I was wondering the same thing. Is that just for honors? I’m going to be non honors and all they have on my financial aid tab is Life scholarship. I was hoping I would get more merit scholarships. If not, then that’s fine. I was just hoping I would receive more.
@purpleprincess97 What are your stats? If they’re high enough then you probably should have gotten a merit scholarship.
If I remember correctly when they sent acceptance to CofC letters , it had info in it describing what was needed for merit. I could be wrong . We’ve gotten lots of different mail and I may have gotten mixed up.
@Chopinspiano I got a 25 ACT (no SAT), 3.7/4.0 GPA, 4.7 unweigted GPA. Since the start of my junior year I have taken all college classes and have gotten A’s in all except one; I am a dual-credit student. I will have my Associate’s in Science in May. All my extracurriculars through high school are chess club, Beta club, robotics club, and book club. I have also been volunteering at a hospital for over a year and have a part-time job.
I’m afraid your ACT score may have limited your merit opportunities @purpleprincess97. CofC had high requirements for merit if I remember correctly . Are you instate or OOS ?
I’m instate. I have heard that people instate have a hard time getting merit scholarship from CofC. I know that my score might be a little on the low side but I thought that since I have been taking full on college courses for the past two years would make up for that. I am also ranked in the top 10% of my class. I am currently 5 out of 49 students. My school is a magnet school so that why my senior class is so small. By the time I graduate I will have 71 college credits. If I don’t get any merit opportunities, it’s fine. I was just thinking that maybe the rigor of my classes and the amount of them might help me a little.
In order to receive merit at most schools, a student stats should fall above the 75th percentile at that school. Unfortunately, you are competing for limited merit opportunities with other students with higher class ranks and test scores who have just as competitive classes . Your GPA is very impressive, but your rank and test scores were limiting. Many times people ( I’m not saying this is the case with you) complain that Honors students get all of the merit opportunities , and it does appear that way, but typically Honors students receive merit because of consistency in rank, GPA and test scores. ECs may sway a decision when all things are equal among candidates , but rarely will boost someone over another student with higher overall stats .
I understand what you’re saying. Unfortunately, I cannot get my rank higher due to the high competition in my senior class (I would have to get 100’s in all my classes to go up a spot or two) and I am also not good with standardized tests and never have been, which makes things harder. I am also limited in the ECs I can be in because my school is strictly academic and the only clubs we have are Beta club and national honors society. We are allowed to be in clubs at our home school (the school we transferred from) but the principal at my home school will not allow people who left to be involved in clubs or sports (we are seen as traitors for leaving). I know that might sound crazy but its true. My rank might go up but that is about it. Otherwise you could say that I am kind of stuck.
@purpleprincess97, could it be because of your high number of college credits, they will not consider you a freshman applicant but a transfer student?
You could call and find out.
@mommdc CofC already knows about my school’s program and what we do. I won’t be considered a transfer student because technically I am a high school student, just with a lot of college credits. My guidance counselor told us when we were applying, to apply as freshman because that is what we will actually be, despite the amount of college credits. A bunch of students from my school have gone to CofC so they know about what our school does.
What hurts you most @purpleprincess97
in terms of your rank is the size of your school. In terms of your rank going up, it will not help at this point I was not trying to criticize , I was just trying to explain why you probably did not get merit. You’re competing with other applicants who also attend very competitive high schools, with limited EC opportunities and other limitations that make them competitive. Unfortunately, public universities have limited funds to distribute and tend to use statistics to distribute those funds.
Does anyone know if the Non Honors students were also notified of scholarships or only honors ?
@mwood3 Are you asking about merit or departmental scholarships?
Merit, just with regular application to school. 
@carolinamom2boys I completely understand. I wish schools would not use statistics to distribute funds but unfortunately they do, and this will cause students not to go there due to debt. I’m happy for those that got scholarships; they worked hard and they looked better on paper than I did, which is ok. I’ll wait and see what happens next I at least got LIFE scholarship so that is something.
@purpleprincess97 You can also try departmental scholarships for your major! Cofc offers loads more scholarships but you have to apply for them.
@mwood3 I’m not sure about merit. @purpleprincess I’m sure it is frustrating . They use stats so they can be objective with distribution of funds to remain “impartial”.
Just got my official WAF letter and cohort letter in the mail.
DS16 received his as well today.
@Chopinspiano I looked at the departmental scholarships and there are not any that I can apply for. They have a couple for my major but I do not qualify for them other than for them being for my major. All I’m going to get scholarship wise is LIFE scholarship, so I’m not going to go to CofC. I would have too much debt. I have a backup school though where I would get aid so I will go there and it will take me less time to get my degree and it won’t cost as much. I guess it’s good to always have a backup plan