Boo indeed!! It looks exactly the same!
Clemson’s expensive OOS yo!
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From the school’s perspective, there’s plenty of OOS willing to pay the full price to attend (unfortunately).
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They’ve now sent an email to notify of scholarship qualification and updated letter.
We just received an email that my daughter earned an academic scholarship, and we would know by the end of March scholarship information.
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My dtr did too. It would help if we knew the packacge before March.
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It definitely comes late, my daughter applied to about 20 schools and needed merit, we are 12 hours away and we had never even seen the campus. Once she got merit only then did we book flights and a hotel, coming in the last week of April to tour.
With any competitive college, it’s going to depend on the major and factors other than GPA and test scores, including possibly what state a student is applying from. So it’s not going to be straightforward. One thing students are told when they are applying is to convey to the college what kind of student you would be on their campus and what would you give to their community. Some kids can convey that differently than others but that’s an example where scores and GPA are not always the only thing that gets calculated.
Except that’s not really the case at Clemson.
They don’t have a “Why Clemson essay” and according to their CDS the personal narrative is “not considered”, and EC’s are only “considered”. Volunteer work and work experience are “not considered”.
So how Clemson is differentiating between kids with similar stats is very unclear.
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Clemson is a stats school - GPA, class rank, test scores and rigor are what’s considered for initial merit. Essays are important for Honors and other special scholarship programs (such as Lyceum), but not general merit scholarships. Clemson is also not overly generous in the amount of merit it awards compared to other schools. Odds are, when the individual awards are made known in March, many may be disappointed with the amount.
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Edited to add: apologies, I thought we were talking about just getting into the school, not merit…..original comment: This! Daughter got in, from a very competitive high school, and the differentiator seems to be that she wrote a compelling essay under the “optional essay“ portion of the Clemson application.
Hi! My daughter was accepted to the Business (intends to do marketing) school on Thursday 
Clemson has always been in her top two but we don’t really know much about the academics and post grad success. Does the Business School have good connections with cities in the north (NYC/ Chicago)? She loves Clemson but is debating if she should go to Penn State for the alumni connections in the north.
I think at both, she’s going to have to do the legwork to find a job. Smeal is great but guess what, grads everywhere - get out of what they put into it. With the Internet changing things, most hiring is done on line today. Cornell, until this year, had a job board that showed how kids found jobs. Social (linkedin, indeed) was by far and away how most found jobs…far more than handshake (the school’s linkedin) or job fairs or on campus interviews (which are few today). Both my kids - alabama (my kid had 19 interviews in engineering) and charleston (one interview and done) - both found on line.
Here is the Clemson job board - it only has 2023, not 24 or 25 but you can ask the school for their latest. It showed 75% were employed - others go to school or do other. It shows the median was $61,000 but mean $71,000 - so they had some high paid people to bring up that mean. You don’t know if it includes signing bonuses but contact the career center - they’ll have all this.
PSU doesn’t have an interactive chart but report - I posted that too.
Personally, I wouldn’t be concerned with where you want to end up or perceived alumni contacts. A financial advisor I know kid went to PSU for Cyber - they are one of the tops. He’s in inside sales - couldn’t get a job in 15 months. I truly believe it’s the kid and how persistent and proactive they are - not the school. There are no assurances no matter where you go.
Good luck
Outcomes and Data – Center for Career and Professional Development | Clemson University
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I’ve done some basic “common sense math” in my mind, based on my admitted DD’s stats. I’m guessing they’ll kick about $7500 our way in March. Based on your understanding of merit ranges, would this seem to be about what you’re thinking?
My finance major from NJ had many internship offers in NJ and NYC. Today most of the application process is online/virtual. She graduated in May and started her actuary job in July (received the offer summer of junior year). One of her sorority sisters from NJ works in the same office complex at a different company. She loved her time at Clemson (she’s been down there several times since May) but knew she definitely wanted to come to the NYC metro area.
