He was not prompted to apply to the Honors College because his SAT score was too low.
Itās not a perfect metric but the average sat score for UVA is 1410 and the average sat for SC Honors is 1478.
Seems like the holistic review process at UVA really worked, which is nice to hear.
Did anyone attend the HC briefing last week? What type of information was provided.
I got deferred from UVA but am a Top Scholar at USC and got into UNC, no honors program or merit. Not sure if you can even compare colleges after a certain point, as getting into one (or not) provides no clue about getting into another.
I definitely think the holistic process at UVA worked. My nephewās stats other than his SAT score were top notch. Great grades, AP classes, Class Leader, etc. His SAT score was definitely in the bottom 25% percentile for UVA. Iām happy for him.
My daughter received her acceptance to the SC Honors College in December. We went last weekend to the Honors College Social and the Honors College Information Session. Both events were fantastic and she has definitely moved USC to the top of her list.
At both sessions, current students were there. We met a sophomore who turned down UNC for USC Honors. He was an International Business major. He said that when he speaks to his friends that go to UNC that he feels he is getting a better business school education so far than they areā¦obviously just his opinion. He was very articulate! A senior spoke at the Saturday session and said that she is a semi-finalist for a Fulbright scholarship and is waiting to hear if she is a finalist but if not she had already been offered a job with IBM. All the parents in the audience seemed blown away and started clapping.
We also met multiple faculty members and the dean spoke! The dean discussed why it was the #1 Public Honors College. Some of the reasons included the sheer number of honors college selections plus the top notch faculty.
@cdluvsvt Thank you. I have attended general Scholar Socials at USC and they really go out of their way to make you feel welcome. That follows through to Parents Weekend and other events too.
Did they provide stats on 4 year graduation rates, post grad employment and post grad professional school admission rates?
I am an old school parent and really miss the old paper catalogs schools used to print where you could see all the course offerings and major requirements!
When my kid applied to Honors (Pre-IB; accepted with Liebers (NMF) and Coopers scholarships), I reviewed Honors classes very carefully and found them pretty solid in the sense that I know my kid would have gotten a solid undergraduate education. Basically, I was attracted by merit based scholarships, IB and Honors teaching. My kid ended up going somewhere else though.
I was hoping Univ of South Carolina would increase merit scholarships a little bit more (I knew he would at least get Liebers and Cooper) because he speaks 4 languages and has pretty strong ECs in international area but that didnāt happen.
@websensation I spent time last night going through the HC catalog. There are really strong offerings in some subjects like business, not so much in others. I agree about the aid.
If you are going for prestige, well, South Carolina may not be your choice. However, if you go there for the opportunities the Honors college can offer, do it! My D is a sophomore Psychology major, and she is already conducting research! She plans to apply for a research grant for the summer and next semester. The professors and her honors advisor have been extremely helpful and supportive. She has taken some pretty interesting Honors classes to help fulfill the HC requirements. Overall, it has been a great experience.
@VAMom23 When I said āsolidā, I meant solid, basic courses.
Pros of Univ of South Carolina Honors vs. Stanford for us: A lot cheaper for us, better dorm rooms, really strong in Intāl Business, lets you get many college credits from AP tests which means you can graduate with two majors. Not as liberal in political/social issues.
Neutral: Both offer good internships and good career center support.
Cons: Not as many good courses, not as many people know, not as strong in fields across the board in case you change your major, not as good language center or courses. Not as many study abroad programs in different countries. Doesnāt allow reservation of a spot after a gap year.
No stats like this at this event but I feel certain when we did the actual Honors College tour last Spring Break they provided stats like that. I remember the Representatives discussing that students were in grad schools at places like Duke and Ivies.
Interesting thread. Prestige is important in a small handful of professions. For example, if you want to work on Wall Street as an investment banker, they strongly prefer the pedigree of an Ivy League degree, Stanford, Northwestern, Chicago, Duke, Williams or MIT and a few others. Not impossible to get the same job/position with a degree from a non-super prestigious school, just harder & less likely. But the same result came be achieved by earning an MBA from an M-7 school.( Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Northwestern, Penn-Wharton, Chicago &, I think, Columbia is the seventh.) The catch is that admission to the best MBA programs typically ārequiresā 2 to 5 years of significant work experience. In fact, many of the top financial institutions feed into the top MBA programs students recruited directly from the most prestigious colleges & universities.
