Graduating early and update from the office
Thanks for stopping by my blog and helping me get rid of the dust due to inactivity. There's not a ton of interesting stuff that happens in a college admissions office in the summer, so thank you to the 3 of you who anxiously waited updates to The Voice of Mister Ed.
There are a few things that have come up in the past few weeks that are worth discussing. Two students have called this week and asked our opinion on whether or not they should graduate early and take college courses at a local community college or university. While this is an admirable goal for any student (it helps stimulate the mind in more ways than that 2 period early dismissal option), it's important to mention that graduating early can affect financial aid. If a current high school student is admitted into USC for the 2009 summer or fall semesters, then a December 2008 graduation date followed by matriculation into another college for the spring 2009 semester will result in the student being reclassified as a transfer student. Why is this a big deal? The Office of Undergraduate Admissions awards scholarships to first-time, first-year freshmen, so be sure to your graduation date is May or June if you decide to take college courses next spring. You don't want to remove yourself from scholarship consideration.
Also, a few students I saw at Open House thought our admissions process only cared about test scores. This is simply not true. While we do use the SAT and/or ACT scores as one of our admissions factors, we also place large emphasis on grades and the rigor of your course selection. We want to see that you've challenged yourself. Furthermore, our application review process has become much more holistic due to the increasing strength of our applicant pool. If you're an Eagle Scout, put it on your application! If you're president of the drama or beta club, please tell us. We want to know these things.
Lieber Update - we're busy reviewing all of our Early Answer applications right now, so please be patient as we give all of our applications the attention they deserve. We're committed to mailing letters in mid-December to all applicants who submitted their application and necessary credentials by October 1. We've already seen plenty of outstanding applications, and we're excited to see such high interest in Carolina.
We need some good fortune this weekend against LSU. Don't forget to check out the game on ESPN this Saturday night at 8 PM. You'll also be able to see some of Columbia when Todd Blackledge does his "Todd's Taste of the Town" segment. Where's he going to go? Groucho's? Mr. Friendly's? We'll find out.
Go Gamecocks!
Ed