<p>The University of South Carolina also doles out large amounts of merit money which also reduces tuition to in state levels in many cases. Between her merit scholarship, in state tuition remission and a departmentally awarded Coca Cola scholarship, my D’s OOS tuition freshman year was about $3K for the whole year! With their Honors program, Capstone Scholars program and very generous merit awards they are really working hard to attract top in-state and OOS students and it is paying off.</p>
<p>Here’s a link that explains a lot about their merit awards.</p>
<p>I agree…a “free ride” includes tuition, room, board, and books. “Free Tuition” is different, and a bit easier to get with a 1400 M+CR SAT.</p>
<p>Yes, Auburn is another option; it’s a very nice school. The rankings don’t mean much because the year before Bama was at #83 and Auburn was at #96. They seem to trade back and forth each year…so meaningless. I imagine that for the next ranking announcement, the placements will change again.</p>
<p>Mom2collegekids - Do you have any names to add to this? He does have a 2100 total SAT score.</p>
<p>An update on Auburn: The Board of Trustees announced today that in an effort to make semester tuition more affordable and help students graduate in four years, full-time students can register for any number of hours over 12 hours without paying anymore. In other words, pay for 12 take 18, if you want to. They have also reduced summer tuition costs.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids: I have heard wonderful things about UA and I wanted my daughter to look at the school in addition to Auburn, but once she fell in love with Auburn she felt it would be “disloyal” to even consider UA. I do have a student planning on attending UA and he is very excited (both parents are UA grads).</p>
<p>^^Interesting, at NC state schools,full-time students have always been able to take as many credit hours above twelve that they desire with no extra cost.Both my kids have always taken anywhere fr. 15-20 hours/sem. for one flat rate. I had no idea other states charged more if above twelve hours.</p>
<p>My son’s SAT breakdown is CR 680, Math 760, W670. He is going to take a sample ACT score to see if he can get a higher score on that test.</p>
<p>When people say Missouri do they mean Univ. of Missouri or Missouri State in Springfield? Missouri State looks good - a rec. dept and a general business major, which is what he wants as opposed to accounting, finance, etc. Looks like a possibility of good scholarships.</p>
<p>He can afford room and board if he gets free tuition, but of course, a free ride would be great. He’s a flexible kid and gets along well in different situations so he could fit in in many environments.</p>
<p>I guess I perceive LSU as an extension of Bourbon Street. I know they are not in the same city. Is that an inaccurate perception? </p>
<p>So far, U. of Alabama, U. of Arkansas, Texas State, Missouri State look good. I am looking into the others. I am concerned that Auburn 's required core courses would be a problem. He has taken a lot of community college courses and plans to take AP/Clep tests to cover a lot of those credits. I guess I need to look into what will transfer to all of these schools. However, or the right price, he would be willing to take some of them over.</p>
<p>Lovestheheat,
It is great to hear your son is considering Arkansas during his college search. I do not mean to intrude into your thread, but it was brought to my attention you might be looking for scholarship information at the UofA and I’d be happy to help with that as well as provide some insight into the process. Feel free to message me, or if you prefer, I can respond in the thread, but I did not want to sidetrack your discussion.
Thanks,
Matt</p>
<p>LSU is not even close to Bourbon Street. However, they do have a predominantly Catholic student body. If you prefer a more Protestant group Alabama may be a better match.</p>
<p>LSU is in Baton Rouge, about an hour’s drive from New Orleans. It does seem to have a reputation as a party school, but I am not sure if that reputation is more or less deserved compared to other large state or SEC schools. LSU does have a good business school and students can elect general business as a major. </p>
<p>I’ve not seen any statistics on the religious affiliation of the student body, but the school’s culture is not predominantly Catholic in the same sense as Notre Dame, BC, etc.</p>
<p>It never occurred to me either. Imagine my surprise when my D’s bill arrived, and I discovered that the advertised tuition had been based specifically on 14 hours! Her real tuition was quite a bit higher (not to mention some classes had higher hourly rate)! She had a merit award that basically covered it all, but still! Talk about not reading the fine print!</p>
<p>I live in Florida and from what I have seen with public Florida schools is that students are charged by the credit hour - take 12, pay for 12; take 13, pay for 13. I was actually confused when I first learned that other schools had set charges for 12-15 hours or 12-16 hours.</p>
<p>My college has flat rate tuition for between 12 and 21 credits per semester. In addition, you can take more, at no additional charge, with advisor permission. The most I’ve taken during a semester has been 23 (I know someone who took, I think, 25); the least I’ve taken has been 16 during my last semester, as I’ve completed all my course work and am just doing thesis/research/practicum. All other semesters, I’ve taken between 19 and 21. I definitely couldn’t have afforded to double major and minor without flat rate tuition!</p>
<p>Just to straighten out a misunderstanding - I don’t care how many Catholics or Protestants the campus has. I’m not sure how that got inserted into the picture. Thanks for trying to help.</p>
<p>I’m going to have to disagree that one has to be a NMF or that one has to have spectacular stats to get a full ride at a state university.</p>
<p>The presidential scholarships awarded last year at our state flagship university were not all NMF, nor even commended, although some were and I assume all had strong test scores. My son was offered a full ride, and he sounds a lot like the OP’s son. He followed his passion in high school, but did not have a lot of awards or leadership. Of those awarded presidential scholarships about 1/4 were from out of state. I think the essays were a huge determining factor.</p>
<p>My S ended up with a fullride at our big state u. by way of a NROTC scholarship combined with two merit scholarships from the university. He graduated last May and is now an Officer in the Navy. I know it’s not for everyone but just thought I’d throw it out there. For some it could make a difference in going to to college or not.</p>
<p>I would look at UMiami. Our DS applied there as his safety (OOS) and he received 90K in merit. </p>
<p>Our DS also is AFROTC scholarship, like PackMom stated it is not for everyone to join the military. Also understand that ROTC scholarships are not FA based, it is totally MERIT, and with each yr because of the economy more and more students are applying for them.</p>
<p>University of Notre Dame also guarantees 100% FA, but this is a mixture of loans, scholarships, grants and work study.</p>