DD accepted to HC OOS. IB Diploma Candidate, Several AP’s, 4.3 GPA, Top 5% of Class, Varsity Athlete all four years, Several Extracurriculars, and 200 plus Volunteer Hours.
So even if we were turned down for honors - which I was yesterday, there is a possibility of Capstone? Did I need to apply for that? How do they pick it? Thank you.
Yes, there’s a possibility of Capstone and there isn’t a separate application, but did have to apply to the university by December 1.
Yes, you can still be considered for Capstone as it is completely separate from Honors. I don’t know if you need to apply though. I would check the Admissions website.
When does the capstone decisions come out?
Website says usually notified in early March.
S21 got the letter yesterday that he was not chosen for TS. He’s disappointed but UofSC is still near the top of his list. Does anyone have experience with the OOS Provost Scholarship? Is that automatic for NMF (S21 is a finalist) or is it competitive? And does anyone know how many Alumni Scholarships are offered? The website says they require an Honors/TS application, so it seems they are awarded from the same pool of TS applicants? TIA
My D also was not chosen for TS. Oh well, can’t win all 
From what I understand, the award is automatic for NMF and from what I read in previous years, provost is stack-able with other scholarship minus the instate tuition (can’t double the tuition discount). As for Alumni scholarships, don’t know the number of students who received the awards, but heard it’s also competitive.
Good luck !!!
Sorry your daughter wasn’t chosen either. You’re right that they can’t win ‘em all, and this year seems very competitive (and wacky) all around. If S21 is offered the Provost and even a small merit scholarship on top of that, UofSC will be as economical or even more so than our instate VA schools.
Did your S21 get the letter saying you were not a finalist for TS in the U.S. Mail, or via email?
It was an email.
For us, it may not work but close 
The COA for South Carolina instate is about $33K/year, We are from MD, so our in-state UMD’s COA is about $28K. We will have to wait until we have scholarship offering from both schools to make that tough decision.
Did your son apply to VCU? I heard they offer good scholarship up to full ride for high stats.
Looking at the UofSC website, I was under the impression instate COA was between $26-$27K, though I know different programs, including Honors, have additional fees. Has it gone up that much?
S wasn’t interested in VCU. He got some merit from JMU, but now that’s pretty low on his list.
I was using the website, which included miscellaneous and transportation, etc …
https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/financial_aid/cost_and_aid/cost_to_attend/index.php
We are using this COA estimate to cover the cost of health coverage for D and trips from/to schools. We live about 30 minutes drive from UMD, so COA may even be cheaper but want to give D the college experience.
Got it! Thank you. I would imagine our transportation costs won’t be that high either, but the potential for a couple of quick flights home certainly adds up! This process is definitely a learning experience and seemingly much different from when I was applying to college back in the Stone Age. 
@vachildx3 What is making it a little wacky in-state in VA is the tuition surcharge for engineering at schools being all over the place. For instance, UVA’s is about $10K more per year than Arts and Sciences. To your point, this is why UofSC and other places look attractive when good OOS merit aid is awarded. Congrats to your S21 on the acceptances so far!
And, @ttb1263 re: VCU, it may be the crazy competitive year with deferred students from last year in the mix plus students applying to more schools all around. My S21 (we live in NoVa) applied to VCU, biomedical engineering, with 4.6W at a magnet engineering and technology academy plus regular HS every other day. 1510 (800 math), varsity baseball, decent ECs. Got the Dean’s Scholarship there which is half in-state tuition ($8K). A little surprised he wasn’t in the mix for the next level up (full in-state). Right now, waiting for final merit from UofSC and a couple of other places. Good luck with it all. And congrats on your D21’s acceptances as well!
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If your health insurance coverage doesn’t cover kids going out of state then there will be additional cost.
This college applying processing is stressful and unpredictable. Even now, I still feel like I could have done better to help my D in this process. Back in the stone age, I only applied to cheapest in-state option 
and it was a stress free process 
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This whole process of guessing and waiting is very stressful. I was hopefully for bigger scholarships from couple schools but that did not happened. We are still waiting for a few merit notifications and decisions from high reach schools. Good luck to your son and congrats on all his acceptances.
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Thank you, same deal here. One more high reach decision coming, and then the aforementioned comparison of merit + distance + campus/major + what friends are doing. In the end, S21 is lucky to have options. Keep us posted!
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It’s definitely confusing and stressful and I feel like, in my house, it’s “the blind leading the blind” so to speak. We too had hoped for bigger merit awards and have been (naively, I’m learning) surprised that, with his stats and ECs, S21 has been passed over for each of them he applied for. I also feel like I could have done better helping him, especially with regard to finding NMF money. He’s also waiting for high reach and some FA decisions, so he won’t decide until April. And, while he’ll have some choice, the lack of merit at some schools will most likely take them off the table. Still, we’re fortunate that he likes UofSC and it seems it will be affordable.
@PepsiCola21 we’re in NoVa also, but S21 is not looking for engineering, so I wasn’t aware of those differing instate fees. That’s crazy! Like your son, S21 (4.0uw, 1600 on one test, 800 SAT2, 5s on all APs, class President 3 years, state music awards, etc.) only got half tuition, $6K, but at JMU. S21 likes UofSC more, though, so I think he’d choose there over JMU.
Still, congrats to you all and to your great children! I can’t wait to watch these amazing kids change the world!
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