List Advice (North Carolina & South Carolina Based)

College Search & Selection
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Hey everyone,

Im putting together my list and I wanted to get some opinions. Im looking to stay in the south and primarily driving distance from North Carolina.

Thanks so much!!

UW GPA: 3.0
W GPA: 3.5 (I screwed up my sophomore year and got a D in Honors Chem and in Spanish 2)
ACT: 28-29 (practice tests, I take it on March 3rd)
SAT: (depending on how ACT goes, may retake in June) 1540
CR 480
M 540
W 520

Classes: will graduate with 5 AP Classes
Almost all honors when had the option. I think 4 total standard core classes.

ECs: Pretty strong, in my opinion

Recommendations: should be very good.

UNC- Chapel Hill (dream school. I know i have close to no chance, but i have wanted to go there since I was little, so it cant hurt to send in an application)
UNC- Wilmington (High Match??)
UNC- Charlotte (Safety???)
East Carolina University (In State Safety)

Clemson (Reach?)
University of South Carolina (High Match?)
College of Charleston (???)
Furman (???)

Alabama (Low Match?)
Auburn (HIgh Match??)

Mississippi (Safety)

1 Like
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Forgot to mention cost. My family can afford around $20k a year. Our EFC is $10348.

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Your test scores are a little low for a number of the schools on your list; I don’t know that Furman is an option because of that, and you are on the low edge of accepted students there. You might look at some of the following:

In South Carolina: Wofford; Converse; Presbyterian
In North Carolina: Appalachian State; UNC-Asheville; Elon; High Point

If you don’t have the scores to get into UNC-Chapel Hill, any application fee that you have to pay is just money you are throwing away.

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Elon??

5

Ole Miss is NOT a safety because it costs $34K/year OOS. Schools are only safeties if you are assured of admission, can definitely afford it, and would be happy to attend. Google the Common Data Set for each of your schools and look at section C to see what is used for admission and what stats are for admitted students. Then run the Net Price Calculator on each school’s web site to see how much each will cost.

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Here’s what I think about the NC and SC schools:

UNC and Furman: Super reaches. I probably wouldn’t spend the money applying.
Clemson, UNC-W, UNC-A: Probably reaches, but your ECs could possibly make them into high matches.
Elon: Don’t know. Would have been a safety years ago, but it’s a lot better now. Probably unaffordable anyway.
USC, College of Charleston, and UNC-C: Probably matches.
ECU: Probably a safety. That being said, I’ve started hearing, for the first time, about fairly decent students being rejected.

My comments on gandalf’s additions:
Appalachian: Probably a match.
High Point: Match. Too expensive to be a safety.
Wofford, Converse, Presbyterian: Good suggestions, but I don’t know costs.

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Let me add that I’d at least give either UNC-W and/or UNC-A a shot. (I now see that UNC-A was on gandalf’s list, not yours.) Good luck!

8

Thanks everyone for the advice.

The reason I didn’t have UNC- A or App on my list because I am not too in the mountains or the types of students there. (Not meant in a negative aspect, I just know people who go there and the student body isn’t really my cup of tea.)

Elon and Furman both has VERY HIGH early decision acceptance rates, which is why they are on this list, but without a ton of aid (which i most likely wouldn’t qualify for) they would be unaffordable.

Wofford and Presbyterian are a little small (under 2000, which is close to the size of my high school) and Converse I believe is an all girls school.

High Point is a consideration, but again, without aid it wouldn’t make sense.

UNCW is probably my number 1 school instate (excluding UNC- CH)
With USC being my number 1 realistic option in South Carolina, with CofC in a close 2nd (Excluding Clemson)

The reason I put Bama and Ole Miss on here is their scholarships. If I get my ACT up to a 29, I qualify for 1/2 tuition at Bama I believe. Which would pull COA down to a little over 20k, which my family has said is affordable. And I think about 10k at Ole Miss? Ill have to double check.

So I guess that makes my only true safety ECU?

Thanks again everyone!

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It’s really going to depend on test scores. With what you have now I would say College of Charleston is the safety/match on your list of SC schools but I don’t think you are going to get it down to your target cost. USC is probably a match. Scholarships that give some tuition reduction start at ACT 28 but look like usually require higher GPA. Higher test scores might offset that but you to have higher numbers to get OOS tuition waiver. Full pay for USC instate is around 22k and you are OOS. Depending on major, look at Coastal Carolina and Winthrop. Presbyterian is great school but I don’t think the money is there - same with Wofford although that is more selective.

I have brother in NC and from his experience I’ll say you won’t do better than NC for instate costs unless you get scholarships or have some hook. Agree that you need to run NPC on these schools to see if you would get any money.

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@scmom12‌ thanks you for that advice. I have looked at coastal, but it seems very similar to ECU in terms of academics and atmosphere. Would the cost of attendance be worth it over a similar in state option?

I have run the CofC net price calculator I believe it put it around $35k, but I could be wrong about that. If that was the case, I would need to cut that down about $10k-$12k for it to be affordable. Is there a way to do that with my stats?

As for USC, what test scores would put me in range for a decent scholarship? As with coastal, I think I would need about $10k to make it affordable.

I have briefly looked in to Winthorp, but I didn’t really get a vibe I liked from it. Especially not enough to pick it over an Instate option.