Some of the above posters write about cost of an elite private school. If paying for college is a significant family hardship, then the most elite colleges & universities will offer substantial grant money to an accepted applicant in need of financial aid. Often elite private colleges & universities have a lower net cost than do state flagships due to generous grant money.
Prestige is mostly subjective, but Harvard, MIT & the Service Academies carry worldwide prestige. It would be wrong to suggest that South Carolina Honors College is as prestigious as those schools. In my opinion, there are clearly 25 to 30 colleges & universities which are more prestigious than any honors college in the country. But if you intend to get a graduate degree, your undergraduate institutionās prestige is of little importance.
The real benefit of an honors college is to enjoy a highly motivated environment within the boundaries of a larger university while experiencing a more accurate cross-section of life than might be found at the elites. Additionally, the merit scholarship awards give much needed financial relief to middle class & upper middle class families.
@Publisher nice post, couldnāt agree more.
@publisher, I agree. The legal profession is another group where the school matters. This is even more so given the reduced job opportunities after law school graduation. Believe it or not, certain government jobs (legal and non legal) have the same restrictions. Regional influence is also a huge factor.
Unfortunately, the Ivyās donāt offer grant aid to a large part of the qualified applicant pool because of the inherent flaws in the EFC calculations. For these families, despite a good solid income the tuition is ridiculously out of reach. The āmeet a 100% of financial need āpromise is meaningless when the basis for calculating that need fails to take into account the fiscal reality for the family. Good grief, the cost of applying alone is hard to absorb for many families, myself included.
SC is not in the prestige category, Honors or not. You should look not just at the Honors program but the environment provided by the full university experience at a particular school. My D chose Honors at UNC over at least one ivy league option and other top schools and this has worked out well. The full university experience there does not detract from basically an ivy league experience. I suspect you would find otherwise at SC. So, in summary, you need to look not only at the specific Honors program but also the entire university environment and whether or not that will actually support what the Honors program is trying to provide. Spend time at the university and talk to students and parents familiar with what is going on there.
Read this article and then pick the school that speaks to you and is the most affordable. Really smart and accomplished people come from all backgrounds. Too many get too preoccuppied with the University on the Diploma. Does it make sense to spend $50K+ a year to go to a top 50 National University when you have a great merit scholarship and a program you love at a school that is ranked 100th?
https://chiefexecutive.net/ceo1000-which-colleges-produce-ceos/
Iām a bit late to the party but I will say this - college admissions is screwy at best. The way kids are getting admitted to the very prestigious schools is getting more questionable. After spending months in the rat race with my two oldest Ds, my son is looking at U of SC and I am thrilled. If he got into Wharton, Iād have to have a serious sit down with him about the doors it could possibly open. However, I believe in a world where admission officers throw around the word āholisticā when considering a student, it may be time for students to āholisticallyā consider schools. I want my kids to go get a great education AND have a great experience in a place they can make memories and friends. Life comes fast, so do car payments, mortgages and diapers. Sure, the big financial companies might want the Ivy grads - who cares? Iāve lived and worked in New York, and Iāve lived in CT and commuted to New York. Both are monumental grinds. So unless you are super type A and have experienced some time in NYC, Iād let that go - fast. I tell my kids that time is the new wealth. Educate yourself so you can make a living in a place that allows you to live a nice life, pay your bills, and take an afternoon off to watch your kid play baseball. Prestige is only as important as you make it in your life.
Lesjubilants, What did you think of scholars weekend?
Tim Cook went to Auburn for undergrad!
Iām going to jump on cleoforshortās band wagon and just say that I think asking āhow prestigious is the Honors Collegeā is essentially asking āwhat will others think of me when they hear I attended the SCHCā. I think this is the wrong question. Rather, you might consider whether it will offer you the type of educational experience you are seeking, how will it help shape your experience and equip you to be successful (as you define success) in your life. The SCHC has a lot to offer students but immediate prestige assignment is not likely among those who are not familiar with the school.