I was supposed to graduate from S&M in 05' but decided to go back to my home school because I missed my family, and I threw away the free tuition. The last thing I really thought about when attending school was tuition for college, I missed my home. Yeah, it would have been beneficial, but its really not that much, considering how much the other fees are.

I felt as if I deserved the free tuition because I was considered one of the brightest in the state, and got in the school, but thats no reason to go to that school. I hated it, I think it was the fact that I couldn't drive a car and I couldn't have a job, and I wanted to have a life before I even hit college. I knew I would have the same opportunity at home as I would at S&M - and it was better to allow someone else to enjoy the opportunity, than to be miserable in a place I didn't like.

In fact, Dr. Barber (at least I think thats her name) told me I was the only person to leave NCSSM by my own decision in 04, without being kicked out.

4/3/2007 9:49:10 PM

Quote :

"I wanted to have a life before I even hit college"

We didn't have lives? That's news to me.

4/3/2007 10:12:24 PM

Well let me just say Dr. Barber lied to you because I personally knew of many more people who left on their own accord, one of them being my roomie, who was a Junior. She missed home too much also.

4/3/2007 10:19:19 PM

Dr. Barber lies to a lot of people. In fact, I think that's her job.

4/3/2007 10:27:08 PM

I'm not saying we didn't want to have lives, I just felt like I was wasting my time there - I didn't get along with many of the people because the majority of them were too arrogant to get along with, and I would leave every Friday at 3:30pm after Mr. Lathan's class, I just couldn't wait to get home, I wasn't interested in the classes that were offered (except like a Java class) and I felt like I was in prison half the time. I mean, we had to be in at a certain time, couldn't be out of the room at a certain time, I really felt pressured to be locked up most of the time it seemed, which isn't right, where is the fun in being a high school student? There are TOO many rules on students in that school.

In fact, one of the SLIs saw me driving in Durham one weekend and turned me in - when I had checked out and went home and came to Durham to pick up a friend - how fair is that? I felt like I was punished for being a teenager.


I moved a month before graduation in 04' so I had to take extra classes in the summer to catch up, but I felt better moving back home because I ended up getting more out of scholarships from my home school than I would have from Science and Math

I feel that the state is unfair in just giving the tuition waiver just to S&M students - yes we went through a lot to deserve it, but so do many others that do not get recognized.

And the Dr. Barber thing, sorry I didn't know, I'm only going by what she told me, I didn't pay attention to anyone leaving the school except for the ones that got kicked out

Sorry for getting off topic though, I rant too much


[Edited on April 3, 2007 at 10:36 PM. Reason : ]

4/3/2007 10:30:54 PM

i have only actually received it 2 years out of 3 because they said since I had other scholarships I couldnt get it my first year, i am sort of undecided about it because i received the same amount of money in my total scholarship package here at state with during the years i received it as i did the year without it.

4/3/2007 10:36:08 PM

^^Personally it sounds like your just mad because you left and didn't get it. But a lot of people are mad, especially those that came before me, even though they are happy for us (at least I would hope!).

[Edited on April 3, 2007 at 10:38 PM. Reason : ...]

[Edited on April 3, 2007 at 10:38 PM. Reason : ^^]

4/3/2007 10:36:53 PM

No, I didn't care about it, I would have stayed if it was that important. Like I said, I got a scholarship, and I haven't had to pay a penny in college nor take out loans. I just find it unfair for the others who deserve the same but don't get it because they aren't a Science and Math kid.

4/3/2007 10:38:40 PM

Now let me axe you a ?

4/3/2007 10:42:22 PM

?

4/3/2007 10:49:01 PM

Quote :

"I'm not saying we didn't want to have lives... I mean, we had to be in at a certain time, couldn't be out of the room at a certain time, I really felt pressured to be locked up most of the time it seemed, which isn't right, where is the fun in being a high school student? There are TOO many rules on students in that school."

I had more of a life there than I ever did at home, and I had the autonomy to get out there and do a lot more things. You just didn't learn the fun of breaking the rules, my friend. NCSSM was never a prison for me despite curfews and keycards. I mean, I loved the people there too much to really care that I had to be on hall at 10:30. At 10:30, I was doing homework anyway.

I'm sorry it didn't work out for you, but I really never saw it as some kind of homework prison camp. I graduated without any tuition break in 2003, and I didn't get any kind of full ride. So I guess you should be proud of yourself, but punishing the kids who do succeed in actually finishing their time at NCSSM would be silly. Getting more scholarships or more tuition breaks across the state would be great, but it's equally unfair to say that NCSSM students shouldn't get anything after their hard work (trust me, it sucks not to get anything after all that).

