Clemson Class of 2028 Official Thread

We got the same thing. I wonder if they lowered the OOS merit because I thought that in previous years it was $12500.00. It seems like the amount keep getting lower each year. I think the $8k is for each year, but not sure.

We are OOS. D got a notice she got $6,500. I knew it would be small but as she said, ā€œthis seems like a slap in the faceā€. It’s fine though, she has pretty much made her decision - we just have 1 more visit to go. Best of luck to all in this crazy year (thanks FAFSA)!

It seems to get a little lower every year. On a Clemson Facebook forum, I saw one parent say their kid got 11,000. So maybe that’s close to the max this year :woman_shrugging:t2:

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I’m not entirely sure and the goal posts seem to move a little each year. Top 5% is a wonderful achievement that would typically qualify for merit in the past, I think. :woman_shrugging:t2: good luck to your kiddo!!

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My son also got 11K (we are out of state).

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11k here, also OOS.

Is that per year? My best friend’s also got 11k but wasn’t sure if it is per year or for all 4 years.

Our child has the $11,000 amount listed in the applicant portal. Unfortunately, this is not enough aid to make this an affordable option for us. Many other state schools just give much better merit totals. Too bad because I thought Clemson was a good fit. Congrats to everyone that received merit- hope it’s doable for your kiddo! :purple_heart:

I know right ? Hard to sit with as we received about $60 k from South Carolina, Delaware etc
Good luck to you

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Wow- $11k really is the largest amount. I think 4 years ago, they used to give $20k and then the largest was $12.5k. now $11k - but of course the cost keeps going up.

The award amounts are per year; general rule has been >3.8-3.85 uwgpa, top 10%, ~>13850-1380 SAT or >30 ACT minimums in previous years to receive OOS merit. Those minimum stat thresholds seem to have gone up slightly each year. Test optional applicants have received a lower amount over the last few years. Some award amounts will be unusually high; a small number of OOS families receive a grant on top of the merit award amount. Some award amounts will include smaller university or departmental awards of $500 -$1,000. Clemson’s overall budget is determined by the State of SC, that includes the merit scholarship line item; UofSC has a much larger scholarship budget, but there’s an effort to boost their applications/rankings. Clemson had larger awards through 2019; it dropped off for the HS class of 2020. It looks like the amounts went up slightly this year (red).

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Thank you . We are OOS ,top 5% of class, 4.3 weighted GPA, loads of EC , leadership etc and didn’t get one dollar . We did go test optional but this is hard… ugh … very hard to figure out the why .

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This looks pretty spot on. Great resource for families next year to have a general idea. Thanks for posting!

My daughter started in 2021, $10,000, $12,500 was the top. She received a lot more from other colleges (applied to 20 safeties), but fell in love with Clemson. She had received additional scholarships due to grades (rising senior, 4.0).

I think Clemson likes a test score for merit.

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Based on this, he should have got something but didn’t. :slightly_frowning_face:

We (OOS) ended up with nothing, but according to this we should have. U of SC is looking pretty good with in state tuition about now… It’s definitely been a crazy admissions year. We are visiting both Clemson and U of SC later this week, but you really can’t beat the scholarships at U of SC

These are NOT official levels from Clemson; it’s just a compilation of info myself and other parents have gathered from results over the years. We just like track trends; merit is not guaranteed, and we don’t know why some receive merit and others do not. I will say uwgpa (based on 4.0) has seemed to be a big factor over the years, regardless of wgpa and number of AP classes.

While I love Clemson, it’s not one of the lower cost schools; we personally were ok with the cost after OOS merit for the first year knowing we were relocating to SC, and DD received in-state rates after the first year. DD was able to keep her smaller scholarships after the first year even when the OOS awards dropped off. Would I pay $50k/ year, nope, but I wouldn’t pay that for any undergrad degree; I don’t care what it is. I know for many from high COL states, Clemson with small merit is still cheaper than their in-state options; many chose to come here because of fit. I wish you all good luck on your choices!

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3.7 OOS test optional and got 6.5k/y. Biz major

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Congrats ! We are super bummed with nothing . Makes zero sense