<p>@ aristrutz523 - Last year only two of us posted on this forum saying we had received the package. A lot of the students receiving the package are top-caliber kids who are attending multiple scholars weekends. I know three of my good friends who are fellow McNairs had absolutely no intentions of going here and didn’t really even know what the package meant when they got it. They came for the weekend and were convinced. The FedEx package is typically two day shipping at max, so I would say the only way it would be delayed to New York would be for weather. A friend of mine from VA got one, and a friend’s friend from Louisville got one as well.</p>
<p>@momcub - Not sure the timeline for that. I don’t know why a Carolina post never shows up on here. The Carolina Scholars weekend is a week before McNair so I would assume the invites would have gone out last week.</p>
<p>@scmom12 - They recently finalized the names. It’ll be Horseshoe Scholar for the McNair Finalists and Hamilton Scholar for the Carolina Finalists. Mixed feelings by my peers - some don’t believe that these titles emulate that they are on the same level as the winners. That new Stamps Program looks great though – the $8000 extra for travel and all that… incredible.</p>
<p>Thanks @scmom12 and @CocknotTrojan for your responses!
I guess I’ll try starting a Carolina Scholar thread and see if anyone posts. My D got her Honors College acceptance in Dec. Not counting on a Carolina Scholar invite, but would like to know if there’s any chance or if all the invites have already gone out.</p>
<p>The following comment of CockNotTrojan (above) describes what happened to our son: “I know three of my good friends who are fellow McNairs had absolutely no intentions of going here… They came for the weekend and were convinced.”</p>
<p>" A lot of the students receiving the package are top-caliber kids who are attending multiple scholars weekends. I know three of my good friends who are fellow McNairs had absolutely no intentions of going here and didn’t really even know what the package meant when they got it. They came for the weekend and were convinced."</p>
<p>CockNotTrojan and MeadowbrookCourt, I have to say that hearing that so many who received the invitation in the past were so nonchalant about it and only went because it was a free trip is not exactly comforting at the moment for those whose kids were really hoping to receive an invitation…</p>
<p>@NeedAVacation…From what we experienced last year, there were many parents at McNair weekend with their kids, and they just didn’t have much knowledge of the scholarship when they were invited. They applied to the Honors College, as everyone must do to be considered for McNair, but had also applied to many other top-tier programs as well as for other highly regarded scholarships. It is a lot of information to sort through! I personally didn’t meet anyone that had attended just for the free trip. Many came for the weekend with their mind made up to attend another school, and left realizing that USC had become their #1 choice. Just as MeadowbrookCourt mentioned, his son didn’t really have SC on his radar, but after the McNair weekend, went home realizing that he was going to attend. (Read MeadowbrookCourt posts from last year:) Once everyone had arrived for McNair last year, they all took it very seriously.</p>
<p>@NeedAVacation: Midwestgal81 is correct. Precisely, I posted the following: “The following comment of CockNotTrojan (above) describes what happened to our son: ‘I know three of my good friends who are fellow McNairs had absolutely no intentions of going here… They came for the weekend and were convinced.’”</p>
<p>You translated my post to: “…and only went because it was a free trip.” Your translation is incorrect, per one of the earlier posts that Midwestgal81 references:</p>
<p>“Our son received an invitation last year to the McNair Scholarship recruitment dinner and blew it off. His mother and I had the same attitude…we didn’t know anything about the McNair or the Honors College at USC. Then, a couple of weeks later, our son received a letter suggesting that he apply to the Honors College because he might be competitive for the McNair. I did some research and thought that he should throw in an application, although we remained skeptical about the Honors College. After much cajoling, our son applied, but still had no interest in attending.</p>
<p>“All that changed after being invited to compete for the McNair. Our son was BLOWN AWAY by what he saw. When he returned home, he said that he was going to attend the Honors College even if he did not win the McNair. The Honors College went from “no interest” to the top of his list. In the end, he selected it over quite a few schools, including Emory, Vanderbilt and the Honors Program as well as a merit scholarship at UNC-Chapel Hill.”</p>
<p>Internet communication can be difficult and I hope that my remarks are not being misunderstood as well. I’ll try to explain myself a little better. I’m certainly not begrudging any student’s invitation to the scholarship weekend. I have no doubt that those invited, as well as most who did not make the cut, are exceptional students with many good opportunities. We did indeed read those referenced threads over the past year and many of those comments are part of what encouraged my d to look at SC Honors College to begin with. She was not (is not) looking for perceived prestige in her college search, but genuine fit along with affordability.</p>
<p>The following comment is what led me to make the translation to ‘just going for the free weekend’: </p>
<p>“three of my good friends who are fellow McNairs had absolutely no intentions of going here”</p>
<p>and this one rather reinforced it:</p>
<p>“Many came for the weekend with their mind made up to attend another school”</p>
<p>which are different from going because one is not sure about a choice and needs more information. Does that make sense? </p>
<p>I’m happy to hear that the students in question were blown away by the program and came away with a decision to accept and attend SC. Again, those posts are part of what encouraged my daughter to look seriously at the SC Honors College to begin with.</p>
<p>I can sometimes be too sensitive to the feelings of others. I just felt that those types of comments in this particular thread, in which students and their families obviously DID appreciate the significance of the invitation and were greatly hoping for one, were a tad insensitive at the moment when the realization that they were probably not going to receive it was sinking in. These kids would have been doing cartwheels and major celebrating upon the receipt, and so to hear that apparently many of those selected were not excited and had to be dragged there is just a tad disheartening. Obviously, I know that there certainly must be students who receive the invitatation who are extrememly excited, as atlkaw6 was earlier in this thread.</p>
<p>NeedAVacation:I completely agree with you! Things said like not knowing to much about a scholarship program without looking into it and then attending anyway and already made up mind that you are going elsewhere…is like going to an interview for a job you really aren’t interested in or really don’t want. However, you get there and hey…sounds like a good job, good pay and everybody else looks like they want it too, so now I do!!!
