Thank you @WWWard !
@Luvtoeat123 you’re welcome
@saltyandpeppery Update: Son just received an email confirming he is a presidential scholar and receiving 1/2 off tuition. It should reflect on his financial aide account soon. Hope your son is getting the notification as well 
Just received yet another lengthy request from the FA department. USC has requested far, far more than any other school for some reason, and they are very slow to process/request things. Is this because they stopped using Veritax this year?
We just received my daughter’s Presidential scholarship (National Merit) email today, as well. Not on portal yet, but email gives me some relief!
@mtmom3girls Congratulations ! I was relieved to see the email confirmation too!
@Cjhastings322 No… it’s always been like that. It can of course vary given each family’s financial situation. But… as for Veri-Tax, this was the first year of those specific form of requests… and now apparently the last.
Yep, my son got the confirming email today, too! Thanks so much for the tip, as my kid is slow to check email.
Not that it matters, but wondering if this counts as a NMSC “College-sponsored Merit Scholarship” and also makes them National Merit Scholars, as opposed to NMF?
@saltyandpeppery Good question! I have no idea and perhaps one of the very knowledgeable parents could answer the question. At this point we pretty much only care about the 1/2 tuition off and the extra benefits that come with it. 
The Presidential Scholarship does not make one a NMS but supposedly the $1,000/year scholarship does.
@Luvtoeat123 Ah, ok - we must have misunderstood. Thanks for the info @WWWard! Either way, we could not get past the ‘payment’ to move onto the “roommates” page because the system thought we hadn’t paid. SO we paid a second time and was able to move on to select or connect with potential roomies. 
It all worked out in the end!
nvm, it’s late!
When I get my financial aid package, how would dorming be reflected if my family only makes $20,000 a year. Would I get a discount or possibly my entire dorming paid alongside my tuition? Also, am I forced to pay the $55 for the dorming contract thing now or can I wait until I see my financial aid?
I received a nice glossy promo book from USC in the mail today. Has anyone else received mail from them, and why have they sent out stuff like this and not the white boxes yet?
We got the glossy promo book today as well.
The acceptance boxes cost about 8 bucks each to mail - it may not make sense to mail 9500 of them at this point and they are hand loaded (germs) with lots of individual pieces…put in a folder, then in a box, versus a booklet that is just labeled (or put in envelope, but single piece). My guess is they had planned on giving acceptance packages to students at Explore or orientation, and now that they will likely all be online, they still wanted to send something to intrigue you before May 1…they are doing the best they can with most not being on site…
@CarBarlos the deadline to do the housing application (which requires paying the $55) is May 1 if you want to be guaranteed housing on campus. I can’t answer the question about financial aid for your room and board (dorm and food) but maybe someone else can address it.
@CarBarlos per the housing site:
Pay Application Fee
USC Housing cannot process your application before receiving your $55 non-refundable application fee. This fee cannot be waived. Our website is set up to take payment by Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover Card. When your payment has been accepted, we will send you a confirmation e-mail.
Apparently the do not have a fee waiver for housing application. If you get aid that includes housing, you would get a waiver for housing costs.
You can wait till you get your FA, it just puts you further down in the queue, but there aren’t really any bad choices, just different choices, so you will be fine if you want to wait. I assume you will be getting that anytime now…
sorry, found the answer to my question
Based on how you have described your family’s financial situation, your FA offering will likely look something like this…
Estimated Cost of Attendance: The sum of your Tuition & Fees and your Estimated Other Costs. $77,459 (last year’s total #)
That’s made up of: Tuition $57,256, Mandatory Fees $877
Estimated Other Costs: An estimate of additional educational costs you may incur while you are enrolled. Housing $9,612, Dining $6,300, Books & Supplies $1,200, Transportation $586, Personal & Miscellaneous $1,566, Other Educational Costs $62
(note… these estimated other costs are averages used for everyone and not real world #s for you. so, if you spend less in actuality, you benefit overall. if you spend more, it will raise your family’s rela world costs.)
B Gift Aid - Funds that do not have to be repaid. Grants: Federal Pell Grant $, University Grant $
C Estimated Net Cost: Determined by subtracting Gift Aid from your Estimated Cost of Attendance. $_______
D Loans & Work: Additional resources to help meet your educational costs.
Federal Work-Study $, Student Loans - Student Loans must be repaid with interest after you graduate. Federal Direct Subsidized Loan $, Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan $_
E - Estimated Remaining Cost: The cost remaining after all Financial Aid is applied. (C - D) $_______
So, they determine your estimated total cost first, by adding up tuition, fees, and then average student estimates for all other areas: room, board, etc.
Then, they find various ways to help you pay for it all…
Good luck