How hard is it to get a full ride, or at least full tuition scholarship?

hawaiiboy15 · 10-20-2008, 07:28 PM

I was wondering if they had set cornerstones like 'Bama, 3.5 GPA and 1400/1600 SAT or 32 ACT nets you full tuition.

I've heard SC gave a lot of merit money, but I was wondering how hard it was to get some of that money.

Thanks

DON HO · 10-21-2008, 09:41 AM

Hawaiiboy, I assume you do not currently live in SC? As far as I know, full tuition (merit) scholarships at SC are not automatically awarded based on stats. That being said, you would definitely be in the running for either the McKissick and Coopers scholarships == which are $2,000 and $4,000 respectively. The other BIG bonus with these scholarships is that they carry with them in-state tuition which is HUGE. I don't think these require additional paperwork other than the application. However, to be considered for McNair (which is full tuition, plus) you must apply for the SC Honors College (and that application is extensive and very time consuming). Best to check with SC admissions and/or Office of Financial Aide since policies and award criteria can change from year to year.

hawaiiboy15 · 10-21-2008, 03:06 PM

Thanks, yeah, I'm OOS, so at least having in-state tuition would be nice.

MikeWozowski · 10-22-2008, 07:26 AM

i think on the website it says "reduced tuition." can anyone say for sure what reduced tuition is?

i have read here that it is in state tuition, but i have also read that it is not.

PA Mom · 10-22-2008, 10:23 AM

Mike- It depends on the particular scholarship. Some receive reduced tuition to in-state, some are reduced, but a little higher than in-state. The exact amounts can be found on the tuition schedule on the website. All are a great bargain for OOS.
I do think that they will be harder and harder to receive as the average scores of the incoming classes continue to rise.

cathymee · 10-22-2008, 11:49 AM

hi Hawaiiboy
My S is a recipient of the McNair, the highest level of merit scholarship for out of state students at USC. It qualifies you for reduced to in state rates of tuition.They award 40 annually, after an interview weekend.It is highly competitive, and not only numbers driven.
You MUST submit the Honors College application for this scholarship and the deadline is Nov 15. Its a duanting app, but financially, well worth your time.
There are other scholarship which you would be considered for without doing the Honors app,like a McKissick or Coopers.
One of the nice features at USC is that they allow the "stacking" of scholarships up to the cost of education (which is the number higher that tution alone, it includes room/board,books,transportation,etc).
S is lucky enough to have this benefit, as he was a National Merit Finalist and USC awards an automatic scholarship for this (the Lieber) which is awarded along with his other one.
I took a fast look at the admissions page for Honors (sc.edu/admissions/honors) to see what the 2007 stats for the entering class looked like.The 2008 stats werent there yet. They had an entering Honors College class of 288.The average HS GPA was 4.49 (weighted I guess) avg SAT was 1350-1440 and avg ACT was 30-32.
I encourage you to fill out that Honors App.They state that 100% of incoming Honors College Freshman received at least 1 academic scholarship.
S's experience there has been stellar.
Let me know if you want more info on the McNair process!

ColdWind · 10-22-2008, 01:08 PM

Regarding the Univ. of Alabama scholarship stats listed in Post #1 of this thread, the published GPA requirement is 3.7, not 3.5. However, it is not clear as to whether this includes weighted GPAs.

hawaiiboy15 · 10-22-2008, 03:21 PM

Out-of-State Scholarships for 2009-2010 - Types of Scholarships - Undergraduate Scholarships - The University of Alabama

Coldwind, IDK, but it says 3.5 here.

Maybe it's 3.5 UW and 3.7 W, however the decide to weight it.
Maybe OOS is the the difference?

JustAMomOf4 · 10-23-2008, 02:06 PM

Quote:

i think on the website it says "reduced tuition." can anyone say for sure what reduced tuition is?

i have read here that it is in state tuition, but i have also read that it is not.

not necessarily. My daughter got the Woodrow scholarship with "reduced tuition" - hers basically was 1/2 OOS tuition.

For scholarships you have to calculate your GPA the same way that admissions calculates it. They only count core classes and bump you for honors and AP. The instructions are on the website, somewhere.

WoodPost · 10-27-2008, 01:10 PM

Just to throw it in there, I also got the woodrow last year. I don't know how USC does the gpa, but my high school had me just under a 3, and my SAT were 1450, so I believe there is some play in the minimums for the awards.

eadad · 11-13-2008, 03:38 PM

This offers an overview of all Academic Merit Scholarships offered at USC and also gives a general idea of what the average test scores/GPAs were for the winners.

Academic Scholarships