“Many came with their mind made up to attend another school”…you know what…there are more of you out there with just as good or better stats that would be “elated” to be there…get over yourselves!
Not knowledgable, mind made up, no intentions…son blowing it off, parent doing the research and cajoling the son to apply…still no interest…I’m sorry but these are not Honors College qualities. Sorry to burst anyones bubbles but I feel that NeedAVacation was on the RIGHT track with this one! (Also, sorry if I hurt anyone’s feelings but truth be told).</p>
<p>I really appreciate the parents who are honest enough to tell their honors students real feelings before and after visiting. It tells a lot about not only </p>
<ol>
<li>the university but also </li>
<li>the student and </li>
<li><p>his parents. </p></li>
<li><p>It shows that the university is so good that it is able to persuade students who are set in their minds on another schools. This is what the parents are telling us as readers of a blog. </p></li>
<li><p>The students are definitely honors appropriate because not only were they invited by the University of SC…the same University of SC that you all love so much, but they were also wise enough to keep their minds open which shows a mature mind and the it shows their intelligence by being offered the highest scholarships at many schools.</p></li>
<li><p>The parents are honestly telling us how their student felt before and after a visit. Isn’t this what a blog is for?? To be honest and helpful to the next class that is coming through to help both parents and students?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>That someone is trying to help others and that they are replied to in such a way by people who don’t even understand what they are trying to say is just ignorant and rude. </p>
<p>Thank you to the parents who take the time to tell how their students felt. You have been very helpful to me. I know that you were CLEARING saying positive comments about the university. I am glad your students are having a college experience.</p>
<p>I agree to disagree. Again, sorry if that hurts someones feelings or maybe I was too harsh. However, I feel that NeedAVacation had a good point. That boils down to that this thread started out as a thread about anyone hearing about being selected for McNairs. Therefore a lot of students will look to this thread very excited and anxious to hear about the results and hoping for themselves but then it went off subject. CockNotTrojan answered about how many actually put their invites on this website. Very relevant. However, then this thread went off on those that have been invited and attended the McNairs finalist days with no intention of actually attending USC. Can you see how this can be insulting to others just hoping to get the invite or that USC has always been their dream school and nobody had to convince them otherwise? Maybe another thread would have been more appropriate. It can appear to be a little arrogant or thoughtless to some. Yes, it does bode well for the Honors College at USC and that is why the students applied. Yes, they have top notch students in the program. In fact, they have many, many, top kids applying and not enough spaces available. That is another reason it can be offensive because I have heard that the Honors College and McNairs has to turn away “more than” qualified students, some of which I’m sure would love the opportunity and USC has always been their top choice, and probably still is!
Yes, everyone does have their own opinions and can voice them here. That is what NeedAVacation was doing and I agreed.
That is great you are happy to hear about those kids and maybe you were one that originally wasn’t planning on going here and this will change your mind. However, again, maybe another thread addressing this would be more appropriate.
My comments about their qualifications for Honors College may have been a little harsh, as the students obviously made the grades. However, Honors College goes a bit further. It is about initiative and leadership. I just don’t feel that having to force or coerce a student is showing these qualities and or the parent doing the research. But like I said, Agree to Disagree!
