Hello!
I have received the Carolina Scholarship at UNC Chapel Hill which provides $20,500 to cover base tuition and room and board. However, I just recently was offered the Flinn Scholarship which constricts me to in-state at ASU.
The Flinn provides:
- Full Tuition + Board
- Living Stipend
- Scholar Trip to China (3 weeks over the summer + option to stay an extra month to backpack asia)
- Paid study abroad to anywhere else in addition to China
- Basically an open door to anything I want at ASU
- Faculty Mentorship
- Flinns regularly go to Ivies and become Rhodes Scholars for Grad School
- Admittance to Barrett Honors College
The Carolina Scholarship Provides
- Full Tuition and Board
- Faculty Mentor
- A camping trip team bonding event Freshman year
- Admittance to Honors Carolina
I want to go into Political Science so I am leaning towards UNC since it is #11 in PolySci and has such an amazing campus. But I don’t know if I can say no to so much money. Flinn chooses the top 20 kids in Arizona each year so it is extremely prestigious here.
What are your thoughts? I would most likely have to take small loans or get a job to pay my living expenses and pay for study abroad if I went to UNC because I do not have the money for it.
I have until THIS Thursday at 5pm PST to make my decision and I have a campus tour Thursday morning so it is really quick turnaround time.
@jordanch I’m a current Carolina Scholar at UNC and can say I’ve had an amazing experience thus far. It seems like you got the OOS which is actually so much better than you think. 20,500 is more than enough to cover tuition and meals. They also refund anything left over so I frequently found myself getting refund checks I could apply to other things. The scholarship also covers study abroad if you wanted to go for a semester, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that as well. Monetary matters aside, the connections and opportunities you get here at UNC are second to none, especially as a scholar and honors student. The Political Science department is also excellent and top-ranked. If given a choice between the two I’d personally still go with UNC. The quality of education as well as the countless opportunities coupled with the value of a UNC degree rank it above ASU. Not to mention the value of the Carolina Scholarship is larger than you think. Best of luck and congrats on such amazing options!
There are opportunities to apply for things on your own at UNC (like paid summer research positions for undergrads) so you can do that . Also, the amount you are getting fully covers everything for in state except books required, to get your education. also, if you want to save book costs a lot of students use the internet to find PDFs of textbooks (which may or may not be legal) and don’t actually buy all of them
@jordanch: To what do you attribute your success for being awarded these scholarships ?
I suggest taking ASU-Barrett Honors College since it offers substantially more benefits & because you cannot afford UNC without loans and/or a job.
P.S. If I understand correctly, UNC would cost you about $28,000 per year for the non-resident tuition portion plus travel costs to & from Arizona, while ASU covers everything plus gives you a living stipend & travel to China for three or four weeks.
If I am correct, these offers are not even close in value.
@Publisher the UNC scholarship gives me in-state status, so it would cover room and tuition!
@publisher in state tuition and fees is $9,000 a year, if this person is getting $20,500 and in state tuition it is pretty much a full ride. If the person had roommates and lived off campus with the free buses in chapel hill, this amount could cover everything; rent with roommates off campus is 500-750$ (with a pool) a month.
That changes my assessment. Both are great options. If you live & have lived in Arizona for most of your life, then North Carolina could be an exciting change for you.
Personal decision. Two outstanding options.
I suspect that OP has made a decision.