No invitation to Scholarship Day…it’s a bummer…but it is what it is…
swim4school, I think it was late February or early March, but I really don’t remember the date. I just remember being very surprised because we did not expect any merit aid from UNC.
@trusting Did your daughter get a Scholarship Day or Excel Carolina invite?
From what I have read, everyone who posted here received them within 24 hours of being accepted.
That is great news to hear Scholarship Day invites may not all haven’t been set out, but I doubt that is the case.
@Joe2015 - no invite for either, which was surprising. I personally think they’ve all gone out.
For all those that didn’t get an invite: I read on a UNC scholarship forum from 2011 that some people who were not invited to Scholarship Day still got a letter offering them $2500/year
Also, based on the Honors Carolina webiste, “invites are typically sent 2-3 week after acceptances”
So maybe there’s hope
@SouthernHope my DD is in the same boat as yours. OOS and nada. I am guessing as an OOS it is even harder to get Honors or any $. She was a Morehead nominee and still nada… Let’s keep hoping but $53k is kinda nuts. I do wish the process was a bit more transparent.
Hey in-state applicant here. I got Excel@Carolina and I was disappointed to have heard nothing about Scholars Day. I have a friend who did NOT get Excel@Carolina but received Scholars Day. What does this mean? Are the invites still going out?
@SouthernHope and @TNmom same here. OOS D accepted w/no aid, and for 50k+ we have a lot of other options. Unfortunately we are not eligible for FA and will be footing the whole bill, so the answer will probably be no. I’m SMH at 8k for IS and 33k for OOS, that is quite a gap.
@SouthernHope and @TNMom : Just spoke with D. Given that UNC pays financial aid out of other students’ tuition - it says so right in their literature - she said that she is summarily turning them down. “IS - OOS Gap is too high, dad. We’re not paying that.” 
So be it.
@Jimkingwood Thinking about this a bit more, I think that’s what concerns me most about the tuition cost…not so much that it’s pricey (though it is 
but because the gap between in and out of state is so high. D has also been accepted to uchicago and it’s expensive…but everyone is paying the same bill… at UNC, in-state is $8000. OOS is $34,000. IMHO, that is nuts.
@SouthernHope Agreed. It is excessive, it is the largest gap I have ever seen. I suppose people are willing to pay it, though. What can I say?
Not that unusual, folks. See http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/2014/12/02/10-most-expensive-universities-for-out-of-state-students – UNC didn’t even make it into the top ten here, for OOS expense. And consider that with the state-mandated 18% OOS cap, they don’t really want or need to encourage even more OOS applications. Is it a bargain for IS? Yes, most definitely – but the IS families have also been paying into the tax system funding the school for decades in most cases. And whether they explicitly state it or not, I’d wager most schools use full-pay tuition to offset scholarships for others. Tuition is part of the schools income and the scholarships are an expense, right?
Also consider that UNC meets full need (as they define it) for in-state and I believe (might have change this year) for OOS. They seem to be more focused on need based aid to make education more affordable for the whole student body rather then using most of the available funds for merit scholarships to increase the number of high stats kids to boast their rank. They do have a small amount of scholarships to attract those kids.
I’m not paying 34K tuition for a public school while the vast majority are paying a good deal less than 8k, when you consider FA. It is insane, as @SouthernHope said.
For 10K more we can go down the road to Duke, or Tulane, Columbia, etc. which are, IMO, better schools and certainly have far better facilities. I think the UNC campus is showing its age, frankly, and I was a little concerned about that when I was there.
D has a 32k / year scholarship offer from Tulane (and several other somewhat less offers), and even with that, I would still consider UNC over Tulane if not for the gap, but, as it is, no. Ain’t happenin’.
If you spend any time on the financial aid board you have seen that the general view is that private schools will often be a better deal than public schools for out of state students (even for in-state for some states). This is particular true for high stats kids as you found out. State schools generally do not have the endowments that the private schools have. Many also use OSS as cash cows. I read somewhere (my memory could be wrong) that NC subsidizes the tuition of in-state students by over 12K a year. Yes the 34K is a large premium compare to the in-state rate but not as large as it appears unless you think NC taxpayers should also subsidize out of state students. NC happens to support UNC better than most states so you see a bigger gap. Some states barely fund their state schools.
UNC aid is more need driven than merit. UNC could still be a good deal for students who don’t get the nice scholarships your daughter got from private schools. She must be one impressive student. Congratulations.
You are right private schools often have better facilities. When you charge 60K+, you have more money to spend. State schools try to keep the tuition more affordable.
Those large cross-fundimg gaps have been generated only in recent years. 34k vs. probably an average of 4k is nuts. It costs a school some 18k to educate an undergrad.
Has anyone received the article yet for Scholarship Day this Friday???
@noname100 nope, still waiting on that
@betatech I am hoping that we receive it sometime today or tomorrow!