Hi everyone,
Is anyone able to tell me what the merit scholarship amount their child got at App State?
Not super-high stats, that won’t help me - lol. I’m trying to figure out what my son might get. GPA is 96 on a 100 pt scale - I think that translates to a 3.8, maybe? And projected SATs to be around 1200. I’m just wondering if this school gives merit money for a student like that or not?
You can PM me if you’d prefer not to respond publicly.
Interested both in in-state and OOS awards (we are considering relocating before his senior year).
My daughter (class of 2021) is in-state and got around $5000, I think. I believe it was a one-time award and not renewable, but not 100% sure. App was a “likely” for her. Her stats were higher than your sons. She went elsewhere but has a lot of friends at App and they all love it! You’ll have to research NC’s residency requirements. I believe it will take at least a year of being an actual NC resident to qualify for in-state.
Several years ago a friend’s son with a 4.0, 50 plus dual enrollment credits, and a 34 ACT, and was in state got zero merit money. Also, got zero financial aid money even though their expected family contribution was $8000 less than the cost. If he does apply make sure you apply for housing as soon as he is accepted even before he commits because like many colleges they are have a lack of housing. Also, he hopefully could get his first or second choice for housing. Definitely check the requirements to get in state tuition because my son had to verify through a website that he was a NC a resident for in state colleges.
Here’s the 2025 chain. There’s many mentions of scholarships but few amounts. The only I see in there is $2K - not sure if in or out-of-state. I think - could be wrong - most NC publics are not aggressive merit wise. But generally scholarships are a bit bigger for OOS.
I hope you don’t change your life just so your child can attend a specific school. That’s a huge move - I hope that’s not the reason. Tons of great schools out there - tons - and many your child can be happy at. If you have a budget, I promise there’s an affordable school out there for you. That said, if you’re moving anyway, you can always budget for the full in-state cost and any money is gravy.
I thought the same thing, so I was very surprised that my daughter received an award. Also, App pulls a lot of kids from our high school. Maybe they liked one of her essays?
Re housing - I thought they recently added some brand new dorms? I haven’t heard any issues about getting dorm rooms but rather that off campus housing can be competitive.
OP - not sure you could move here and establish residency in time for your son to apply as an in-state student. If he likes the mountains, he should also look at Western Carolina and their NC Promise program.
I’ve met quite a few families over the years who have a chosen to relocate down here as their kids were accepted into southern colleges - mostly because they’ve wanted to live in a warmer climate and just needed the college acceptance as the catalyst.
There was a poster here Kat something or another who DID move to NC to establish residency for college instate purposes. I can’t ree,her her full screenname, but if someone tags her, I bet she will respond.
@MaineLonghorn do you remember this poster’s screen name?
Kat here, and yes we moved from CA to NC so my oldest son would graduate (his senior year) from NC high school and establish NC residency.
BEST move ever! With 5 kiddos high school and college age the quality education with the extreme affordability both tuition and COL worked great for us. My sis and her family also moved from CA to here about the same time.
3 of my 5 graduated undergrad from the NC system with STEM degrees and then also attended professional school here as well. They all did receive some form of merit depending on their stats and majors.
UNC -CH granted younger son admission to their joint MD/MBA program with full merit scholies and fellowships for both programs. Med school does not often offer scholarships so he promptly accepted, turning down various ivies for med/biz school.
My niece and nephew both attended App State and also received some merit. Not full offers but enough to make a dent since in-state is very affordable (2-5K per year). Also applied some outside scholarships which also helped, no FA offered.
Last one graduated this year in nursing and was offered several positions here in NC. Older brother graduated 2 years ago and is working in DC for a consulting firm for a DOD contract.
Both had summer internships while at App which lead to current positions. But more importantly they had a blast. They loved every minute and built some long lasting friendships. Very happy with their decisions.
Would we move again from the Bay area to NC, YEP! It was a haul 3000+ miles in a Uhaul and as a single mom it was not easy but so worth it. All have college degrees and then some and now we live by the beach something we could not afford in CA.
App State is very popular with NC students. If he has those stats and is in-state it would be a likely for him. I’m not sure how likely if you are currently out of state. There are a few big merit scholarships at App State, but generally UNC-system schools are such a good deal they don’t offer tons of scholarships.
They did build new dorms, so not sure housing is an issue.
Another reason to move to NC is NCSSM if the kids are still in HS. NCSSM has both online and residential 11th/12th grade for selected STEM students. It is not for everyone but for us, it was an incredible opportunity.
The reason to not move to NC is too many have moved in and our roads cannot handle the traffic, although this is not unique to NC.