P.S.I also disagree that any comments were ignorant or rude. Again, this thread was about who had heard about McNairs for this year, not about changing minds. But again, everyone is allowed their opinion.</p>
<p>P.S. Also, many qualified kids are turned away from top schools and programs these days due to merely “Lack of Interest”. So again, some of those comments convey lack of interest to me, especially when they say No Intention of Attending.</p>
<p>I’m sorry meadowbrook that you feel that way and everyone is entitled to their opinion. (Not my intentions). However, someone was basically saying that about you and was just voicing their opinion and you disagreed with her, I am merely defending her as I was feeling the same way. Good luck to you and yours.</p>
<p>Just want to clear the air on my comment that started such a debate.</p>
<p>My reason for bringing up my peers who had no interest in USC was for the sole purpose of explaining why not all 40 recipients were tweeting about the ‘golden ticket.’ I was clarifying why only two to four had been identified via social media. I was trying to imply that the 40 most likely received their packages.</p>
<p>I brought this up to give accurate and consistent information. I think you’d be a lot more content knowing right now that the search is most likely over. It is a lot easier to move on and start looking at other options at USC and other schools than to spend all of February expecting a package because one uninformed student working in admissions said it might happen.</p>
<p>Please do not lump me into the category of ‘just going for the free weekend.’ I spent three months on my McNair application. I literally took a week at a time PER essay to make sure it was the best it could be. I read multiple forums about the McNair so I knew what I had to do to be the most competitive I could be. So yes, I posted on CC right when I got the package. Despite being in the over-obsessed category of McNair recipients, I was never once offended or hurt emotionally by my peers who showed up to the weekend with little care or expectations. I embraced it and become the ‘recruiter’ and was so excited to see my friends get convinced into this program. </p>
<p>The McNair Scholarship is not offered to students simply for their interest. It is offered to the forty students they identify as the best fit for the program. I know it is unfortunate to have a son/daughter who is totally stoked about the program and very qualified, but they cannot just offer it to 40 of these kids. There are hundreds of great universities in our country who offer wonderful scholar programs. If they chose 40 kids who were super familiar with the program, they wouldn’t need to have McNair weekend at all. </p>
<p>Why should a student who is invited to UVA, Bama, and Vanderbilt’s scholars weekends be punished because they are not familiar with USC’s entirely? The weekend is to recruit the top-caliber students to represent the University over these next four years and into the future.</p>
<p>Thanks CockNotTojan for your clarity! You have been very helpful on this thread! Obviously this is a highly anxious time for students and there are misunderstandings on both sides. I just wanted to clarify something. When I said due solely to lack of interest, that was the only thing that the students were missing. They had the full package and then some. That’s all I was saying. I totally agree with you that they shouldn’t pick a student for a scholarship just based on interest. It is funny, but schools like Vanderbilt (as you mentioned), Tulane and Emory have the pick of top students so they have been known to decline admission to students just because they didn’t show interest even if they applied for their scholarships. That’s all I was saying there.
As far as never having your feelings hurt, it was a little different for you because you had been selected. Congratulations! I am happy for you and you seem to be doing well! However, assume for a minute that you worked that hard on the essays, and then you were anxiously waiting and hoping to hear but others were posting how they originally didn’t want to go and then were selected all as you realize that you won’t be picked, it would have stung a little bit I would thing. That is all NeedAVacation was saying.
Anyway, thanks again for all your good your advice! You have helped a lot of people.</p>
<p>Back to the Topic-Has anyone else received the McNair package? Congratulations and good luck to you!</p>
<p>OP here…I appreciate CockNotTrojan commenting because it helps us realize that it is most probably over! Of course - disappointing but reality. Sometimes you just wonder what the committee was looking for to move a student to the semi-finalist stage. I suspect every year it is something different. The application was definitely the most in depth application my dd did - and she spent tons of time. </p>
<p>Congrats to those that have been named semifinalists!</p>
<p>Thanks to all with information on the selection process. Obviously, emotions have run high for everyone involved in the waiting process. Definitely disappointed for our d that she was not selected, but I reminded her what an accomplishment it is to be accepted into the Honors College. Have made two trips to USC to see the school and have been nothing but impressed. Wishing it wasn’t so far away from home, but it feels like the right place for her. Best wishes to all as we move forward!</p>
<p>@Bandmom – Thank you for understanding and I apologize for any misconceptions that were had on either end. Looking from your point of view, I definitely get where you are coming from. I would have been super upset had I worked that hard. Y’all came in the year following a #1 Honors College designation, and a top ten football season. The competition was much harder this year!</p>
<p>That being said, admission to the Honors College is a HUGE deal. I have met some of the most incredible, brilliant kids that were not McNair/Carolina. Getting in-state tuition, an added chunk of scholarship, and all the perks of Honors in phenomenal.</p>
<p>Anyone with questions pertaining to the Honors College, the McNair Scholarship, McNair Weekend, the University, etc., send me a PM here on CC. I truly love talking to excited prospects! I love this place.</p>
