (Amazon) but outside of books and a new laptop, everything was paid for. No lab fees that I’m aware of…?
Greek life (social and business) does cost extra (I’ll find out dues if no one knows here) — but the kids don’t rush until Spring so that would be delayed a bit. My daughter is in a few clubs and there haven’t been any fees associated. You’ll need to buy some USC gear (for the family) so count on that!
Travel is probably the biggest $ factor and is another reason staying closer to home is so appealing.
I hope this helps!
@lkg4answers it depends on the kid. My USC daughter probably spends $50/week and my other college daughter probably spends less than $50/month.
For her activities at USC- she is on a club sports team and that was $500 for the year. She is also in a philanthropic club which is her main activity. I think they ask for $100 donation. She works on campus and full time in the summer to pay for these things. She’s not in a sorority.
OK, I’m a parent of two first-year USC students (Viterbi & Dornsife). Below is my D19’s Fall 2019 bill with charges and credits.
Note #1: If your student will be covered under your insurance for the school year, you can submit that paperwork to USC and the “Student Health Insurance” ($753 x 2) will be removed from your bill. The “Student Health Fee” of $367/semester is not waivable. Once this was removed, our total Fall 2019 balance due for D19 was reduced from $4148.02 to $3395.02. Note that the billing statement credited $700 previously paid (Housing deposit $400 paid in Feb 2019 and Commitment fee $300 paid in April 2019), so it was more like $4095.02 for Fall 2019 charges for D19 after the Student Health Insurance charge was removed.
Note #2: Mandatory fees appear to be $889 total for Fall 2019 (which includes Norman Topping fee $8, Student Health Fee $367, Student Program Fee $64, and New Student Fee $450). It is less for Spring 2020 ($439), because the $450 New Student Fee is only assessed once in Fall of first year. Thus, mandatory fees for 2019-20 totaled $1328.
Note #3: My daughter’s rent of $4935 (fall 2019 only) is for a triple occupancy in Birnkrant. This option is slightly more than the $4808/semester amount allocated in the COA for 2019-20, since Birnkrant triples have two rooms shared between three people. There are even cheaper options than the $4808/semester if you need to cut lodging costs. My son went the other direction and got a Birnkrant single which was $6985/semester, but definitely worth it for him. You can go to https://housing.usc.edu/ (Click on desired Freshman Residence Halls or Freshman Suites under Housing Options) for the 2020-21 housing costs per semester for the range of options available. The website also has the layouts and number of units per housing building and type.
Note #4: D19 chose the Cardinal Meal Plan costing $3150/semester for 2019-20. S19 went with the Gold plan that was $3510/semester but included $500 in swipe credits at the 24-hour Starbucks in his Birnkrant building (and other eateries on campus). Here is link to the chart of meal plans/dining options for 2019-20 https://hospitality.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/NSO_DiningInfo_2019-2020-2.pdf
Note #5: We opted for Tuition Refund Insurance at $121/semester, but this charge is optional.
Note #6 to @VryCnfsd, @hcbcdad, @uscfighton! and those of you awarded merit scholarship and awaiting Tuition Exchange notice: You can see how USC is the “gold standard” for Tuition Exchange, by allowing the stacking of Merit & TE applies to cover room and board (up to $8000/year). Because TE applies first, there is no difference between getting a full-tuition Trustee’s Scholarship vs. a half-tuition Presidential Scholarship, as both will max out to fully cover tuition plus up to $8000/year for room and board. On top of that, USC generously also allows the University Scholarship (and any other College award, like D19’s Viterbi Scholar award sent by check and a $2500 research assistant job) to be counted above and beyond the $8000/year.
Hope this helps, and congratulations to all admitted. Hope you get a fantastic FA award this coming week!
–CollegeOdyssey2001
FALL 2019 CHARGES:
07/23/2019 Birnkrant Rent Charges Fa2019 $4,935.00
07/23/2019 Student Health Insurance Fa2019 $753.00
07/23/2019 Undergraduate Tuition Fa2019 $28,628.00
07/23/2019 N. Topping Student Aid Fund Fa2019 $8.00
07/23/2019 Student Health Fee Fa2019 $367.00
07/23/2019 Student Programming Fee - Fa2019 $64.00
07/23/2019 New Student Fee Fa2019 $450.00
07/23/2019 Tuition Refund Insurance Fa2019 $121.02
07/24/2019 Cardinal Meal Plan Fa2019 $3,150.00
FALL 2019 CREDITS:
07/24/2019 HSG Confirmation Fee Fa2019 <$400.00>
07/24/2019 Tuition Exchange Program Fa2019 <$22,902.00>
07/24/2019 University Scholarship - Fa2019 <$1,000.00>
07/24/2019 Trustee Scholarship Fa2019 <$9,726.00>
07/24/2019 Nonrefundable Commit Dep Fa2019 <$300.00>
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
If you are mailing a payment, include the top portion. Keep the lower portion for your records.
PAYMENT SUMMARY
Statement Date: 07/27/2019
Billing Period: 06/29/2019 TO 07/27/2019
Previous Amount Due: $0.00
Amount Due: $4,148.02
Deferred Balance: $0.00
Due Date: 08/23/2019
TOTAL AMOUNT DUE: $4,148.02
TOTAL AMOUNT DUE: $4,148.02
@SCMom01
Yes, my D did list USC as top-choice, will call admissions next week to sort this out.
Thx
Thanks for the detailed breakdown, @CollegeOdyssey2001 ! I have been trying to piece that together for my daughter to look at, and it is good to have confirmation.
What is a University Scholarship and when are those awarded? I can’t find any information about it on the USC list of scholarships.
re fees and costs: I was surprised how minimal the required books were for a Marshall Bus. Admin freshman. Profs seemed sensitive to book expenses and made alternatives available. Including the GEs my student had. Other majors may vary.
Hi @VryCnfsd. The University Scholarship is a bonus “icing on the cake” additional merit award sweetener that it seems most or all merit scholars get (anecdotal evidence only). For both D19 and S19, it was $2000 additional per year or $1000 more per semester. Your student may also be awarded college-based merit gift aid (D19 got two more from Viterbi totaling another $5000/year, S19 did not get any further from Dornsife).
When you get your FA award next week, you should have a “Gift Aid” section. In that section, you will see your Presidential Award and the half-tuition amount. I predict you will also see a University Scholarship award of $2000 ($1000/semester) or so, plus any additional college-level merit awards. Eventually, when Tuition Exchange is announced (likely AFTER you get your initial FA award next week), TE recipients will see a “Tuition Benefits” section under your FA “Gift Aid” section, with "University Tuition Exchange listed there with the 80% tuition amount ($45,804 for 2019-20). Once this TE amount hits your FA account, your Presidential Award will be reduced accordingly, as the TE benefit is applied first. Last year, D19’s Trustee Scholarship was reduced from $57,256 to $19,452 after $45,804 in TE benefits hit her FA account. TE + reduced Trustee scholarship amounts totaled $65,256, which is exactly $8000 over the $57,256 tuition for 2019-20. You can see that a full-tuition Trustee scholarship is overkill with TE, so you only need half-tuition or Presidential/NMF to get the maximum TE + merit scholarship benefit. And you will still get any University Scholarship and/or college awards listed under your Gift Aid section on top of TE + Dean’s/Presidential/Trustee’s award. That is the USC’s TE “gold standard” in action!
Best of luck to you in the coming weeks on your pending TE application. I think the hardest part is over, but the 2-week wait for the final TE award notification post-merit award was excruciating. I actually yelled and jumped for joy in my office at work when the email finally came through!