<p>My daughter has been accepted to Furman University and wants to attend, but cost will be a major factor in the decision. The Furman website states that tuition, fees, room, and board are $50,184 per year. Wow! My daughter is eligible for the Palmetto Fellows scholarship of $7,000 which will be doubled by Furman for a total of $14,000, but this still leaves $36,000 which we can not begin to afford.</p>
<p>I am posting to find out what other merit scholarships are "likely" for a student with an SAT of 1400, an ACT of 32, a weighted GPA of 4.85, several AP courses, top 5% of graduating class and an extensive record of extra curricular activities and community service. Would a student with the above qualifications have a chance at the Lay, Duke, or Hollingsworth scholarships? </p>
<p>The tuition, fees, room, and board at the University of South Carolina are $19,200 and the Palmetto Fellows scholarship is $7,000. The comparison without additional scholarships would be roughly $36,000 a year for Furman compared to $12000 a year for USC. My daughter really wants to attend Furman, so we are hoping for additional scholarship money.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link. It looks like for the top scholarships, finalists are typically above 1400 on the SAT and above 32 on the ACT. My daughter had exactly those numbers (not above). Yikes! It is too late to retake the SAT?</p>
<p>If your daughter applied for the merit scholarships & doesn’t get invited to interview for the Duke or Lay, her stats & extracurriculars might get her an invitation to interview for the Hollingsworth. That is $25,000 per year. If you file the FAFSA, you will likely qualify for the South Carolina Tuition Grant (it is supposed to be need based, but everyone I know who filled out the FAFSA got it), which is for private colleges in South Carolina and in the past has been $2600. With the Palmetto Fellows that would put you at close to $34,600. Good luck - I hope she gets enough money to go, it really is a great school.</p>
<p>Last year finalists for the Hollingsworth and Townes were notified around this time- mid to late February. The scholarship days were the last Monday in March for Duke and Lay and the first Monday in April for Townes and Hollingsworth.</p>
<p>We were informed by admissions the highest non-named merit scholarship was $15K. This was last year.</p>
<p>Furman is a wonderful school and community. Best wishes to your daughter!</p>
<p>I don’t know how this will help, but I will offer the following advice/information. Contact your daughter’s admission counselor and let her know your daughter’s goal is to attend Furman and where the school is currently at, vis-a-vis the named scholarship awards process. I know of one student from Georgia last year who received close to a full ride for a new scholarship that emphasizes community service. </p>
<p>What is her intended major? With scores and GPA like this, there are probably some department scholarships available for students who know their intended major. Even though the school has been test optional, your daughter’s stats should place her in the top 5% of students. We received an email today that applications were up this year and that the school plans to enroll over 800 freshman next year. I would think the admissions office would work hard to help your daughter -at least I hope so. Our twins will graduate in two short months-it is a great school and I know she would love it.! Good luck and let us know if we can help.</p>
<p>We also know students who received scholarship offers in Georgia ( HS seniors class of 2010 for 20-25K with stats not as good as your daughter. The economy may have trimmed those awards-as per the prior post.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for the additional information.</p>
<p>I just received the below email. The email did not mention scholarships by name. The email also refers to “this scholarship”. At this point, I am not 100% sure what she did not qualify for. I would assume she did not qualify for the Lay, Duke, or Hollingsworth scholarships, but I am not sure. We will have to wait and see when the package arrives around March 1. Without about $25,000 in help in addition to the $14,000 (Palmetto Fellows doubled) I don’t think Furman will be possible. We can stretch to cover about $10,000 to $12,000 a year. USC just offered a $3,000 scholarship (in addition to the $7,000 Palmetto Fellows). My daughter loves Furman, but if we are comparing $9,000 a year for USC to $20,000 a year for Furman, I don’t think we can make this work.</p>
<hr>
<p>Thank you for your interest in the Furman’s merit-based scholarships. We
appreciate the time you have taken to apply, and we enjoyed learning about your
achievements.</p>
<p>This year, as a result of our record number of applications for admission, we
also received scholarship applications from a record number of outstanding
