Wake Forest Full Ride vs. NC State Park Scholarship

Paying for College
1

I have a decision to make.

I have been selected as 1 of 24 finalists for 12 full ride scholarships for Wake Forest University, valued at $250,000, including summer travel each year (often called Reynolds or Stamps or other name scholarships). The scholarship weekend to compete for one of these scholarships is February 18th through February 21st.

I have also been selected as 1 of roughly 100 finalists for 35 full ride Park Scholarships at NC State University, which include the following benefits:
Four-year scholarship valued at $100,000 in-state and $175,000 out-of-state, including tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, travel, and personal expenses
Grants to fund professional and personal enrichment experiences, such as research projects, service activities, and conferences in the United States and abroad
Early course registration
Guaranteed invitation to join the University Scholars Program for all Park Scholarships Finalists

The problem is, NC State’s Park Finalist Weekend is February 19th and 20th. The same days as Wake Forest.

I have yet to speak to the admissions office, but it is unlikely there will be an alternative weekend to compete for scholarships at either school.

I wish to study within the following fields, and yes, they are broad, so bear with me: International Relations, Political Science, and Business.

Wake is ranked 27th by US News and NC State is ranked 89th.
I don’t really know whether or not I prefer a large or small school. I could easily be happy at both.

Anyone who attends Wake or NC State, or has been a member of these scholarship groups, your insight would be really helpful.
To anyone else who can provide advice, I appreciate it!

2

Hey everyone, I could really use some opinions on this!!! Thanks!

3

You need to contact the colleges. There really isn’t anything anyone here can do to help you.

Since WF has a four day event, I would contact them first to,see if there is any chance you could truncate your scholarship weekend there.

Are you able to afford NC state without the scholarship money?

4

If you don’t compete for Park, are your stats high enough to get a different merit scholarship that doesn’t have a interview?

What are your stats? Tell us more about you, so we can give better advice. do you have any hooks? URM? What state are you from? special talents? What is your ACT or SAT breakdown?

Are you instate for NC?

Where ELSE did you apply? Any merit from THOSE schools?

Are you a NMSF??

edit…I see that you’re instate for NCSU. did you also apply to UNC? Are you still going to be premed?

5

I’d guess if you like both schools about the same I’d go for Wake Forest with a 50% chance over NC State with a 30% chance. Both are great schools, so I don’t think you can make a bad choice here.

6

These are my stats.

Straight A student with two B’s for all of high school
IB Diploma Candidate
4.945 GPA
2120 SAT Score
1460 M + CR Score
First Generation

Lots of good EC’s:
Eagle Scout
Youth Group Leader
School District Student Representative to China (travelled there)
Superintendent’s Advisory Council Chairman and Founder
Governor’s School
Washington DC Youth Tour
National Honor Society and Beta Club

I am in North Carolina, and have been accepted to:

UNC Chapel Hill (no news on merit)
University of Tennessee Knoxville ($15,000 per year scholarship, could win more)
Furman University ($23,000 per year scholarship)
Elon University ($6,000 per year scholarship, find out more merit aid in February)

Deferred Early Action from Georgetown

I do not plan on going into Pre-Med anymore.

7

These are my stats.

Straight A student with two B’s for all of high school
IB Diploma Candidate
4.945 GPA
2120 SAT Score
1460 M + CR Score
First Generation

Lots of good EC’s:
Eagle Scout
Youth Group Leader
School District Student Representative to China (travelled there)
Superintendent’s Advisory Council Chairman and Founder
Governor’s School
Washington DC Youth Tour
National Honor Society and Beta Club

I am in North Carolina, and have been accepted to:

UNC Chapel Hill (no news on merit)
University of Tennessee Knoxville ($15,000 per year scholarship, could win more)
Furman University ($23,000 per year scholarship)
Elon University ($6,000 per year scholarship, find out more merit aid in February)

Deferred Early Action from Georgetown

I do not plan on going into Pre-Med anymore.

8

Do you have financial need? If so, UNC-CH pledges to meet the need of all accepted students.

9

UNC is lousy with merit.

do you have any other hooks? URM?

What is your major now?

10

I am a white male, so no. I’m looking at business, political science, and international relations, but I’m undecided on choosing one.

11

This is just pure gut instinct, and nothing factually based whatsoever, but I would lean towards Wake. I might change my mind on that if you wanted a bigger school experience. It just feels like Wake would be a better fit for international relations/political science, but I could be wrong.

I hope you can interview with both schools somehow (how you do this is beyond me).

Congrats on your amazing stats - you sound like a great student who will succeed no matter which direction you go.

12

How much will your parents pay each year?

Have you visited either school?

My concern is that while your resume is good, and your GPA is very good, your M+CR SAT is not that high for Wake. You’re not a URM and you’re from the same state. I’m not saying that you won’t get it. You seem to have a 50/50 chance, but that’s only if the other interviewees are similar to you. If at least 12 of the interviewees have higher test scores and/or can add geographic or ethnic diversity, then their chances are likely higher than yours, meaning that your chances wouldn’t be 50%.

But…what is the situation with G’town? That is essentially a needs-based aid school. Did you run the NPC? How much will your parents pay for you to go THERE?

If you don’t get Park or the WF award, where will you go? What are your parents saying about how much they’ll pay for each school?

13

But remember…if this student has financial need…he has already gotten accepted to UNC-CH where his need will be fully met as they calculate his need to be. And it’s also a great school.

14

Look into the criteria they use to make the final cut. Do you think the format or criteria at either school would increase or decrease your chances?

Carefully compare the exact benefits of each scholarship. What will your net cost each year be, if any?

Look at the details of the fringe benefits such as summer travel.

Compare the requirements for maintaining the scholarships, such as GPA, must live on campus, etc.

In the end, if it’s a draw, go for Wake Forest where you have better odds, and imho, more name recognition/prestige. (I will now duck while ppl rant and rave about the minutia of which school is “better.”)

15

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student has financial need…he has already gotten accepted to UNC-CH where his need will be fully met as they calculate his need to be. And it’s also a great school.


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absolutely! And NC state tends to give good instate aid, too.

BUT…we don’t know if this student has financial need. or we don’t know if he has enough need. He may have a high EFC but his parents won’t pay that.

16

My EFC is $14,800 per year, and my parents really cannot afford to pay any more than that, because that alone is going to be a major adjustment. Georgetown was my top choice, but I was deferred. My parents are okay with paying the EFC, but not more, and they’d prefer not to pay that much at all, of course. NC State has more flexibility with the Park Scholarship because you can request money to study abroad or do research anywhere, whereas the Wake summer funding is much more vague. My test scores and GPA are high enough to compete, however, it is my extracurricular leadership activities that are my real hook. I have proven in many ways to be an effective leader in my community, and that’s what I have always been told is my major hook. Hopefully that will be a draw for Wake and State

17

If I don’t get either scholarship, and rejected from Georgetown, I don’t really know where I would go. Most likely Chapel Hill because of the incredible in-state value.

18

Your parent EFC is $14,800 per FAFSA. UNC-CH meets full need. Did you run the net price calculator for UNC-CH? That should give you an indication of your net cost there.

19

So, with a student loan of $3,700 and Work Study of $2,7000, my net price after self-help is $11,700. Without the student loan and work study, however, the total net cost is $18,160.

20

You should run the net price calculator on the school website for each school right away. Your FAFSA EFC does not tell you what each school will charge you. Note that many schools do not stack merit – the may just reduce your need based aid by the merit amount. It can be hard to tell from the school website, so you may need to call the colleges to understand how each of them handle it.