<p>Since there has been nothing posted in months on the Ole Miss forum, I will ask here. Anyone know anything about Ole Miss? My NE liberal son is heading down for a summer program as well as looking at the school in more detail. I've seen some posts from Curm but couldn't follow them. Questions-
Impressions of school overall?
How is Honors College, and compare it to other So. Honors colleges?
What is the merit aid situation?</p>
<p>I've been on the site of course, but you guys know best.</p>
<p>My ds just finished their first year. Overall, I have been very impressed with The University of Mississippi. I watched an amazing year unfold. The Honors College is top notch. The Dean of the Honors College is an impressive leader. The students admire him and his vision for the Honors College. Competition was keen for acceptance this year. Great Grades and ACT/SAT scores are not a guarantee of acceptance. The HC offers may perks and extensive honors class offerings. But I get the feeling that the main benefit of the HC is a sense of belonging and pride. The kids study in the HC, hang out together, participate in community service and have a very active student senate.</p>
<p>As far as merit aid goes…overall…extremely generous. Specific stats/major would be helpful.</p>
<p>Neat school gaining in stature in the South. Northeasterners may experience some culture shock. Honors College is strong. SEC sports scene is amazing. UGA has the best Honors College in the South, but 'Bama and Miss are gaining ground.</p>
<p>Thanks,
DS has 2220 SAT; 1440 CR & Math; 760 SAT2 APUS; gpa is 87 UW where highest is 94UW(1 student) at prep school; major is journalism or psychology, probably psychology. Several AP’s. How does major impact merit?
Seekingknowledge what part of the country are you from?
MofWC - he is leaving Monday for the month, I am sure it will be a culture shock but a great experience particularly as he’s looking at several SEC schools.</p>
<p>Idinct - Fret not over the University of Mississippi. Your S will come away with his own impressions. The only question I would have is “Why Ole Miss?” A 2200 SAT will attract excellent scholarships at many schools.</p>
<p>I’m watching the Ole Miss threads with high interest. It is on my third son’s list. My former sister in law’s parent was a prof there a few decades ago and I’m looking forward to a return visit and tour with # three. Looks like it has alot to offer to the bright kids that love football, comraderie and all that. S1 and 2 never considered the south and preferred small schools but 3 I think would love the south and has a strong preference for a big school.</p>
<p>It appears I didn’t communicate my question well. Permit me to try again.</p>
<p>The Midwest and South have many schools with much to offer bright kids that love football, camaraderie (you didn’t really mean comraderie … bonding between two males?) and all that. What I was asking the OP is why the University of Mississippi … as opposed to UFlorida or UGeorgia or UNorthCarolina or UTexas … or for that matter UIllinois or UWisconsin?</p>
<p>You would think so, but not that I’ve found particularly when combined with an 87uw gpa. Even though the top student only has a 94 at this prep school. It isn’t enough to get into the honors program at our state flagship. There are some 2nd tier LAC that might offer $10-$20K, but their coa is $50K+ so…</p>
<p>Oh, to answer your question, S wanted a warm climate. UGA & UNC are very competitive, especially with merit. CA schools are on the radar but they are all private and have $5OK COA. We are looking at UMiami, but I think its the same issue and I’m not sure about UFlorida.</p>
<p>OP - Check out the South Carolina schools … Clemson and USouthCarolina. One of the non-flagship state universities in either Florida or North Carolina might work also. Good luck with the search!</p>
<p>Newhope, no I didn’t proofread and no spell check, mea culpa…anyway it would be interesting if the OP mentioned what other schools her son was interested in. I can tell you mine is interested in UoM (state flagship), Wisconsin, Clemson, Penn State and Ole Miss + civil engineering and maybe the Coast Guard Academy at this point so yes the theme is quite obvious…but mine has much time to refine a list.</p>
<p>OP…we are from the Midwest…but lived on the East Coast for many years. The reason I asked about a major…Ole Miss offers some very large additional scholarships for certain majors. Is your son a NMF?</p>
<p>As far as Southern Schools go, my ds looked very closely at Alabama and Georgia and Rhodes. Great schools. Ole Miss just fit and offered exactly the majors and opportunities they were looking for.</p>
<p>No, not NMF, decided to prep after the psat. He is looking at UA, AU & Ole Miss in the South, possible UMiami. In CA he has looked at LMU, Oxy, Chapman, & USC. Thinking of applying to tier 2 LAC’s but haven’t been to any that were promising.</p>
<p>OP, I can’t speak to the strength of the psychology department or Journalism school. I’m just not that familiar with them. However, if your son has some extra time while he is at Ole Miss, encourage him to make appointments with the Honors College, psych and the J-school. The people at Ole Miss are incredibly good at giving prospective students what they need to make their decision. </p>
<p>Sounds like COA is an important factor for you (as it was for us). If you haven’t already done so, call down to admissions/financial aid and ask how your son’s gpa and SAT scores will convert to the 4.0 scale and ACT scores for Ole Miss. Then, you will be able to determine what automatic academic excellence scholarships your son will be eligible for.</p>