Hi all. For any of you who have firsthand student experience at Auburn, question: We’re NC based (coastal, so think as far east as you can go without swimming) and my DD has been (very gratefully!) accepted to Auburn, Clemson, UGA, and UT. She would be an exploratory studies / undecided major at all; I anticipate she’ll end up in communications field with a business minor. She LOVES Auburn, but is starting to get really antsy about how far it feels from home. She really liked Clemson, but the cost is just enough more to make us all pause (even her). She honestly applied to UGA at the last minute, so doesn’t have strong feelings there. We haven’t yet visited TN, but plan to do so the week between Christmas and New Years (I know it’ll be empty, but that’s when we can do it).
She wants a rigorous but not overly-competitive; great community/culture; an exploratory studies program that will help her consider a few different paths. She is a fantastic student, but also social. Plans to rush. Really just looking for a good solid college experience.
Any insights from this crowd that may help me guide her? I’d particularly love any “Why we love Clemson and it’s worth the extra money” insights.
PS: If you are part of the Auburn or UT threads, you’ll likely see my question there too-
Thank you all!
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I went to Clemson but now live very close to Auburn and have friends with children there. Our own kids are at the campus frequently for camps and sports. I love Auburn. It is a great school with a similar feel. The student body is happy and they work hard to help freshman find their place when they get there. I also like that they have sorority halls rather than houses (this is very similar to Clemson as well). The halls vs houses help make Greek life slightly more affordable. I’ve also gone to multiple football games at Auburn and it’s a great experience. They are very friendly to their opposing fans much like the Clemson fans are. Our son is a senior and told us felt like the vibes were similar. The only reason he didn’t apply to Auburn is that he wanted to be further away from home and we have the connection to Clemson thru multiple generations. If you are even thinking about Auburn put down a housing deposit if you haven’t already. They don’t have enough housing for freshman.
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Having been to all four, but not a student, I will tell you - Knoxville is different - because it’s urban. UGA was the first my daughter removed - she was in Honors but it’s so enormous - many kids take a bus to class (just based on where the dorms are). Really nice school though and it’s amazing how the football stadium is integrated.
I think all four you’ll find similar student quality, etc.
$$ are worth it if they’re worth it to you. Will the education, etc. be different at any? Unlikely. UGA and UTK are well known for communications, especially journalism - and UTK is strong in supply chain, if she ends up in business and has an interest although one can do that anywhere. it’s been a hot field for a long time.
I’d say, whatever is within your means. Budget matters - it’s a huge part of fit. If you have one, stick to it. Eliminate any above.
Auburn is flat out - very nice and a clean, nice town. Downtown Knoxville is vastly different.
Clemson will have the best and nicest football fans. I was with the opposing team and we got invited into a few tail gates. It’s most isolated of the four.
UGA is heavily in state - and many do go home on weekends as Atlanta is a big draw. I work with several whose kids go and seem to regularly go home - not sure why other than it’s an hour away. But it’s obviously a great school…..just very big.
Good luck - I hope the UTK visit is telling one way or the other- as it’s very different than the other 3. If she likes being in the city (albeit not a huge one), it could work. It doesn’t sound like she applied to So Carolina (or Kentucky) but it’d be amore akin to them…welll more U of SC.
Incredibly helpful, thank you! When we visited Clemson and Auburn, both campuses felt very friendly and welcoming. We did put down our Auburn Housing Deposit (she applied EA1), so I feel good about that!
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Ah, this is really helpful. She’s consistently said she wants a college town campus, with UT being her only outlier. I think it’ll be telling to see how she views that town. Thank you!
Sounds to me more like UGA then and secondarily Auburn. I’d put Clemson below in that description.
It sounds like the pull is - I love Auburn…but it’s too far
Well if you come home at Tgiving and Xmas….if you don’t get homesick…distance doesn’t matter
Sounds like she wants big ACC/SEC type, but if distance from the East of NC is an issue, has she looked at App State and James Madison, both college towns and closer to Wilmington or other parts North/East in Carolina vs. Auburn.