<p>DS got an invitation packet yesterday to UNC Honors. We are oos. He was not invited to scholarship weekend, and was an early admit. I had not seen anyone posting about the mail in the last couple of days. We would still love to be considered for a scholarship. Does anyone know if all the EA scholarship opportunities have been given out already?</p>
<p>I'm in the exact same position. I'd love to know if there was still some hope left for scholarship money. I'm not going to be eligible for need-based aid, so merit is really my only shot. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Ditto for our family. Also, we are very interested to learn more about UNC Honors from the students' perspective, i.e. quality of classes, advising, special opportunities, etc.</p>
<p>I have commented on this in other posts but UNC's merit money awards are usually the LAST thing that is sent. They don't over-commit by very much because they have a very high historical matriculation by those who do receive the awards. Because of this, they get deeper into the RD process so that they can have a better overall picture of the whole applicant group before sending out merit awards.</p>
<p>Be patient...if they were among those offered Honors they are certainly in the running for merit money. It would never hurt to contact (either yourselves or HS college counselor) the regional admissions rep to stress how important merit money is in the decision process especially if you have other awards in hand.</p>
<p>Remember.....it is still all about YIELD.</p>
<p>To add, I believe last year there were at least 2 (maybe 3?) scholarship weekends..... D chose not to attend UNC-CH, and felt strongly about telling them early on, so her merit money would be "available" for someone else.</p>
<p>Also, if you are OOS and get UNC merit $, it's a much better deal than instate NC'ers get..... Good luck, and don't despair if you haven't heard anything yet....it's still VERY early.</p>
<p>eadad and astrophysicsmom- Thanks for your insights; they are both very helpful and encouraging. Any comments on the honors program at UNC?</p>
<p>The best part of the honors program in my opinion has been the ability to take smaller versions of what would have otherwise been very large classes – an introductory econ course with 20-something students instead of 300-something, for example. This is particularly useful in getting to know professors on a personal level. Meeting other honors students through classes and social/service programming has also been fun.</p>
<p>That said, I don’t think the honors program is as essential to my UNC experience as I thought it was going to be coming in. It’s certainly not required in order to make the most out of Chapel Hill academically. It is worth repeating what has been said in other threads: The Honors Program is remarkably accessible - non-honors students can take honors courses when space is available, one can apply for the honors program once you get here, there is no one dorm where all honors students live, and being in the honors program is not the same process as graduating with honors.</p>
<p>Check out the Honors Program website: <a href="http://www.honors.unc.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.honors.unc.edu/</a></p>
<p>I agree with ThoughProvoking: my daughter loves -- truly loves -- UNC, and I'm guessing she probably would feel the same way without the Honors Program. That said, Honors is nice. </p>
<p>It was especially nice in easing the transition to college. Some of the benefits occurred before the first day of classes. First, the Honors office offered overnight visits in the spring. My daughter got to spend the night with an honors student, go to classes with her, and get a really nice feel for the school, dorms, food, classes, students, teachers, etc. This not only helped with her choice of schools, but made her feel a bit more comfortable about starting in the fall – she had a better idea of what to expect. (The timing of this visit also corresponded with a special program called Carolina Crossroads, where she got to take a trip to Research Triangle and meet with UNC alums. She loved that.) </p>
<p>She also got to register for her two honors classes early in the summer. This she also loved, and it reduced the stress a bit, knowing that she had two really interesting and small enrollment classes she'd be taking in the fall. Most OOS students usually do the orientation immediately prior to school starting, and that means they don't enroll in courses until then. So having the two honors courses "in place" was nice. Plus, both of her honors courses have been at the top of her favorites list. And honors courses do provide additional opportunities to meet some academically like-minded students. </p>
<p>Honors students can also choose to room with another honors student, and the program will arrange that. Plus, there's nothing to suggest that it's not potluck, but my daughter and her roommate are awfully well-matched! It makes me wonder if the honors office looked at admissions files to match them! Regardless, it increases the odds of having a roommate who is at least pretty serious about academics. Plus, the common belief is if you're honors, you get into one of the nicer dorms, and/or your first choice. Don't know if that's true across the board, but it was true for my daughter and the honors students she’s gotten to know. Oh, and there was a lunch thing during orientation, so she got to meet other honors students early on, and that’s nice. </p>
<p>The honors students also have honors advisors -- although my daughter hasn't indicated this makes much difference. </p>
<p>But, the best thing about UNC Honors Program is the UNC part! It’s really a great school with great opportunities, academically and otherwise!</p>
<p>Leslie99 hit the nail on the head. S is First year OOS and in the Honors Program. I think that helped sway the intial decision to attend UNC and a big part of that was the overnight visit in the spring. It gave him a real taste of UNC by meeting with students, a night in the dorm and attending classes. </p>
<p>The ability to enroll in two classes early was a big plus, that being said while he still attends some honors programing it has not seemed to be a central focus of his UNC experience to date. He has other activities that he has been very involved in that seem to be more important to him at this point.</p>
<p>H101 classes like Econ, Bio, and Chem are known to be curved more than regular 101 classes - students are rarely given lower than a B-.</p>
<p>I really like the honors classes, especially Peter Kaufman's religion class that's offered a first year seminar. The preferred dorming's also a plus. Every semester they also have a "food for thought" dinner, where a few honors students gather (it's intimate and on a first-come-first-serve basis) and discuss a topic for a few hours. I really liked that. In the future I'm planning on taking advantage of the honors study abroad programs, too.</p>
<p>Peter Kaufman's first year Honor's seminar impressed my S enough to take a second class with him and eventually choose Religious Studies as one of his majors. It is the highest department at UNC, in the top two nationally every year. He was a TA for Dr. Kaufman last year.</p>
<p>My D attended Peter's seminar on January 24th while in Chapel Hill for Scholarship Day on the 25th. She was very impressed with the class, the students and Peter. He took her and her host for coffee and chocolate after class and that made her day. </p>
<p>Those two days convinced her that UNC is her school of choice. Unfortunately, I read in the Daily Tarheel that Peter is leaving for the University of Richmond.</p>
<p>Yeah, he is, I believe to help out with immigration stuff. Fear not, though, they're making sure that his course will live on. I really think that it'll be okay.</p>
<p>Cloying </p>
<p>You are a national treasure in the making.</p>
<p>Kind of off topic, but I was wondering how strict they are on the whole two honors class per year thing?
I am in an insanely French class - and added to skipping a level due to schedueling conflicts - I am scared that I will end up dropping it because I will do very poorly on it despite of all my efforts. However, I am only taking two honors classes this year, so I am a bit scared on what happens if I drop it.</p>