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Here is USC’s information on scholarships. But I’m concerned that even if you pulled up test scores to get OOS tuition waiver you wouldn’t get enough extra to get down to your target cost.
https://sc.edu/admissions/admissionspdfs/moneymatters2014.pdf

I do think you’re not going to be able to beat cost of NC schools. Doesn’t hurt to try especially if you end the year with better GPA and high test scores.

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A couple of other thoughts about North Carolina schools: Guilford College in Greensboro (match) and Campbell University in Buies Creek (can’t say about match or safety).

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Their early decision acceptance rates are probably very high because the schools aren’t super selective, and their early decision applicants (the kids who are willing to commit to lesser-known but very well-reputed Southern LACs) are probably very self-selecting. It doesn’t mean that you will be competitive for admission if you apply, even early decision. And if you need a ton of aid, then you can’t (or shouldn’t) apply early decision anyway.

Your test scores fall in the bottom 25% of UNCW’s accepted students, and 81% of their accepted students have a high school GPA of 3.75 or higher. On that basis, it’s not really a high match; it’s a low reach. However, their middle 50% ACT scores are 22-26, so if you really do get a 28 or 29 on the ACT it may be a high match.

Your test scores and grades do fall within reach of UNCG, so that’s a match for you. UNCC might be a match or a safety depending on where your ACT scores go.

Clemson’s a little bit of a reach. College of Charleston might be a match if your ACT score goes to the 28; they have a high acceptance rate. A South Carolina safety (low match?) is USC-Aiken and USC-Upstate.

Elon and Furman are matches for you if you make the ACT scores you think you’ll get, but reaches otherwise. Guilford College is a small LAC in NC that’s a match for you, although it’s smaller than Elon and Furman. There’s also Anderson University in Anderson, SC.

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@scmom12‌
“Sims Scholars Award*
Annual value: $500 + tuition reduction
Four-year value with tuition reduction: $34,600
In 2014, recipients of the Sims Scholars Award had an
average SAT score of 1245 (ACT score of 28) and an average
weighted high school GPA of 3.70. Recipients of this award
also receive a significant tuition reduction.”

Does this scholarship have the OOS tuition waver? It just says tuition reduction, so I am a little confused.

@gandalf78‌ Thank you for those suggestions. I am interested in a school with decent school spirit so that I can get a traditional college experience. (I would prefer an active greek life as well) That is why some of the smaller schools (woffard, preys., Campbell, Guilford, Winthorp) are not on my list.

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Appalachian State has good football I believe, Greek Life, and school spirit.
UNC W is a reach (3.9 average GPA, most admitted students had 3.75+).
A lot hinges on your getting that 28 - and since the reading and science section have become much more difficult, anticipate a 26 (it’s very common to be -2 compared to practice tests, since those are over 10 years old and not a reliable predictor of current test results).
Since you need FA, you can’t apply ED, except to colleges that promise to meet 100% need - none on your list.
You can also look into colleges in VA.
How far are you willing to venture?

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@MYOS1634‌ I will be considering App! I would also consider some Virginia schools, I just do not know much about schools in that area as I do in North Carolina. I would like to be semi close to home, at least within driveable distance, of the triangle. (Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh)

As for VA schools the only ones that I am aware of are
UVA (Very unreasonable)
V Tech (Reach I assume?)
JMU (???)

I am NOT interested in George Mason or VCU.

Are there other schools in VA I should consider?

Thanks

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Belmont Abbey College
Guilford College
Milsaps College
U of Tennessee-Knoxville
Tennessee Tech
U of Alabama-Birmingham

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@LakeWashington‌ Thank you for your contributions!

Belmont Abbey and Guilford are both a little small and from what I can tell lack the school spirit I would like.

Milsaps is also very small and very far away. If I was going to go that from home, I would want a bigger school. Which is why the schools on my list that far include the big state universities. Ole Miss, Bama, and Auburn.

Im not going to completely rule out Tennessee! I have actually been to the campus before to see a friend who was competing in a competition there. I did a tour and didn’t really enjoy the campus too much, but it was raining and just a gross day in general so I should probably give it another chance. If anyone has any information on Tennessee- Knoxville please add to the discussion!

Tennessee Tech and UAB, again, if I was going to go this far away, I would want a larger school with a more lively crowd.

19

Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA? It is a public university, so financial aid may be more problematic; but it may meet your requirements for size and school spirit (athletic teams play in C-USA).

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@gandalf78‌ I dont want this to come off as conceded, but I really really dislike the the area surrounding Old Dominion and the campus itself. But again, thank you so much for helping contribute!!

Im going to run through everything really quickly here just incase more people hop in and dont want to read the whole thread.

UW GPA 3.0
W 3.5
SAT 1020 (1540) (Possibly will retake after trying the ACT)
ACT 28~29 (Based on practice tests and the PLAN, taking March 3rd)

ECs: Very Good
Recs: Should be good

Money: EFC $10,348
Small college fund
family can afford around $20k a year, give or a take a little

Location: Driving distance from the Triangle (Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh)

Atmosphere: Residential (No suitcase school), good school spirit (preferably a football team), Greek Life

Current List
UNC- CH (Super Mega Reach)
Furman (Super Reach, not affordable with out aid)

UNCW (reach)
Clemson (reach)

College of Charelston (Match)
Elon (Match, High Match, not affordable with out aid)
USC (Match, High Match)
Alabama (Low Match)
High Point (Match, not affordable with out aid)

UNCC (Safety)
ECU (Safety)
Ole Miss (Safety Depending on Aid)

Others Considering - Any info on these would be great!

Tennesse- Knoxville
JMU
Appalachian State