My S didn’t get into the Honors College, but he has known since November that he had a scholarship equal to in-state tuition. Today he received the “Academic Scholar - Superlative Award” giving him an additional $500/year scholarship. But the letter said nothing about the Capstone Scholars program. His SAT (1430) is much higher than the mid-range listed on the SC website for Capstone Scholars admitted in 2016 (the only year for which they provide information), but I know this year saw a dramatic increase in applications. Has anyone received an invitation into the Capstone program for next fall? I’m worried that since today’s letter didn’t mention it at all, he may not be invited to participate.
Someone mentioned somewhere else that they come in the mail, not via email or in the portal.
Thank you! The waiting continues… Good luck to everyone!
The past two years Capstone has come in the mail.
Yes, it comes separately. We are waiting here, too!
I saw your comments and checked my son’s materials. Last year his Capstone invite letter was dated March 4th.
Best of luck!
Capstone emails just came out.
My daughter received her Capstone email today. She’s going to participate in Capstone but doesn’t want to live in a Capstone dorm, so we shall see where she ends up living.
Thanks for the head’s up. I just had my son check his email, and the Capstone invitation was there! That sealed the deal for him. He’s officially a Gamecock! So happy. My oldest son graduated from the SC Honors College in 2013. He had a wonderful experience at Carolina, and I hope everyone in the class of 2022 will too.
Congrats CTMom24…I was pulling for you and I’m happy to hear that it all worked out!
I received as well. Did not apply for honors college, so this is a bonus.
My D just got hers–she will now send in her deposit and make things “official” as well! She was bummed that it was an email vs. something in the regular mail to open but thrilled nonetheless.
My son just got the Capstone Scholars invite as well! The also increased his scholarship the other day so they are making it competitive!
I didn’t get an email but I checked the portal and it was there
My daughter received this email invitation, too. She chose not to apply to Honors college. We really know nothing about it. We live in CT. Can anyone provide a summary of this program and pros and cons? Thanks.
Benefits are - community of high achieving students, leadership training opportunities, service opportunities (and requirement), growth focused (personal challenge requirement), travel abroad and funding opportunities, Capstone advisors (again required each semester for 2 years), social opportunities, hot cookie Fridays etc. Only con that comes to mind is that there is no preference in registration for classes (SCHC students enjoy that perk) and there is a requirement to maintain a 3.0 GPA to stay in the program - which should not be too difficult for these students (that GPA is required to maintain most merit scholarships, anyway).
The theme here is lots of opportunities and a handful of modest requirements. My son is a freshman this year in the Capstone program and he enjoys it.
For more info: http://www.sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/capstone_scholars/index.php
Best of luck
My son is a freshman in Capstone. To add to what Mac001 said, one of the primary benefits that I see as a parent is that it is one way that USC makes a large university a bit smaller. There are Capstone advisors, so your student has another set of eyes on their plans, and another place for questions. It is not hard to meet the requirements to stay in Capstone. The dorm is pretty social. It is also pretty run down, but the cost is more reasonable than other dorms. THere is a dining hall attached to the dorm (Gibbs) which is really convenient. There is a program fee per semester ($150?) which I’m not really sure is worth it for the minimal program benefits, but he is happy in the program.
My daughter was accepted also. My only concern is that I’ve read multiple comments about how run down the Capstone and Columbia Hall dorms are. Parents were mentioning mold and their children having problems being sick all the time. I haven’t toured them so please let me know if you have any feedback. Thanks.
Regarding the dorms… they are tired and could use upgrading. But I haven’t heard of any mold problems and both my son and his room mate have asthma and have had no problems with the environment. I think I heard that the dorm rooms are painted every 2 years and they were not painted last year, so you may be in luck. Personally, I would not want to live in the dorms, but I’m not 19 years old and the kids seem to roll with it. I’ll say that the dorms are not as bad as some we saw at other schools that were under consideration. I would consider them to be about average. On the plus side, as someone mentioned the Gibbs dining hall is located on the first floor which is very convenient and I hear that the food is pretty good.
Students can participate in the Capstone program and request a different LLC, as well.
My son lived in Capstone last year. It is old and definitely not nice but the view was really cool from his 10th floor room. And he loved living there! It’s an easy walk to restaurants in five points.