<p>A few additional Honors College points for use in comparision: First, is a program call Freshman Ventures. In a nutshell, small groups of freshman submit proposals on how to answer a given question. Several selected groups are then given a budget and they travel throughout the USA to answer it. Both my ds did this…there feedback…amazing. HC students also get to register first. HC requires 29 honors level credits for graduation. But the one he might want to think about is the thesis that is required for the HC before graduation. Some kids don’t want to do the extra work, others jump at the chance. The thesis, presentation and defense are at the level I experienced in grad school. This looks very good on Grad School apps and resumes.</p>
<p>The GPA needs “explanation”. You can view it as a deal-killer for merit aid…or you can view it as an opportunity to educate the admissions staff on the quality and rigor of your student’s school. Many merit aid programs and Honors College state that they have rigid cut-offs and qualifications. How rigid are they? Let’s find out. </p>
<p>I’d suggest an all out assault. I’d do up a school profile for the GC to send (assuming that theirs is not as good as the one I’d do ;)) that explains in detail the grading scale and the distribution of grades on that scale. Is admission to the high school competitive? Based on testing? IOW, there are ways to explain that GPA. I wouldn’t count on the high school’s published and provided material to explain it well enough. Be pro-active. Be creative. </p>
<p>As an example…I have had occasion to get to know a very impressive student poster on CC. Excellent small prep high school. By his estimation his class rank may not have been top half , “certainly not top third”. Having my own pre-conceived notions about rank, I was more than perplexed. Did not compute. </p>
<p>Now…what does that class rank say about him? Not much it appears. Top 10 UG (Duke), Top 5 med school (WashU), Number 1 Law (Yale). He’s M.D./J.D… </p>
<p>In a recent conversation he told me that several of his classmates from his tiny high school are classmates of his at Yale Law and one was at Yale Med. A-hah! NOW, I got it! It all makes sense in context. He went to school on some other planet where everybody is a superstar. I’d wager his GC did a great job explaining that to Duke or maybe Duke was already familiar with his school on the other coast, but the point is the same. An exception was made for this student from this school. He was no longer just his class rank.</p>
<p>LDINCT, you may want to pm mantori-suzuki, whose son is starting at Ole Miss this fall. He is in an intensive Chinese language program which seems very interesting and I think he would be a good source of info about the school.</p>
<p>Curm, I was hoping you’d respond as you are wise. I am going to have to be very creative, lucky I work in Marketing. The profile they told me never to be without is fairly comprehensive. Tells exactly how many kids have that 94 gpa (1), etc. You have to test and apply they have fairly strict cut-offs. I believe he could get into some very “good” schools even top 20 possibly as many do at his private school- top students go to HYP, etc. He is top half, but that’s it. The problem is, is he’s not going to get merit at any of those top tier schools. And we need merit as he is our 5th child and we are old now. Many of the state schools which might give him merit have strict cut offs as you know, although I see some are hedging a bit… and saying they are taking more of a holistic view. If only they would look at it:The kid with the 94uw has a 4.0; then his 87uw works out to a 3.7; but not getting many takers for that one.<br>
I’m going to meet with his GC in a couple of weeks since I’ve heard that some of these schools might accept a letter or addendum converting his grade to a “regular” gpa. Not sure if the school or GC is going to want to help with this. As they are a private school they aren’t that familiar with the merit situation. FA yes, but merit, no.<br>
I think that ultimately he will be sucessful with merit somewhere, but its not going to be easy- lucky we are starting now. Hopefuly by the Nov or Dec deadlines we can iron some of this out. It may not be sorted out to get the early automatic scholarships unfortunately. He will likely have great recs- his teachers love him. Not a lot of EC’s except for sports as he works. </p>
<p>Now what can you tell me about Ole Miss? We are going down to Ole Miss and UA next week as he’s at the Ole Miss summer program.</p>
<p>SK- we are heading down next week with transcript and profile in hand so we will see how we make out. Thanks for the info on HC, I think he will learn more while he is down there for the month of July.</p>
<p>If I read Ole Miss’ scholarship site correctly you only need a 3.0 and a 1410 to receive the Academic Excellence nonresident award of $7938 per year. That brings coa to around $20K, not as generous as other merit programs, but not sure how we are going to resolve the gpa issu. Not sure if they even have anything better for non-residents. Wonder if they combine that with other awards. I would think his 87 at rigorous private school and 2220 would make him competitive for the honors college.<br>
Ole Miss is the only one I’ve seen where you don’t need a 3.5 for most merit awards.</p>
</p>
as you are wise. I am going to have to be very creative, lucky I work in Marketing. The profile they told me never to be without is fairly comprehensive. Tells exactly how many kids have that 94 gpa (1), etc. You have to test and apply they have fairly strict cut-offs. I believe he could get into some very “good” schools even top 20 possibly as many do at his private school- top students go to HYP, etc. He is top half, but that’s it. The problem is, is he’s not going to get merit at any of those top tier schools. And we need merit as he is our 5th child and we are old now. Many of the state schools which might give him merit have strict cut offs as you know, although I see some are hedging a bit… and saying they are taking more of a holistic view. If only they would look at it:The kid with the 94uw has a 4.0; then his 87uw works out to a 3.7; but not getting many takers for that one.<br>