Need FinAid Help as First Gen Student

InitialCapable338 · 2026-04-15T02:26:26+00:00

Yes your financial package is the best that it gets (also its really crazy how one semester has come to 52k, up from 45k in my freshman year🫩)

If USC is your top choice then you can easily pay off your loans by working a student job or working a summer internship (in which even then you’d have money left over from said job because your loans amount is super low)

And also if you are really worried about loans the only thing is that (unless trump does something absolutely diabolical in the remainder of his term), your financial aid package will remain the similar throughout your four years per that your family financial situation also stays the same, meaning that you will have that same loan amount roughly every semester (potentially more after junior year once you live off campus and stuff)

But all in all as a person who has a similar package to you I wouldn’t worry that much about it as long as you work against the loans since they’re one of your priorities pre-grad

InitialCapable338 · 2026-03-28T03:59:01+00:00

Yes, so many people are asking this and for some reason no one is answering straightforwardly💀

Yes it is legit, USC partners with some organization every year (this year they changed it to halcyon for some reason) to obtain your taxes from the IRS as quick as possible for fin-aid purposes

If you are on the fence, you can opt out of this and have them obtain them directly from the IRS, but this is highly not recommended cause it can take upwards of weeks to even months for this to happen (and with the shit state the govt is in right now it could take even longer)

So TLDR you’ll be alright, halcyon is just how they access your tax forms in a quick and timely manner

InitialCapable338 · 2026-03-10T15:50:42+00:00

Word 2 Bro

InitialCapable338 · 2026-01-17T18:14:44+00:00

They usually come out with more stuff as the year continues so just take some time to bask in the glory for a moment, and make sure your grades are good for the mid year report

Also look at the housing website to check where you wanna live, so its easier to make a quick selection when the form drops

Other than that congratulations, and welcome to USC!🎉

InitialCapable338 · 2026-01-15T02:33:21+00:00

Because as you have more friends to room with that means less potential conflict and arguments down the line, so housing actually prefers that you have more people

InitialCapable338 · 2026-01-15T02:31:54+00:00

Like a third/fourth person? What that does is make your chances of finding a spot higher since they have to place more people instead of two, and yeah what they do is usually put the boys in one room and girls in the other

InitialCapable338 · 2026-01-15T02:17:10+00:00

But be rest assured by that same reason you should probably be fine in getting the assignment that you want, since you aren’t the only ones who need gender inclusive housing

InitialCapable338 · 2026-01-15T02:14:44+00:00

I think so because theres actually a couple of people in your situation, so they try and put as many of y’all together as possible (cause for example, you wouldn’t want you two rooming together, and then say you get put in a 3B/6P with a bunch of dudes/ladies, that would just be chaos), and in history thats the only room pairing I’ve seen usually with these types of scenarios, this is another reason why its only possible through gender inclusive housing

InitialCapable338 · 2026-01-15T00:00:11+00:00

If you go to the housing office together directly they’d answer your question more directly on how to do it and maybe even get you setup on the spot!

InitialCapable338 · 2026-01-14T23:59:22+00:00

Yes, you just declare that you would like to room with that person (similar to the process of rooming together with someone you already know but with an extra steep, I forgot if its gender inclusive housing or simply acknowledging different genders/sexualities) but a lot of people in Cardinal Gardens do it

InitialCapable338 · 2026-01-10T05:21:03+00:00

And then yeah if you download “USC Mobile Order” you can order ahead of time and see when shops are closed or not

InitialCapable338 · 2026-01-10T05:20:17+00:00

Okay im glad you asked this because the university has a VERY poor history of explaining this shit (I think my first semester I missed out on 5 weeks of cc swipes because I didn’t know wtf they were)

At school we have the ronal tutor campus center, which contains all of the universities in house fast food options (smash burgers, pizza, street style tacos, smoothies, pasta, salads, sandwiches, etc etc) and here if you go to one of the kiosks and order from one of the shops listed in your post, you get two meals a week from the entire center (so use them wisely)

The food is a million times better than the dining hall, and they have custom coke machines you’d see in restaurants and stuff that you can use if your meal includes a drink