Thanks everyone for your replies! I appreciate hearing your perspectives - they were definitely all thought-provoking. We have two kids still in high school, so when you compare the cost of college for both of them, instate for NC seems to be around $16k without merit, and instate NJ is around $28k. So, over two kids college, we would save approximately $100,000. Definitely nothing to sneeze at. We have time because they will be starting college in Fall 2024 and Fall 2025, respectively.
Additionally, our older son is at college in Georgia, and it would be great to be closer to him. We are also looking for a change of lifestyle - we are both now working 100% remotely, and would love to live on a lake with a boat, and live somewhere that the kids would love to come home to, and bring their college friends.
We go back and forth between - 1) this is a crazy idea and we should stay put, and 2) we should just go. There’s nothing keeping us here and moving would be a great adventure, and a missed opportunity if we stay put.
So far, as I do my research, NC seems like it would fit all of our criteria, with lower in-state college, lots of lakes, mountains, and good climate. It’s just narrowing down our search and picking a specific location is a bit overwhelming! Also, with the rising housing costs, our house budget of $500k seems to limit what’s available. Also need to consider high schools, since our DS’s still have 2-3 years to go!
Or you can come to neighboring TN, get the same, and pay no state income tax as well as property tax that’s insanely low :). You get Tn Promise for school. My wife wants to leave…but not me. It’s too good financially, especially if you work remote.
The no state income tax definitely makes it harder to leave TN once you’re here! Whenever we discuss moving somewhere else, we always circle back to staying put because our money goes so much further here. But if we were going to leave before our kids entered college, Virginia and North Carolina are both very appealing for the great in-state college options and just being overall great places to live.
We have been looking at Tennessee as well! Also lots of great lakes, close to Georgia, and beautiful mountains. What other schools besides University of Tennessee should I look at? It seems like the in-state COA for University of Tennessee would be around $25k w/o merit.
UTK has merit plus the tn promise which you earn via service. Looks like they increased it. See link
It combines with merit.
The smartest kids in TN often end up at Alabama. It’s as close as UTK if you are west of Nashville. And the auto merit beats anywhere in the country for the smartest kids. My son goes there for cheaper than UTK although that’s not why he goes there. He was sold on the really nice, single dorm room. But his tuition is $3k
I was kidding on coming here. Of course the entire northeast and west seem to be. But no state income tax is nice.
Others to look at would be ETSU, UT Chatt, UT Martin and Tn Tech, all accessible to lakes and mountains. Well UT Martin just lakes.
I am an NC native and App State grad who now lives in TN. My soon-to-be college freshman who rock climbs and loves outdoor activities was very interested in Watauga Honors College at App but the lack of good merit aid to offset the OOS tuition moved it off the list. I was sad because I have the best memories from my four years there.
While our TN publics are more expensive all-in for in-state students than NC schools are for NC students, our merit aid and state lottery scholarships do reduce the cost quite a bit. As @tsbna44 stated, these awards can be stacked, and the increase in the lottery scholarship was nice as well. I work at a public comprehensive university in the state, and with my tuition discount and her merit awards, our out-of-pocket net cost for my DD at UT Chattanooga will be less than my parents paid for me to go to App State in the 1990s. Her preferred choice was a more selective LAC across the country, but it would have cost 10x more, and we have two more kids behind her.
My DD applied to both UT Knoxville (~24,000 undergraduates) and UT Chattanooga (~10,000 undergraduates) for their honors programs, which are quite different. UTK does not give a scholarship and has several different honors tracks that range from 15 students to 350 students… UTC admits 50-75 freshman, awards an additional $2,000 merit scholarship, and has more of a liberal-arts-inside-a-university cohort community feel. Both schools offer some study abroad support for their honors students.
Outside the honors programs, UTC has lower GPA and ACT/SAT thresholds for merit than UTK, so your child would qualify for the second-highest award there even if no award at UTC. The overall tuition and housing cost is also less, so it can be an interesting alternative for kids who aren’t looking for a school the size of UTK but still want access to the outdoors. Both schools are very close to the mountains and outdoor activities. UTC has a downtown campus right on the river, with lots of waterfront activities. UTK has that fabulous SEC energy for kids looking for a big sports school with lots of students.
While we love TN, being land-locked sure makes you miss the quick access to NC beaches My DH’s parents moved to NC from southern NJ decades ago before my DH and his sister went to college and it was a great decision for them. Good luck making your decision!
Thank you for this great explanation of Tennessee schools - much appreciated!! It’s so hard to find the ‘real scoop’ when researching online. This is very helpful.
My DH’s parents moved to NC from southern NJ decades ago before my DH and his sister went to college and it was a great decision for them. Good luck making your decision!