List Advice (North Carolina & South Carolina Based)

CNU? College of Charleston? Marshall? WVU?

@MYOS1634ā€Œ , College of Charleston is on my list!! One of my favorites actually! I am looking forward to going and checking it out.

I will consider WVU. If anyone has any info on the culture of that school please feel free to post it!!

Iā€™m not a big fan of the surrounding area of CNU, which is why they havenā€™t been including in the small LACs im considering (Elon, High Point, Wofford, and Furman).

OP for the USC scholarships that say tuition reduction I think it reduces OOS tuition by about half the difference. As in if OOS is 26k and instate 11k then the reduction gets it down to 19k (not exact numbers) Somewhere on fee page there is the actual tuition amount for different scholarships if you want to look it up. It may vary by scholarship.

@MYOS1634ā€Œ what colleges in VA cost $20K for an OOS student?

After some consideration, I think I would like to add NC State to my list. I looked at the common data set, and the avg GPA was 3.64, with the ACT percentile between 26-31. Meaning if my ACT scores hold up, I would be right around the averages. I would classify it as a high match. Does this sound correct?

I will also be removing UNCC from the list, but leaving ECU. I would prefer to take them both off, but I need at least 1 instate safety, I would much rather attend ECU over UNCC.

Also, it seems odd that the NC State GPA is below the UNCW GPA. Could anyone speak to why that may be?

CNU isnā€™t a small LAC. Itā€™s a medium- sized public university. Are you sure you donā€™t mix CNU and ODU as far as surrounding areas (not that ODU is horrible, either, but itā€™s less college-student-friendly than the area around CNU it seems to me).

In recent years Iā€™ve known some students who got in State but not Wilmington. My understanding is that the entering GPAs of Engineering and Design students at State are higher than the GPAs of students admitted into majors in the other colleges at State.

I must have gotten some of the information about CNU and ODU mixed up. I will have to look in to them.

Thatā€™s great to hear about State. The major I am thinking about (political science) most likely wouldnā€™t be one of the competive ones I assume?

What about UGA? If ACT score turns out as expected, it would put me in their range? Would that be considered a Reach?

Nevermind, UGA would most likely end up being out of our price range even if I was admitted.

Glad you checked on that. Very wise.

I decided to look in to Presbyterian and Wofford. Presbyterian is still a little small, but their NPC said I should get a decent amount of aid that would bring it close to my price range.

As for Wofford, it is a little more selective, and I couldnā€™t find a common data set for them. I did run the NPC with my expected ACT scores, and it also brought it semi close to my price range. Obviously I would have to get admited for that to matter at all.

If anyone has any info on Presbyterian or Wofford please share!! They both are pretty small schools so there is a bit of lack of information on the Internet.

http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=wofford&s=all&id=218973#admsns
http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=presbyterian&s=all&id=218539#admsns

What is your potential major? Youā€™re correct that Wofford is more selective. They have a good reputation with getting kids into med school, so pretty strong in sciences. Strong alumni network. Very nice upperclassman housing. Pretty strong Greek participation. PC is great school that likes to get students involved in their campus. Also strong alumni network so maybe slightly more just in SC. They added pharmacy school a couple of years ago. Also strong Greek life but fewer national sororities (donā€™t know about frats). Both have good school spirit. You could easily visit both in one day.

Potential majors are Political Science (Pre-Law) or Business. I have been leaning more towards business as I would have more employment opportunities with just an undergrad degree.

I am planning (many years out) to stay in the Carolinaā€™s after I graduate, so the smaller alumni network isnā€™t too big of a deal for me.

The location of these schools are both great. Each being within 3 or 3 and half hours from home, which is exactly what I would like.

My only real concern with small schools is the social scene. Im not a rabid partier, but I would like a school with a somewhat fun party scene, as well an active greek life and school spirit for athletics. Wofford seems to fit that bill even as a smaller school. Im going to have to visit to get a true feel for both schools, which I will hopefully be able to find time to do soon.

^wrt to business vs. Business: contrary to popular belief among HS students, you donā€™t need to have a degree in business to work in business - what will matter is the skills set you acquire, internships, networking, etc.
Strictly speaking, political science + a handful of basic business classes + a handful of ā€˜quantitativeā€™ classes (stats, calc, csā€¦) would serve you as well if not better, and would certainly be better for law school (as well as for elite MBAs).

My school requires us to have our college lists 3 times. First, the start of 3rd Quarter Junior year, so our counselors can see where we are. Second, before finals for our junior year final meeting (and so if we are applying to any schools over the summer, they can make arrangements for our transcripts to be sent) and lastly, the start of senior year, so they can keep tabs on our applications and acceptances.

So here is my current list, in order from 1st choice, with the chance included-

  1. UNC Chapel Hill (Super Mega Reach)
  2. NC State (High Match/Low Reach)
  3. Clemson (Reach)
  4. University of South Carolina (Match)
  5. Furman (Reach/High Reach)
  6. UNC Wilmington (Reach)
  7. College of Charleston (Match)
  8. University of Alabama (Low Match/Safety)
  9. Ole Miss (Safety)
  10. East Carolina University (Super Safety)

It seems a little top heavy with 4-5 reaches, but Iā€™m also pretty confident with the majority of my matches.

Any comments?

Thanks

Delete UNC-Chapel Hill; if you consider it to be a ā€œsuper mega reach,ā€ youā€™re probably wasting your time with it. Substitute Wofford for Furman. How are the likely finances for Clemson and University of South Carolina as an out-of-state student? Have you looked at Auburn?

@gandalf78ā€Œ Wofford for Furman? Whats the reasoning? Just curious.

I talked to my parents about South Carolina and Clemson. USC would come decently close (within about $5k) of what my parents want to pay, and they said they could probably make it work. Clemson would be a little more of a stretch, but it is a possibility just depending on how everything plays out.

I have looked at Auburn, but if I am going to go that far away, I would prefer a bigger school, as I wouldnā€™t have the ability to come home as often, so I would want a larger campus environment. Also, Bama offers much better OOS aid than Auburn.