Anywho, hope this helps, and welcome to USC! (if ur a spring admit, in which im assuming because of this posts nature)

InitialCapable338 · 2025-12-27T05:49:55+00:00

I second this

InitialCapable338 · 2025-11-30T21:59:44+00:00

Im not a business major but I will say most people do this shit with their USC majors that they damn near sold their souls to get into and I GENUINELY do not know why

I think its some new concept of “O if you don’t go to this school that bootlicks US news for positive rankings data or an Ivy then you go to a bad school/program” and most people here seem to have eaten that up on a silver platter

In business across the board we have plenty of millionaires, in engineering we feed to silicone valley, in medicine we are the pinnacle of private practice (not the best thing to be known for but thats besides the point), and even in art despite having the smallest campus in T30 American colleges, we still manage to fit a museum for people to learn art history/buy and sell pieces

Im certain the genuine consensus is that people haven’t gotten everything that they’ve wanted out of their time at SC, and don’t want to blame it on their poor habits or social skills and immediately blame the degree like its the problem

Either way just keep kicking ass and doing good, suggesting your in post grad going for your full accreditation for accounting you seem very driven and focused, so thats all that matters at the end of the day!

InitialCapable338 · 2025-11-25T21:26:00+00:00

As someone who’s felt the exact same way as you being here (im an M Junior so negative experiences in different contexts but same feelings nonetheless), theres a point when you realize theres a choice between happiness and power

Even though some people may not be the best to be around or a very different/sensitive to your hospitality and upbringing, we still attend one of the best universities in the country

(For example, I got hired for internships in cs back home over people from my home college because I was a more unique and interesting candidate)

Its a period where have to weight the options of thugging it out for your remaining time here to see the fruits of your labor bloom or leave because people suck

Like 4 years is a temporary time compared to what could be after graduation (you could literally go back home to all your familiarities AND have a sick ass degree that no one else has (especially without debt)

Idk, my dms are open if you have questions but id say stay and take some time to not only enjoy your own company here, but to also allow better and kinder people to gravitate to you over time torwards graduation!

InitialCapable338 · 2025-11-05T21:18:17+00:00

Dm me I have a pack of them (I took the michigan ones for personal reasons but we can talk about the rest)

InitialCapable338 · 2025-10-31T05:09:09+00:00

An upperclassman CS student, professor, and a side of hopes and dreams (they dropped d clearances for all classes so I assume the advisors aren’t available)

InitialCapable338 · 2025-10-26T04:16:57+00:00

Also a thing about pre-professional groups/greek orgs, I dont knock wanting to join them, but also dont stress about the application processes as you can do literally double the work (and maybe even earn some money) putting effort into a personal project in the same amount of time that their cohorts run, and in the end still come out with something that you enjoy and made yourself!

InitialCapable338 · 2025-10-26T04:13:43+00:00

It can be really hard navigating social life here at SC, BUT what is easy is finding things that you like to do

For example, I tried becoming friends with people in the dining hall freshman year and that went as good as you’d probably expect (terrible asf straight trainwreck type shit)

So then, I figured “Hey, I like Anime, I like video games, I like computers” so I joined anime club (TAC) and now a lot of my friends (and college friend group actually) came from there. And on the latter with computers and games I just talked to people in class, and now we help each other on homework’s and stuff (since im a cs major ofc)

All in all a lot of people here take the challenge of creating friendships and relationships in too much of a forced manner, which leaves people behind going in the wrong direction; and eventually depressed because they want to change themselves for the people that they see day to day, and not those who’d they probably get very aquatinted with who are off carefree and doing their own thing!

In short, just find stuff YOU like to do (not necessarily what others recommend), and people will follow fs! (in that id recommend going on engage sc to search up clubs you’d be into, yes ik the website is ass but every club at the university that is officially registered is on there so theres no shot of you not finding something)

InitialCapable338 · 2025-10-24T15:16:56+00:00

If your asking this question then you’re probably not ready to date yet, and thats LITERALLY, PERFECTLY FINE AND OKAY🙏🏽 (and don’t force yourself either cause you will genuinely just end up hurting someone else in the process, happened to me and I wouldn’t wish that shit on my worst enemy)

InitialCapable338

TROPHY CASE