If you haven’t heard about regular admissions status by now, call admissions on Monday. I believe everyone should have heard (although Im not 100% certain).
One thing that is extremely annoying is how Clemson is the only school I’ve ever visited that I was absolutely in love with. But it is aIso the most expensive school I applied to and I have no clue what to do now. I got into the TTSB program out of state so it’ll be $11k and $50k a year after that. I would feel awful to try to get my parents to try to pay all of that. But I really don’t want to go anywhere else… what do I do? I really wish Clemson would help their students more financially, this is a little ridiculous
@amxn15 Clemson University is a public institution. Why is it ridiculous? You are an out of state student. Many other public institutions offer no money at all.to out of state students, or much to instate students for that matter. I understand the disappointment that you love the school and it may be financially not feasible for you to go there. I don’t understand the entitlement or the criticism of the gift they gave you being inadequate.
@amxn15 WRT the TTSB program, I would suggest you call admissions and ask them whether you have other options. For example, maybe they would allow you to take some transferable gen ed classes at another school, more local to you. Or, would they let you do a spring start, after either a gap semester or, again, some gen ed classes locally.
Also, look at all the fees and see if there are any you can opt out of. For example, health ins. Will your parents’ health insurance cover you while at Clemson? (Just be careful that there are also providers in the area.) But not just health ins, look at every fee.
@amxn15 - My son has the same choices you do. We are out-of-state, he has been accepted into the TTSB program, and also has a scholarship offer for $17,000 from University of South Carolina. Almost identical to what you have. When he got the TTSB letter, he was extremely disappointed. He thought he had earned the chance to start in the fall and not to have the additional time and cost of Summer II session. So what did he do? He called admissions, housing, and financial aid to have conversations about the program. The admissions counselor told him that his gpa was the main factor in getting offered TTSB. His test scores were strong, but his gpa was lower than the level of those admitted to the pre-business fall semester. They made him feel good about the acceptance, said they strongly believed he had what it took to be successful, and walked him through the support he would have available as part of TTSB. He brought up the cost and was told very nicely that every person must evaluate the cost and make the decision that is best for their particular situation. TTSB is not about showing you can succeed in college. It is all about the fact that they continue to receive more “quality” applications every year and looked for a solution that allowed them to admit these students and to gauge their seriousness around going to Clemson.
He made the same type of calls to Financial Aid and Housing who both treated him with respect and excitement. The woman from housing is unbelievable. She must have congratulated him on all of his work about 5 times. Told him to make sure he stops by and sees her during orientation and that she is looking out for his housing application. Financial aid was also very upfront and explained everything to us. However, it comes down to can you afford the school given no merit aid. They will tell you they understand your situation and the cost, but they do not set the budget.
It’s a very tough decision, but you do have options. You have USC with a scholarship waiting for you. That is so much better than many others. Make a decision, don’t look back, and put all your energy into wherever you end up going.
@Britmom5 I’m so surprised you haven’t heard back from them. If I remember correctly, your son also applied for the Audio Technology program. My son heard mid February, not too long after his interview. When did your son interview with them? I clearly no nothing, but I’d take this as a good sign. DS was waitlisted and might not hear back until June.
@RMSqueencat I’m very hesitant to contact admissions, because I don’t want to be THAT parent. I’ve asked S19 #2 to contact them, but he’s not in a rush. I’ve also suggested he have his GC call, especially as he “forgot”(it’s our instate school - and he didnt want to go there as they dont have audio production - just performance) to schedule an audition at another school - and we havent heard anything from them, either. How’s the rest of the March Madness going for you?
There are so many great schools that give generous scholarships to qualified applicants. Some of them have rolling admissions too, so it’s not too late for Fall 2019. Smart thing to do would be to expand your search and look outside of SC. Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Iowa all have excellent state universities that would provide comparable quality education at a much lower cost than Clemson for an OOS student with good stats. $30K-35K/year or even less.
