My son has expressed an interest in UNC. My mother got her master’s from there back in the late 1940s, so I suppose it would be kind of neat for him to go there (I have a photo of Eleanor Roosevelt speaking to one of her classes, and Andy Griffith was a student at the time who was convinced he would never be a success as an actor because of his accent).
My son is a good student. He currently has a 34 ACT; he hopes for a 36 but I would guess he’ll only have a 35 before he graduates. I hope that he’ll make the National Merit cutoff in three weeks. But from what I’ve read on the school’s website, there seems to be virtually no merit aid. Likewise, a lot of schools are generous with OOS fee waivers for top students, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with UNC.
Am I correct on this? My son had been pressing me for a campus visit, but when I told him this he lost interest. I suspect we are too rich for need-based aid and too poor to spend a fortune on college. Thanks!
There is merit aid but it is very difficult for out of state students to get it. My daughter is an out of state freshman at UNC; she was the valedictorian, had very high test scores and very good leadership etc and did not get any. She did not even make the honors program. UNC does, however, give excellent FA. They are a school that meets full need and they use the EFC from the FAFSA ( you will also fill out the profile). We got excellent aid this year and will continue to get it for the next two years as our EFC won’t change much. Senior year we will be full pay.I must tell you that we will have 2 kids in college for 3 years- this is why we are getting aid. With one college student we get zero. I found the Net Price Calculator to be accurate- within $50. Good luck.
Thanks @twogirls , that’s what I was afraid of. Our income is all over the place, so I’m not sure what we will be looking at for 2016, which will be the main year they will be looking at for need-based aid. I’m pretty sure we won’t qualify.
I did not think we would qualify either, but we did. Like I mentioned, we will not qualify once we only have one in college. The NPC was accurate for us, but we are pretty ordinary. I have been told that if you have your own business, are divorced, etc, the NPC might not be accurate. Good luck. UNC takes the total cost of attendance (approx $50,000 including books etc) and subtracts your FAFSA EFC. The difference is your “need” and they will meet it with a combination of grants, subsidized loans, and work study. We almost did not fill out the forms because I was so convinced we would not qualify for aid at schools that meet need. Once again, good luck!