What are the average test scores for a full ride at the University of South Carolina?
Are there free rides at USC? (Free tuition, room, board, books)? If so, the average must be quite high…like ACT 35ish…unless maybe the student offers some ethnic diversity or some other hook.
These don’t seem to be full free rides…
Stamps Scholars annual value: Up to $20,000 + tuition reduction + $10,000 enrichment fund
Four-year value: Up to $167,000
McNair Scholars annual value: $15,000 + tuition reduction
Four-year value with tuition reduction: More than $135,000
Horseshoe Scholars annual value: $11,000
Four-year value with tuition reduction: More than $119,000
The Top Scholars Awards are the most prestigious awards at the university. Approximately, 45 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 candidates, 20 will be named McNair Scholars and 20 will be named Horseshoe Scholars. Additionally, the top five candidates will be nominated as Stamps Scholars and will interview for the chance to receive an enrichment stipend to fund opportunities such as undergraduate research, study abroad, service projects or unpaid internships.
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.
What is your situation?
What are your stats?
What is your home state?
I’m from South Carolina, no family contribution, 4.5 GPA, waiting for ACT scores. My estimate is a 29-32. I have tons of community service, as well. Female hoping to pursue a biochemistry degree.
Hmmmm…then something has changed. The McNair was a full ride Scholarship. Highly competitive…and requires completion of the scholarship and honors college application…which is a doozie!
The instate cost of attendance is about $27,000 a year…so some of the above awards WOULD cover the full cost of attendance for an instate student.
Also, check to see if U of SC still allows stacking of awards. When my kid applied for 2006 admission, students could stack scholarships up to the cost of attendance…and that included both awards from within the university and outside scholarships.
My kid got a MCKissick, which at the time was a reduction to instate tuition and $2000 a year stipend. But she was also on the running for an additional $1000 a year departmental,scholarship…which would have been added to the McKissick if she had attended.
Doesn’t the state of SC have some sort of Palmetto Promise?
Is that for good stats or for lowish income students?
@PreMedLiz are you lowish income?
It doesn’t sound like your possible ACT score would be high enough. Those merit awards are often directed at tippy top stats…students who they’re poaching from - say - Duke or Emory or Vandy.
USC allows the Leiber to stack on top of their other Top Scholars awards. If you are a NMF and a Top Scholar (I think SC residents qualify under the Carolina Scholars award), the stacked scholarships are very close to full ride.
SC has Palmetto Fellowship for top students. There’s a link on scholarships page to that site since my info may not be current. It was something like 6700 a year as freshman and then went up and you can get a STEM supplement as a freshman for the difference since as sophomore you get more as a STEM major (again check for current info). D was NMF and got automatic Leiber which as ^ mentioned is stackable and was a Hamilton scholar (other instate top scholar). I can’t quote numbers right now, but she ended up with all her expenses covered. She was top of class, ACT 36, etc.
Honestly, if you have Palmetto Fellow and Leiber (10k instate) that leaves you with a pretty small number (relatively speaking) to work up to a “full ride” amount.
Check web page to see if your ACT when combined with class rank and GPA will get you the Palmetto Fellows. If you are studying STEM I think there is an automatic 3,300 supplement. So with Palmetto that gets you to 10K before you look at any other scholarships.
How did you do on PSAT?
You need now something like 35 ACT and near perfect GPA and good essays to get MCNair or Horseshoe. Plus be NMF for Liebers. Our kid got Cooper and Liebers as an International Business major at Honors College but didn’t go there because he luckily got into Stanford and as expected to Berkeley. Another reason is my kid wanted to stay in West Coast after school to work, and while Univ of South Carolina Honors College is well known around that area, it’s not nationally as well known.
This statement is inaccurate. While obviously test scores matter, they are not hyper-focused on near perfect test scores. As a matter of fact, they specifically referenced how many perfect 36s were not selected bc the students didn’t bring in personal qualities they were seeking. I know my dd’s test scores, while high enough for NMF and numerous automatic scholarships, were not close to perfect. (She did have unique strengths and international awards including representing the US in an academic Olympiad.)
So for others reading, do not be afraid to apply for Top Scholars if you have a lot of personal strengths but don’t have a 35 or 36.
For Top Scholars application spend time on quality essays. They are closely read and can make a real difference, especially when picking students for competitive scholarships.
Assuming the student is admitted, is the Lieber scholarship automatically given to NMFs?
Yes that has been the case. Always look at the latest info on scholarships, though. You never know when things change. But is has been 10k in-state and 6k OOS plus computer.
CA rep unequivocally told me for recent students you need 34 ACT or equivalent and near perfect GPAs to get one of these. Then, they look at your other stuff such as essays and interviews. I would like to see if anyone who got one of these scholarships with lower than 34 or higher ACT or equivalent score and lower than 3.9 gpa. I said near perfect, not perfect. This means you need 34 ACT and 3.9 or higher gpa. You can apply with lower stats but I doubt you will get it. Although you can get it if you are great in other areas, average stats for recent scholars have been 34 ACT score. More and more students are applying to lower their college costs so stats are going up.