@genesmasher Clemson also provides scholarships for students with good stats , most likely similar to the schools.that you mention. Also, just because a school has rolling admissions, does not mean that they don’t have earlier deadlines for merit.
@carolinamom2boys Eh, nowhere near comparable stats to get merit 
You really need to be in 10% of your class to get anything from Clemson, and the OOS cost is very high to begin with, as @amxn15 mentioned. What if you are not 10%? Not gonna happen. My son got $7-9K yearly merit scholarships from ISU, CSU, OU and Mizzou with GPA 3.6, SAT 1330 and ~50% HS rank (his school doesn’t rank) - all engineering programs. These schools may not be as highly ranked as Clemson, but still in 10-15% of all engineering schools in the US - so I am sure quality is there. The value one places on location and campus feel is very subjective, of course. I fully understand if someone is stuck on Clemson because they just “feel it” there, as long as it’s not the only school they actually visited.
@carolinamom2boys It is a little ridiculous because it is difficult for most students to have $11,000 extra to start in the summer before the fall in addition to $50,000 a year. If I had gotten in strictly for the fall it would much easier and straightforward to figure out loans and convince my parents to let me go. It is a very expensive school obviously and the $11,000 just adds even more to it.
@Zline Will you let your kid go to Clemson even with the cost of that program OOS? Will he have to pay for any of it? Or will he go to USC?
@amxn15 it is not ridiculous. The time to investigate costs to attend a school is PRIOR to applying. The time to determine if your stats are eligible for merit is before you apply when the info is easily found on the website. It sounds like Clemson is too expensive .
@genesmasher since your son received merit at the schools that you mentioned, I guess you’re aware that the deadlines for merit have passed.
@amxn15 - It is totally up to him. He understood the cost of the program before applying. I have shared with him how much money I can pay and that he will have to cover the difference. He has talked to current students at both schools who graduated from the same high school he is currently attending. He is gathering all the information and I will be there to help answer questions, give advice (if asked), and be a good listener when he talks about the pros and cons of each school. Ultimately, he is the one that will have to move from the North East, attend the school, and deal with any debt. I definitely have a favorite between the 2 schools but I will be proud of him whether he wears the Orange of Clemson or the Garnet of USC.
@carolinamom2boys Not at all of them. Some schools have automatic renewable merit awards on a rolling basis until May 1. In fact, some even encourage applicants to re-take SAT to maximize their chances of getting the highest merit offer, AFTER they already received their acceptance.
https://admissions.missouri.edu/scholarships/
This was on Mizzous website.
https://admissions.missouri.edu/dates-deadlines/
@carolinamom2boys I really don’t appreciate your attitude at all, but that is fine. Obviously I knew Clemson is an expensive school, I’ve known about the price since I was in middle school dreaming of going there. My parents always told me how expensive it was and how they didn’t love the school so I kind of decided to stop trying to go there. However, now that I’ve gotten in, I think it has become a hurdle to get $11,000 and spend your last summer of high school at the school you will be attending. Obviously, it isn’t a problem for me to spend my summer at Clemson, it is just not easy to pay for. I definitely think the school should have more options for kids to complete classes locally or at a lower price especially those who are out of state because it isn’t easy for people to spend the entire summer at Clemson. Not only that, they should have an indication on the application whether or not you’re interested in being considered for the summer program. Personally, I’d never heard of such a thing before. If I applied for Fall 2019, I want to be considered for that term unless I say otherwise.
@Zline What is he planning on doing? If he is doing anything pre-professional such as medicine or vet, I would highly encourage him to go somewhere cheaper than Clemson. That is the thing I’m trying to figure out, if I want to something such as Computer Science or even Financial Management, I think it is more worth it since I would probably just seek to get an MBA after.
@amxn15 unfortunately, the school gets to determine who they admit and to what program. You certainly don’t have to accept their offer. I’m sure there would be someone happy to be given the opportunity. Good luck to you wherever you end up.