@Redi2cruise2024 I did see that students can qualify for in state tuition without HC or Capstone. I was wondering if admittance to Capstone also gives you in state tuition (the same way I believe HC does if you are OOS). My daughter’s acceptance letter to USC guarantees her a certain scholarship amount per year, but didn’t mention instate tuition. If she is offered Capstone, would she get the instate tuition?
@Brent1123 my interpretation is that the admissions letter $ was strictly based off of the stats of the students and independent of HC or Capstone. I never saw anything that there would be any additional merit just for being in HC or Capstone. If anything HC “cost” more. Hopefully someone else can weigh.
I’m hoping there is more merit coming since the letters for students that didn’t get in-state said “at least”. The merit that was mentioned in my daughter’s original letter after she sent her ACT scores in wasn’t the amount that was in her acceptance letter. It was about 2 levels below. She is deciding between UofSC and UT-Austin. UofSC would be way more convenient of a location, but in-state would help with that decision.
When we toured South Carolina they specifically said merit $ was NOT tied to Honors College. They didn’t want kids applying to HC for the sole purpose of money.
@afbratmama It seems if you look on the chart they have with SAT.GPA you can see if you get in state. It shouldn’t vary by much unless your child is right on the border. My son got “at least” as well but i think it just covers them I kn ow he doesnt qualify for anything other than the first level
If you received the Honors College brochure, there was also a very detailed chart and Scholarship descriptions that include amounts in the back of the guide that gave a pretty good detailing of IS and OOS scholarships and what the score range “likelihood” are for the different levels. It included the competitive scholarships (Stamps, McNair Horseshoe), which are awarded and require Honors College admissions. I haven’t checked the website lately to see if these numbers line up though. It also footnoted which ones could be combined.
the socks finally came! they are so cute. 
Merit is definitely separate from HC - I have in-state tuition but no honors college offer as of yet
@jgwolf My daughter got a letter from UofSC admissions right after she applied that said as of that time she would be eligible for the first level that was in state and the next level down. When she received her “at least” letter when she was accepted EA it was down 2 levels from that. If I look at the level on the website under scholarships it shows the in state level. Time will tell.
@afbratmama I totally understand your point.
I just assumed that some of the difference in dollars is because we are looking at the total GPA of our students which includes grades that don’t factor into the GPA calculation for the University.( i.e PE, Electives, etc) I thought the GPA is stripped of those grades that don’t fit the core classes and I can’t figure what those all classes are. It is my understanding that the Total Weighted GPA is not the GPA used to figure scholarships.
Just a thought.
My son’s initial early acceptance letter stated he would get at least in state tuition. He should also be eligible for the Provost. There was no mention of that in the initial letter, so we are assuming/hoping that will come as additional merit with the March merit letter. He is still waiting on an Honors college decision.
No, I did it based on what UofSC uses as core classes. My daughter has the GPA using the .5 and 1 point boost. It’s not GPA or score related, I think it’s UofSC offering more money to out of state students and attracting higher level candidates. 50% out of state for a state school is nuts. I also am hoping the at least was just them being cautious. My dd was admitted to UT-Austin so we are looking for the best option both academically and financially. Good luck to all! Hope we all get the in state we are hoping for.
@Redi2cruise2024 Good point about the GPA calculation.
Could also be some value attributed to rigor of classes on transcript.
Good luck! I hope she gets what she wants.
What is your home state? We are in-state for SC and I agree, it is crazy to have that many OOS students and the money it is offered to them while in-state students don’t get much at all. They do get a scholarship from the state of SC but not from the university per se. On a side note, my daughter was rejected by UT Austin. Congrats to your daughter to get admitted there as an OOS student. That is an amazing achievement. I don’t think they offer much money at all though 
@afbratmama I am sure if they said she is getting in state then thats what she will get. My son will probably just get the lowest scholarship so he needs to decide if he wants that or to go for the instate major thru the Academic Common market that he was accepted for which may not really be his first choice of majors.
@henry111 Still cold feet and empty mailbox over here! Glad your socks finally came.
Anyone recently receive a Top Scholar invite? Just wondering if another round of invites went out after the 1/17 round…
@UpstateSCmom Be thankful for what you have in SC: two great flagships in-state plus College of Charleston and maybe more. Other states have far higher populations, have far higher taxes, and in-state schools cost far more than USC.
OOS students have brought up the recognition for both USC and Clemson by bringing in quality students, which helps the reputation of the universities. Everyone benefits from that. They are trying to offer OOS students incentive to come. All students also benefit from geographic diversity and learning from peers.
As an OOS-er, I am thankful these schools are giving my student an opportunity which is hopefully affordable.
I am not trying to sound ungrateful at all but you will hear that statement from people from TX and NC for sure when they react to OOS students complaining why their flagships only take 10% or 18% OOS students. I have no idea from what state you are coming from, however you do need to consider that income in SC is also a LOT lower than if you lived in the northeast for example. In-state tuition at USC is about 3K higher than in-state at UGA for example. Clemson is even higher than Carolina. I do agree that they attract high-scoring students from all around the country with that recruiting method and nobody argues against diversity at all. My student would not want to go to school with only people from SC anyways. She lived 3 yrs in Germany, 10 in Texas and by the time she starts college 4 yrs in SC, so she is not limited to have only lived in one state.
I understand where you’re coming from as an instate SC resident. However, I do think that SC having the palmetto life and fellows scholarship more than makes UofSC affordable. Yes Florida literally gives top students full tuition to UofF and Georgia does something similar. But being a top student in SC still gets you the money you need.
NC has education lottery and I have YET to figure out what the funds are doing for K-12 education or colleges. We don’t see anything like SC, Fl, or GA. #sad