I have done research and found that for the Clemson OOS scholarship you have to be top 10% of your highschool with certain SAT/ACT scores. I met the SAT requirement with a 1290, however I am not top 10% but top 15%. I go to a very competitive highschool and I have a 4.87 w and 3.89 uw gpa. What kind of scholarship could I be eligible for now?
I would contact the financial aid office and ask someone directly . I do know that they consider rank heavily in the award of scholarships.
@amelie29
How much merit do you need? What do you need your net cost to be?
We found that Clemson has HIGH OOS costs, and even with much stronger stats, the awards weren’t that great.
What is your SAT score? If it’s not a LOT higher than 1290, I wouldn’t expect much even if your rank is much higher.
Clemson was on my D’s application list this year and was a top choice. However, for high school she chose to attend a rigorous city-wide advanced academic program and was in the top 15% but not the top 10%. Anecdotally, because she knows lots of students from her zoned high school, she is aware that she would have ranked in the top 10 students if she had transferred back to her zoned school.
Her test scores made her eligible for the largest guaranteed OOS award which was $15K/yr. But because she was not in the top 10%, she was awarded $7500/yr. The 15K award would have put costs within our agreed parameters and she would likely have committed to attend there. She will not be attending Clemson.
They’re pretty serious about that top 10%!
Clemson’s OOS tuition is about $32k per year…so COA is going to be $50k very soon…certainly within a couple of years.
that is high for an OOS student.
A 'set amount" merit award quickly diminishes in value as costs go up EACH year.
Right now, we’re looking at rates for either 2015 or 16. We’re no looking at rates for 2017 on when you’d be attending.
When we visited Clemson, we really liked it. Our kids had top stats, but the merit was only knocking about half off the tuition. My order son then visited Bama, which had a very similar feel/look, and liked it just as well. He got a HUGE award from Bama. And later, younger son got a large award as well.
Unless money is not object, I can’t see attending Clemson as an OOS student.
That said, it appears that this student has test scores around 1300, so even with if top 10%, she wouldn’t get much at all. Remaining costs would be high.
My homeschooler got $10K (or was it $12K?) from Clemson, so not the highest award, but still generous. Even with that, Clemson was still way too expensive from OOS. Even with the top award ($15K?) it would have been too much to justify.
Look at the top awards they give and see if it’s within reach. If it’s not, then the whole thing is a moot point. If it is, then no harm in trying. Just don’t fall in love until you run all the numbers and see what else comes in.
I should have had my son do that before we applied there. We just happened to love Clemson’s location, and my sister knows some people professionally from there and they speak highly of Clemson. But the bottom line is the bottom line. I would not pay a premium to attend Clemson, as nice a school as it is.
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My homeschooler got $10K (or was it $12K?) from Clemson, so not the highest award, but still generous. Even with that, Clemson was still way too expensive from OOS. Even with the top award ($15K?) it would have been too much to justify.
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That is the problem IF cost is a concern. To even get the $10k-15k, the student has to have HIGH stats. So, if the student has HIGH stats and cost is concern, there are other schools that are like Clemson that have lower OOS COAs and will give MORE money…so the net cost is FAR below Clemson’s.
My 2nd son (not NMF) got the $15k “top award” from Clemson (Sal of his class, around 2300 SAT). At Bama, he got free tuition plus 2500 per year (plus $2k per year special NMCorp). Net cost was below $10k per year. Contrast that to Clemson where net cost would have been about $30k per year. Huge difference…when multiplied by 4 years…about $70k difference!
^^yes @mom2collegekids - totally agree. It’s funny how it doesn’t sound like a huge difference year-to-year, until you look at that $70K total at the end (and it would have been more for us).
We wanted Clemson to work so much.
I think anyone looking at Clemson (with scholarship potential) should look very closely at UA.
@amelie29 - If you do a web search of “(college name) net price calculator”, you can get often an idea of how much merit scholarship money you’ll receive from that university. Unfortunately, I ran your stats and the calculator awarded you $0 in merit scholarship money at Clemson. Clemson’s calculator is outdated (it lists 2013-14 tuition numbers) but it’s probably unlikely that they lowered their scholarship requirements.
Interesting that Clemson includes a merit estimate; most college NPCs do not unless the merit is assured or almost assured.
With the OP’s stats, I doubted that much would be awarded.
Based on rank, GPA and test scores , they are assured or almost assured
.http://www.clemson.edu/financial-aid/types/scholarships/cu-schol-recruiting.html
If her rank was higher she would be guaranteed at least 7500.00 renewable up to 15,000 renewable for higher ACT or SAT scores.
My out of state daughter has a 33 ACT, but our very competitive high school does not rank. We believe she’s in the top 10%, but there’s no way for anyone to know. We are so glad she was admitted, just quite surprised her merit award was the minimum OOS award of $7,500. Is it possible the fact that her high school doesn’t rank could have been held against her? Clemson is her first choice. She was offered max merit awards from other private schools (27k from Loyola Maryland, 25k from Fairfield U, etc.). Would it be a bad idea to try to contact someone at Clemson and ask? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Certainly ask, but don’t expect a huge increase.
we found that Clemson’s offer wasn’t nearly as good as others.
Is the tuition higher at those privates?
My OOS daughter also attends a very competitive HS, which doesn’t rank, and received 15,000 with a 33.
What was her GPA? That is also a deciding factor @3mooregirls . Test scores are only one of the things weighed when offering a scholarship . Private schools often are able to offer higher scholarship levels than OOS publics. A lot depends on your daughter’s stats in comparison to other applicants. Clemson has become more selective in the past several years, especially with OOS students . They are receiving thousands of applications from very high stats students from all over the country as well as the world. Your daughter sounds like a great student , unfortunately so are most of the other students being admitted , and with Clemson being a public university the funds are typically more limited than privates.
@NJEngineer3 Was that for this application cycle or a previous one?
Edit…I see that your DD applied for Computer Science? If so, that may make a $$ difference. Some of her award may be coming from the CoE…or may be a recruitment tool to get more females in CS.
It was for this application cycle. I got the feeling that it was the “standard” maximum OOS award of 15,000, with nothing additional from the CoE. At the time of her application, she put down Civil Engineering as her major. She has since changed her mind to CS, but has not yet notified Clemson.
It might all be from Clemson, but CivilE or CS would both be majors where Clemson might want to recruit more females. They’d both be in the CoE.
Did your DD also have a SAT score?
Is it possible that the award is 7500 per semester?? Can you look again?
No, just the ACT.