List Advice (North Carolina & South Carolina Based)

College Search & Selection
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Hey OP,
As an OOS student from New Jersey who was accepted to UNC Wilmington and will most likely attend that school, I can assure you that the athletics and school spirit are not lacking in any sense. UNCW may not have football, but I personally see it as a plus; more fan support for the other great sports on campus such as basketball and soccer! Every UNCW student I’ve talked to, current or future, has a lot of school pride and shows that pride with all of the UNCW apparel I have. Sweatshirts, shirts, cups, beanies, pens, you name it. While you may be disappointed that they don’t have football, UNCW is not at all lacking in school spirit in any sense or fashion.

Best of luck and keep me posted! :slight_smile:

LBad96

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@TheDidactic‌ @gandalf78‌ thanks for that, I didn’t know that about the FAFSA. I’m going to do some visits this spring and summer and will most likely just apply to top 10.

@lbad96‌ Thank you for that! I have actually been following your thread about your school choice haha. I actually live about 2 hours from wilmington and visit there pretty frequently, just not the campus specifically. I also know a ton of people who go there, as it is one of the most popular instate schools here. Like I said, my top 3 schools right now are probably UNCW, VTech, and USC- Columbia, so I would not let the lack of football, as depressing as it is for a huge college football fan like my self, deter me from a great education at our great instate rates.

Good luck with your decision as well!!

63

Good that it won’t exactly turn you off! You have a lot of great schools on your list, and you’ll do well wherever you end up. I do kinda hope that we’ll be future schoolmates, though :stuck_out_tongue: Good luck to you too, and stay tuned for my thread!

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Oh, and I meant “they have” in my first comment, not “I have”! :stuck_out_tongue:

65

Big Update:

My ACT scores arrived today, sadly much lower than expected. Which will obviously effect the list I had developed before. I will post a break down of both of my tests below:

ACT Composite 21
English 18
Math 20
Reading 23
Science 23
Writing 8

SAT Composite 1020 (1540)
Reading 480
Math 560
Writing 520

GPA (Composite after this year) 3.5 W ~ 3.00 UW

I will most likely test one more time, but I haven’t decided which test, since my scores are almost equivalent.

As for my list, I have obviously made a few changes with the scores, as well as changed my requirements a little.
Im not as dead set on location as I was originally. I wouldn’t mind being farther away experiencing a new environment. With that, my requirements are:

WARM Weather - I hate the cold
Big Sports and School Spirit
Not a commuter school
Suburban/Rural - I hate cities. Obviously i made an exception with UNCC

So, with those requirements and my scores in mind, here is an updated list

UNC - Wilmington (Reach)

University of South Carolina (High Match/Reach?)
LSU (Match - Automatic Admissions)
University of Tennessee - Knoxville (Match?)
Auburn University (Match/High Match?)
University of Alabama (Match?? Little to no aid I assume with scores??)
College of Charleston (Match/High Match?)

Ole Miss (Safety- Automatic Admission)
UNC - Charlotte (Low Match/Safety)

Any comments and help is greatly appreciated!! Thank y’all so much!!

66

Forgot to add, I also am looking in to some of the public schools in Florida, and Georgia Southern University.

Thanks!

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Is Ole Miss still a safety at $34K? I thought your parents could only afford $20K/year

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@Erin’s Dad"‌ You’re totally right. I forgot to adjust the costs with out the automatic scholarships. Thanks for pointing that out.

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If I raise my my SAT by 10 points, then I qualify for the automatic admission at LSU. Their net price calculator has it only costing $18k a year, which is well in our price range. If this proves to be true, LSU will probably end up high on my list.

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So then, the application season is still open at your target schools? Rolling admissions?

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@LakeWashington‌ I’m a junior. This is a plan for next year. I apologize, i said that at the beginning but the post has gotten very long, I should have added it again.

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Update:

After thinking about some things and talking to my test prep tutor, my current plan is to abandon the ACT after I got my scores back. I am going to start focusing on the SAT and test in June. My goals are as followed

Reading 540-570
Math 560-580
Writing 580-600

As for paying, my parents would like to for COA to be no higher than the mid-20k’s. But they have also said that I should not let money drive the search, if the cost is within reach.

My current list with my SAT goals in mind:

U. South Carolina
Auburn University
UNC Wilmington
UNC Charlotte
U Tennessee
Virginia Tech
College of Charleston
Ole Miss
LSU
Alabama

My top choices at the moment are probably USC, Auburn, and VTech.

