Has anyone gotten notification of acceptance for University of South Carolina Honors College yet? I know the first round (usually those invited for top scholars weekend) are notified in December. My S hasn’t heard anything yet and we are still sitting with fingers crossed.
My D is a sophomore. Two years ago, her letter arrived the Friday before Christmas-- but of course things may be different this year.
Also, just a caution that many more students get their HC acceptances earlier than February than are invited to Top Scholars weekend. I don’t know actual numbers, of course, but would not be surprised if 200+ students are notified early about the Honors College, while only 40 will be invited to Top Scholars.
Thank you so much.
@senpar
My honors acceptance just came in the mail earlier today. Do you have a source for December notifications being linked with Top Scholars weekend? Thanks!
When we were at the Ruth Chris dinner, I thought that the information presented indicated that the December notifications were the top picks and therefore more likely in the running for the Top Scholar weekend invitation.
BTW Congrats anon02!
When do you find out if you are invited to Top Scholars?
If follows previous years, near the end of January. There are separate weekends for in-state and OOS competition. These are usually near end of February. I don’t see a date anywhere on-line, but you can call and ask if you want to get a heads up or try and look back at threads from last year to get an idea. Remember, things can change from year to year so calling is best for accurate info.
My daughter got accepted to the Honors College. She would like to visit the school again for one of the admitted student/honors college weekends but I don’t won’t to schedule the flight (we live in the Midwest) until we know about the scholars weekends. Any idea when that will be announced. Trying to not make multiple trips. Thanks.
D received her acceptance over the holiday while we were on vacation. I assume everyone had the PS at the bottom of the HC acceptance letter to “keep any eye out for your scholarship offer…”? Is this tied to the “at least X$” scholarship letter that was received in the original acceptance (YES) package? What other scholarships are there b/s McNair/Horseshoe?
McNair/Horseshoe (and Carolina/Hamilton/Stamps) are the competitive scholarships for students who filled out Honors application. But yes, there are other merit scholarships available for all USC students based on stats. Look at financial aid/scholarship page on admissions here: http://www.sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/undergraduate_admissions/tuition_scholarships/scholarships/index.php
look under non-resident to see the various awards and the approximate stats that you need. If you are NMF, then Leiber is automatic and stackable.
I saw this too, but assumed it was related to HC scholarships, not general Admissions scholarships (listed in above link) since it was an HC letter. I had the same question. I guess we wait and find out.
Has anyone from NJ gotten their Honors College Acceptance yet ?
We too attended the Ruth Chris Dinner but my D as not yet heard back on Honors acceptance and had hoped to hear in December 
but nothing yet
I agree that more than 40 OOS applicants likely received honors acceptances during the December wave. I think the PS simply indicates that scholarship decisions will be coming (they already said so in general admissions letter). Obviously, a small subset of those that will definitely receive a full tuition waiver and got into honors have a shot at the big ones, but chances are still slim for any particular individual and no one should read that much into early HC acceptance.
If you received your Honors College acceptance in December, you will probably receive at least the McKissick Scholarship which is In-State Tuition plus $2,000/year. Most likely, you will receive the Cooper Scholarship which is In-State Tuition plus $4,000/year. You are also in the running for the McNair/Horseshoe Scholarship, but the odds are still very low. They usually FedEX the McNair/Horseshoe packages at the end of January. Good Luck!
My S was a Capstone Scholar last year and received the McKissick.
Dear all, you might be interested in the below link. From what I can gather, invitations will be sent via fedex around end of January, and the interview dates has already been set, as you can see from below.
It says that the McNair/Horseshoe scholarship interview weekend will be from Feb 25th to Feb 27th. Feb 25th is Saturday but Feb 27th is Monday. So how many hours of school do scholarship participants need to miss? I am asking this question to past participants regarding approximate schedule of the weekend activities. I guess they also need Monday on top of Saturday and Sunday.
"The McNair and Horseshoe Scholars Awards are two of the most prestigious awards at the university. Forty out-of-state students with strong academic records who are leaders in their high schools and communities will be invited to participate in an interview weekend. Of these 40 candidates, half will be named McNair Scholars, and the other half will be named Horseshoe Scholars. Candidates must participate in the entire weekend (Feb. 25-27, 2017) in order to remain in consideration for these awards. Last year, McNair and Horseshoe Scholars had an average SAT score of 1545 (ACT score of 34) and an average weighted high school GPA of 4.80. Recipients of these awards qualify for the in-state tuition rate.
Please note: To apply for these scholarships, both an application for general university admission and a Top Scholars application must be submitted to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. The deadline for McNair and Horseshoe Scholars is Nov. 15."
Does Univ of South Carolina reimburse travel costs, including airplane fares and hotel costs? What is their policy? Just wondering. Can both parents show up, or do parents usually show up, given the fact that most students will be “minors”?
@websensation When my S attended, USC provided airfare and hotel accommodations for 1 parent and 1 student. In addition, the activities started late Saturday afternoon and ended early afternoon on Monday. Therefore, students should only have to miss one day of school. The actual student interviews were on Monday. Also, only one parent attends the weekend activities with their student. Good luck!
@senpar Sounds like you were at The Ruth Chris Dinner in Paramus, NJ we went to. Have you been accepted into Honors yet ?As we are in NJ but nothing yet - still waiting.
This is late but I received my HC acceptance letter 12/20? (was out of town and came back to the letter) with acceptance to USC in general sometime around 11/20 (again was out of town and came back to the letter), which was surprisingly fast considering I applied about a week after the EA deadline. I am OOS (Ohio) and was offered the scholarship that lowers my tuition to in-state tuition. 34 ACT, somewhere around a 3.8/9 unweighted GPA, 4.4 weighted with 5 APs this year, although one is an art.