@Britmom5 I understand not wanting to contact admissions yourself, and I agree with you. It does seems odd that he hasn’t heard by now, and maybe the GC can help. My son’s interview at IU was last weekend. He says it went well, but he never gives much detail. We should hear by next weekend. More waiting….
I reached out to admissions via their website about a week ago and haven’t heard back yet, hope they weren’t upset that my son didn’t reach out but mom did instead! Hopefully soon!
@carolinamom2boys lol not really sure how I am “entitled” when I’m trying to find a way to pay $211,000 for my undergraduate degree at a state school. You need to be a little more understanding when all I’m saying is how there should be some alternative because most people can’t spend their entire summer at Clemson because it is extra tuition money. It is a difficult decision and you need to realize that not everyone has $11,000 sitting out of the budget that is completely uncalled for.
@carolinamom2boys Shhh don’t tell anyone, but many schools will consider your application (including merit) even if it is submitted after the published deadline. We have applied to U Delaware, Mizzou, U Oklahoma in February. Got accepted to all of them, with merit, within two-three weeks of applying. Obviously, highly competitive schools are more strict with the deadlines, I am guessing. I agree, cost analysis has to be done in advance, and it is important to have a good number of schools on the list, that are likely to offer merit aid. It is pointless to apply anywhere if you know you are not going to be able to afford it.
I understand your defensiveness with Clemson, since it is in your state. The truth of the matter is, Clemson is a very expensive school for most OOS students, even with merit assistance. And while it has an excellent reputation, it is not an Ivy, and one could easily argue that there are far better value schools around. Of course for an in-state student it is a completely different proposition, which probably explains why 70% of the student body is from SC.
My son got accepted to Clemson too. Haven’t made the final call yet - right now it is down to Clemson and Colorado State, with Oklahoma distant third. We eliminated Mizzou, Iowa State, UDel and CUBoulder, primarily because they don’t offer the exact major he is interested in (Construction Management). We have a trip planned during spring break to tour both Clemson (second time) and CSU (first). OOS Cost? Clemson: ~$52K/year (no merit); CSU: ~$36K/year (after $9K/year scholarship) 
PS. In my personal opinion, every single school I mentioned has a beautiful campus and excellent reputation. So it just comes down to money and personal preference (“feel”). Most of them are also situated in or near a good size city (unlike Clemson, which is pretty isolated).
@amxn15 I’m sure that you don’t . Yes , because an out of state school should make accommodations . I disagree that I need to be more understanding . I believe that you need to be more realistic of what schools need to do. Have a great night.
@genesmasher I’m not defensive about Clemson at all. My sons chose another school over Clemson. I never said that Clemson is not an expensive school. It is frustrating that merit has become expected and that the school is expected to make accommodations to satisfy people who are unhappy with what they are offered.I consider scholarships a gift, but not everyone does. I also never said that Clemson was any better than any of the schools you mentioned.
@carolinamom2boys Got ya. In reality, higher education is a business, and one of the priorities at any school is to stay profitable. If Clemson chooses to limit the amount of merit aid available or offer conditional summer programs to incoming freshmen at additional cost - it is their business. If the yield goes down as a result of this tactic, I am sure they will learn and make adjustments in the next cycle.
@genesmasher time will tell.
@genesmasher said (a couple pages back)…
This may be their official position, but I suspect this is all about their rankings. Other schools are doing this too, or offering spring starts or bridge programs (where the student starts at a regional campus and transfers in). I suspect the USNWR rankings only look at the stats of incoming freshmen for fall. So they stack the fall admits with all the best stat students, so it raises their averages, medians, or whatever the metric is. The students with somewhat lower stats that they still want to admit, are offered these alternative options that keep their stats out of the fall metric. I’m no expert, it’s just my theory.
As long as it doesn’t affect the yield of the fall admits, I don’t think they care.
@axmn15 I’m not sure what kind of help are you seeking? Clemson told the the terms of your acceptance. You don’t like those terms and complained on this board. Personally attacking another poster who is quite knowledgeable on the Clemson process doesn’t help anyone.