Any comments or suggestions for my list/situation?

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VTech might be a stretch for you but you seem like you have a solid list and plan in mind. Good luck and thanks for the update!

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So just a quick update here-

I have decided to move LSU off the list. Just decided it wouldn’t be worth it.

I have had an opportunity to see UNCC and ECU. Both of which are schools I have been a little hesitant about, but after visiting, I really liked both of them. I liked ECU a little over Charlotte because it seemed to have more school spirit and less of a commuter school. I am very comfortable having them both on my list as Low-Matches/Safeties, which is good because I have been struggling to find any true in-state safeties that I liked, so I am very happy with this development.

Current List (ranked)

  1. U. South Carolina (Match)
  2. VTech (Reach), Auburn University (Match)
  3. UNC Wilmington (Reach)
  4. U Tennessee (Match)
  5. Alabama (Match)
  6. College of Charleston (Match)
  7. Ole Miss (Safety with Money, Match without)
  8. ECU (Safety)
  9. UNC Charlotte (Safety)

2 Reaches, 6 Matches, 2 Safeties

Much more balanced than before!!

Comments, Suggestions and Questions are appreciated!!

PS: If you’re still keeping up with this, you’re awesome. I tend to think better when I think aloud and get input. Also hoping another student may use some of this info one day!

75

Im wondering if this thread would be better fit in the “Admissions Stories” section, as it has started to become me telling my story and thinking aloud, partially for the benefit of myself, and also anyone else who is reading this going through similar a situation.

Anyway, quick update here regarding my list:

Shortened once again- No College of Charleston and no UTK.

College of Charleston wouldn’t be worth the out of state tuition, and I just really didn’t like UTK when I visited. It was much to urban for me.

So, here is whats left

Reaches-
UNCW
Virginia Tech

Matches-
U South Carolina
Auburn
Alabama
Ole Miss* (Academically a safety, but would need aid to make it worth it)

Safeties-
ECU
UNCC (Mixed thoughts on this one. Its very much a commuter school which is making me nervous, but due to a lack of a better safety, I will leave it on for now)

I am visiting VT in a couple of weeks, and if I really like it, I will apply ED. Only concern with applying ED would be cost. My family could afford full pay, I would take out the maximum in fed loans, which is not unreasonable for repayment, but if I were to get in to UNCW, I would be able to attend for under $10k a year, graduating with little to no loans. I have no plan to leave the Carolina’s, so prestige isn’t an issue, but I feel like I would like the student life at VT better.

Anyway, 4 months to think it all through!!

Thanks for reading and updates to come.

76

Hey man, awesome updates so far. Nice to see that you’ve kept UNCW on your list. Looking at your numbers again, it is definitely a reach.

I personally think that you should aim for at least an 1800 on the SAT. I feel like with your GPA, getting into VT with only a 1750 would be very difficult. Regarding UNCW, I know a fellow New Jerseyan of mine who had a 3.7 GPA but a 1720 SAT who got deferred. She eventually got in, and I’m looking forward to attending with her next year. But for good measure, I’d try to get an 1800+. That was my target score, and I worked hard to reach it. And well, can’t argue with the results :slight_smile:

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@ntk131998 be careful about USC, my daughter did get in there and with instate tuition plus a few $$$ but she had a 32 on the ACT. She did not get HC which was a deal breaker for her. Many of her friends did not get the instate tuition, and keep in mind that SC does not super score on ACT, they only take best score. Even in state $$ at USC is more than most NC schools, oddly.

Don’t give up on UNCW, but do your best to look good on paper when the time comes.

My D didn’t apply to VT, but she did get in NCSU, her friends that got in VT all got in NCSU but want to leave Raleigh.

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^ USC costs $21K for in-state students. http://sc.edu/admissions/apply/costs_and_aid/default.html
UNC is $24K for in-state students. http://admissions.unc.edu/afford/cost-of-attendance/
Since UNC includes more “costs” in their COA those are basically comparable

You shouldn’t compare the SC flagship with a NC regional college.

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@“Erin’s Dad” you are correct about USC cost compared to UNC, but I meant other NC schools since Chapel Hill isn’t really on his list.

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@“Erin’s Dad” Why shouldn’t you compare them? They’re on the same level academically.