students, making the selection process extremely competitive. Unfortunately, we
regret to inform you that the scholarship selection committee is unable to
offer you this scholarship. However, you are still eligible for other forms of
aid and scholarships, and you will receive your financial aid package around
March 1 with more details.</p>
<p>As a Furman grad who interviewed a few applicants qualified to be on the table this round, I am disappointed in the poor content and lack of clarity in the letters students received this week. Seems to me that students who do merit scholarship essays should at least be treated to a beautifully composed letter with lucid information inside. </p>
<p>“This” does not belong in This sentence: </p>
<p>Unfortunately, we regret to inform you that the scholarship selection committee is unable to offer you “this” scholarship.</p>
<p>Dogscrute - the email arrived today. This was a little earlier than we expected. My daughter did not apply EA.</p>
<p>Faline2 - Is it your understanding that the email means that she did not qualify for the Duke, Lay, and Hollingsworth scholarships? We are holding out hope that it only applied to the Duke and Lay scholarships and the Hollingsworth is still a possibility.</p>
<p>It is a very poorly worded letter that does not give families information clear enough to accept. The letter needed a rewrite.</p>
<p>I don’t know the answer. I feel like someone from the Townes and Hollingsworth semifinalists would have posted if a student received a letter specifically geared to them but I just don’t know. </p>
<p>Could be that all the students under consideration for Duke, Lay, Townes and Hollingsworth come the same weekend and interview and then the Furman committee members --which usually include a few honors seniors as well as staff and faculty members-- will designate who gets what. </p>
<p>There are only 10 fully funded Townes scholars so the odds are slim no matter how qualified you are and they did get an increase of applicants this year. </p>
<p>I am still holding out hope that Townes and Hollingsworth invites are not out yet but it is too bad that this week’s letter is not clear on this important point.</p>
<p>Collins- If I may take a guess at the wording- “this scholarship” … There are many different scholarships available and it would seem to me that your letter is pertaining to one specific scholarship. (Lay or Duke) </p>
<p>If you do not receive the opportunity to compete for that scholarship there are others. I would guess that the wording is to let you know that while the specific scholarship your daughter applied for is out, there are many others still open to her. </p>
<p>I am unsure if you miss the Lay/ Duke Finalist list you roll over into the Townes/Hollingsworth. From what I understand they are geared to different qualifications. Are the essay questions the same or different? Faline2 may know this answer.</p>
<p>Last year the scholarship days were on two consecutive Mondays. One Monday for Lay/Duke the following Monday for Hollingsworth/ Townes.</p>
<p>We found out what “this scholarship” meant today. It meant all of them. The package that arrived offered the SC Palmetto Fellow $7500, a Leadership Award of $11,000, and a SC Tuition Grant of $2,340. We understood that the SC Palmetto Fellow would be doubled, but further research reveals the doubling is part of the Leadership Award. With an Annual Tuition of $52,570 and scholarship help of $20,840, it looks like Furman is off our list. We could come up with $12,000 a year, but not $32,000 a year. Very disappointing.</p>
<p>are you saying your student is not in the running for the Hollingsworth? (and OOS students are not in the running for the Townes?) I guess that is what you are saying.</p>
<p>Since the letter we received today seemed fairly complete, I feel it is safe to assume that the Hollingsworth is off the table. As I read more about how Furman doubles the SC Palmetto Fellows scholarship through other scholarships, this would likely have been considered part of the Hollingsworth. We originally thought the doubled amount would be in addition to the Hollingsworth. We would still have to come up with $18,000 a year. Possibly with a few smaller outside scholarships, we could have stretched, but without the Hollingsworth stretching isn’t possible.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for sharing this info. My D also got the scholarship rejection email. We have not received the FA information yet and now my excitement is tempered (probably a good thing). If you care to answer - how did the $ award compare to your FAFSA EFC? I know they don’t make any promises but is there any reason to hope?</p>
<p>Sorry if am being obtuse - so was your EFC around $50k? I am OOS and our state does not have any funding for college. I am hoping for aid from Furman and my daughter has one o/s scholarship. I assume they fully packaged Stafford loans too for your son? ($5,500)</p>