@axmn15 It sounds like you are really struggling with a big life lesson and I understand this is difficult for you. My son was rejected from Clemson - a “dream” school of his for a very long time - and would have welcomed a summer start (we are fans of it as PSU has a similar program my daughter attended, however, ONLY if affordable to the student). DS has accepted the rejection, moved on and now is super excited about his final choice - we could not be happier for him. The extra summer cost, plus no/limited summer income, plus no merit (which I believe you have from USC), plus OOS, plus the general higher cost that you have mentioned from the beginning, sounds like this is not your best option (and something you have discussed with your family before applying) and may be time to move on to embrace what you do have. This is not unfair, Universities get to make the offer and student get to accept or decline that offer. Some schools may offer Spring/Summer Start, some may not offer enough or no $, some may not offer first choice major, some may offer a rejection… these are the cards dealt. Possible plan an accepted students day at another University where it’s a better financial fit and go in with an open mind. I understand it’s hard to see now, but there is not just one school a student will be happy or successful at as long as you are willing to grow where you’re planted. You honestly have great options and should be proud of that!
@genesmasher I agree.Something is going on. I have also never heard of the summer acceptance path beforeand your hypothesis may be correct. Also, in response to your OOS non-ranking schools,OOS students from non-ranking high schools are supposed to be considered for scholarships but seem to be held to a higher standard. I don’t think Clemson understands that the reason schools do not rank is because they are usually very competitive and they do not want a lower rank to have a negative reflection on high achieving students. My son is going to both Ohio State and Clemson admitted student tours before he decides. He visited Clemson over the summer fell in love and is his #1 but am hoping he likes Ohio State. This OOS merit scholarship scam has left a really bad taste in my mouth.
@goinnuts no scam. And FYI, there are schools in SC that don’t rank, are very competitive and those students don’t receive the scholarship either. Clemson has chosen rank as a factor in determining eligibility for scholarships. They are not the only school that does this. When they are distributing funds, they get to decide how they do it.
I have to agree with carolinamom2boys on this one. Clemson gets to decide how they distribute their scholarships. They are very upfront about what they look at. Neither of my boys would receive money from Clemson due to the class rank issue. Their gpa’s and their test scores will get them merit money at other schools. That is life. The oldest chose a different school. They gave him a great offer, which was added to his Palmetto Fellows. I suspect the youngest will choose a different school as well.
Are you all sure that ranking has anything to do with OOS? My daughter was accepted. She received the Tiger Bound package on January 17th. Then, in February was given an OOS for $7,500, and her school does not rank.
Do we know for a fact that there is no merit money going to any students who’ HS doesn’t rank?
I thought Clemson’s stated position is that they will consider high test scorers even if there is not an official class rank and that they have a way of evaluating those students based on previous students, the school profile sent by GC etc.
If the hack works and you were on the waitlist does that mean you got in? its now saying enter activation code
I am not 100% sure, but I suspect that Clemson assigns their own rank to applicants that come from high schools that (officially) don’t rank. I know that’s what they do at Texas A&M for example, and probably many other schools. They use the data provided to them by the school (GPA distribution, etc.). The problem with this approach is that despite what anyone says, it is IMPOSSIBLE to objectively compare ranking between different high schools. Many outstanding applicants from a highly competitive non-ranking HS end up being ranked lower than “top 10% applicants” from a crappy (but ranking) HS. The latter will get merit, while the former will not (or may not even be accepted).
Anyway, like many here said, it’s up to Clemson to set the rules. If it works for them and the yield stays high, why would they even care to listen to any complaints. That’s is why it is important for kids like @amxn15 (and their parents) to do proper research when deciding where to apply, and hedge their bets. It is really not that hard to end up with several wonderful and affordable options, instead of getting fixated on one school.
Even if a school doesn’t assign a class rank to a student’s transcript, I believe most admissions offices can discern/approximate a student’s general rank by referencing the GPA distribution in the school profile for the high school they attended.
projectmgr How do they get that GPA distribution profile? It was not submitted for sure at my daughter’s school.