Hi! I’m new here but just wanted to chime in and say that I visited UTK with my daughter last month as well (we’re from NC). We were both really impressed by the campus and the students we met (and thrilled that students are on-campus and not at home). We loved Knox as well - seems like the perfect-sized college city! We have great public univ in NC but admission to the top ones is highly competitive. Border states are great options for universities willing to be generous with OOS merit.
Decisions coming out today - hoping we both get good news!
@nichols51 - congrats to your son! We still waiting for Washington C, Centre, Drew and Wooster for acceptances. Another group of colleges where D was accepted, but no FA package yet (Beloit, Hendrix, etc). Hopefully this week will bring all good news and $$$ for everybody here!
Been AWOL for a while so it is great to see how well most of the kids (and parents) are doing. DD accepted into UNC - CLT and UNC - Wilmington. CLT has asked her to apply to the honors program. Not sure how many people are asked to do this but I may be a bit skeptical at this point. No aid news from either school. I suppose we get aid letter later in spring? She applied to 5 schools. UNC-CH and NCSU decisions should come out in late Jan and UNC-Asheville should be around that time too.
Hi all, 1st time in this thread. My S21 is a high stats kid who has known since 6th grade that he will get a research PhD. After alot of due dilligence, we’re 100% sure that Tennessee is the right choice for him.
The biggest factors for him were the undergrad research opportunties (on campus & at ORNL) and the support related to the Honors programs. He already loves the campus, the community & the climate. He’s hiked the AT so the Smoky Mountains are a big pull. He likes that it’s only a 3 hr drive from home & 90 min to see Grandmomma. He’s our 1 kid who doesn’t love football but he likes that we’ll be visiting on most game weekends.
He’s the one who’s wearing the orange Tennessine shirt (Atomic # 117) on gameday instead of a Power T.
His criteria didn’t include finances but he understood that it’s a consideration for the parents. UT will be close to free and his 2nd-5th choices were 35-60k/yr. UT was his 1st choice even if the others had a full ride to offer.
We’re instate but there are also automatic merit scholarships for OOS of $4-18k/yr.
Great to hear all the talk about UT in this thread. Lived in Knoxville for 2 years. Oldest D attended & 2nd D is a Jr. Neither of them were high stats like S21 (they had 28 & 32 ACT). I think most students can thrive at UT. With S21’s college search, we’ve learned that a high stats student can as well.
As long as your kid isn’t looking for a small school, I think that UT has alot to offer. Super college-town atmosphere. Big enough that any kid can find their people.
We have a D21, but we recently drove through Knoxville and thought it might be a good fit for D23. Do you happen to know how tough it is for OOS kids to be admitted? She also liked Clemson, but I recently read how tough it is for OOS kids to get in there! She has plenty of time, but hers will be a completely different search than we’re having for D21 so trying to start early.
Thank you for your post - my daughter was also admitted to UT yesterday (OOS). We are in NC and added UT to the list because it is a reasonable driving distance and she wants a big school with a nearby city (but not too big of a city). A small handful of kids from her high school go to UT and are having great experiences.
We toured last month and she fell in love with the beautiful campus and city of Knoxville. Getting a nice merit award as an OOS also helps! Now we wait on the rest of the decisions and then make a choice. I do think she can really thrive and be happy at UT!
@Billb7581 we visited Wooster last November…I think some others on this thread have visited, too, if you have questions that could be answered based on a visit experience.
@Billb7581 we visited last year with my D20 and she applied but did not attend. The campus was really nice, although the dorms seemed a bit older. The town was close by and was really cute. Students seemed very bright. Seemed like a school that was not that hard to get into but kids really thrived once they were there. I would definitely describe the kids as “quirky”. I don’t think my preppy, athletic S22 would be a fit there but I think my quirky D20 would have fit right in.
Yea, sorry I am new here. S21 is a 3.75 gpa but a 1160 SAT so we went test optional he is also a recruited football player so these privates “found him”.
So far
Albright - Accepted strongest FA package so far but he doesnt love the area but we haven’t been on a “real” tour yet. Widener is in a terrible area also but we did a complete 180 once we did an actual tour.
Ursinus - Likes the area and the school but FA not as good as Albright. They have a stackable 10K additional scholarship he is applying for which will make this a viable choice should he get it.
McDaniel - Loves the area loves the campus seems like a really good fit, but no FA package yet
Wooster - Got in, no FA package
Widener - Got in no FA package
Stockton and Montclair are in state options he applied to but nothing yet.
@Billb7581 - welcome! My D21 was also accepted to McDaniel (no FA yet). Waiting on decision and FA from Wooster as well. I have high hopes for this week, as tension and anxiety are thru the roof here.
I haven’t been following this thread since it’s inception but what attracted him to McDaniel was they don’t lay out a generic list of Gen Ed credits. The admissions guy (who was an alum) said he wasn’t strong in math or foreign language and was able to fill those requirements with a logic class, and American sign language. S21 wants to be a history teacher and coach football at the HS level, so this really appealed to him since math and foreign language are not his “thing” either.
Also nearly everyone we spoke to completely changed their mind with respect to their major, and graduated on time or are scheduled to graduate on time. One of the tour guides went from Physics to Journalism/Poli Sci!
@Billb7581 - thanks! We are in Illinois and planning a trip to the East sometimes in March/April whenever the top 5 schools are identified and researched. I visited Wooster in 2012 with my older D and it was 8 hours door-to door. I know that my D21 will love the campus.