[Edited on April 3, 2007 at 10:51 PM. Reason : .]

4/3/2007 10:50:05 PM

I was too afraid that I would be kicked out to break rules - always that fear of saying, 'hey i didnt make it at science at math because of my idiotic mistakes' - so the rules kept me in hole

in no way do I believe they should take it away from those who graduate from Science and Math, and I really dont think they will, its only a proposal - I just believe there should be more options for those who excel in public schools - not sure how that would work because you cant really measure every student's will power, intelligence, or use a test to say who deserves it, but there are definetly more than just science and math students who deserve tuition waivers

4/3/2007 10:56:28 PM

Out of curiousity, why do they only give the S&M students a scholarship to a stereotypically liberal arts university?

4/3/2007 11:09:08 PM

It's a tuition break to any UNC system school.

[Edited on April 3, 2007 at 11:09 PM. Reason : Which includes NCSU.]

4/3/2007 11:09:45 PM

eh? They get free tuition at any UNC system school.

[Edited on April 3, 2007 at 11:10 PM. Reason : beat me to it]

4/3/2007 11:10:14 PM

In that case, what a horribly written first sentence.

4/3/2007 11:13:12 PM

Yeah.

THAT'S INFORMED REPORTING, RIGHT THERE!

4/3/2007 11:15:47 PM

Haha...I thought this was a thread about S&M and I couldn't figure out the correlation between a sexual kink and tuition...my bad

4/4/2007 12:23:51 AM

i was honestly thinking of whips and chains when i saw this thread title... is that bad?

4/4/2007 12:24:09 AM

^ditto

4/4/2007 12:27:29 AM

Quote :

"I was too afraid that I would be kicked out to break rules - always that fear of saying, 'hey i didnt make it at science at math because of my idiotic mistakes'"

as long as your grades were good and you went to class, you'd have to do something really stupid to get kicked out. jesus, we did so much shit when i was there--it was awesome, you missed out.

4/4/2007 4:03:51 AM

i was debating on whether to reply to this thread or not.

sorry if this has already been said, but i noticed one person mention that if NCSSM students are the best and brightest, why can't they get their own merit scholarships? Well, that is a problem. Many students at NCSSM go from being a big fish in a little pond at their home high school to being a little fish in a big pond at NCSSM. Colleges, especially the UNC System colleges, can only give so many scholarships to a school. If 100 students were at 100 different high schools, they could all probably get full rides to a UNC system school. But you put those 100 top students in one magnet school and the Colleges will only give out 5-10 full ride scholarships. It's actually worse for the students that are top at their own high school but not necessarily the top at NCSSM.

NCSSM does not rank students; all students are listed as the top 10% of their class, but that does not solve the issue that Colleges will not give a scholarship to every student at NCSSM just because they are the top from across the state.

NCSSM also gets a bad rap with the rules and rumors of how bad it sucks. Many top students at rural high schools may be scared to go because of those rumors and being away from home. I know I was scared at first. I was facing running out of classes at my home school or going to a strange place where i might not be happy. I ultimately decided to go and I'm glad I did, even though I didn't get a scholarship (partly due to laziness and not sending out 10000 applications). However, I have known and heard of others who applied and didn't go because they were scared of the rumors and being away from home.

The tuition waiver is an excellent way for the school to attact more applicants and get more of the top students, especially those top students who don't have the resources to attend college without scholarships. It keeps NCSSM going strong, and it also gets more students in to college when they otherwise might not be able to go, not to mention retaining more of the top talent within the state of NC.

4/4/2007 10:19:43 AM

oh, and to jennicole98

Quote :

"Yes it is NCSSM, and if your going to abbreviate it at least say Science & Math because thats what we call it."

Lighten up. Just because you call it Science and Math doesn't mean that it can not be referred to as S&M. Part of the fun of going there is calling it the school of S&M and making jokes about it. Statements like yours are part of the reason people don't want to go there. Don't get on a high horse just cause you went and others didn't. Everyone has their reasons for going or their reasons for not going. It is not your right to judge either way.

The same goes to those that did not go to the school. Don't judge me just cause I went. I don't think i'm better than you. You don't have the right to call me a Nerd or whatever just cause I went. I had my reasons for going, you had your reasons for not going or not applying and that is fine.

4/4/2007 10:24:05 AM

^^ Nice to see someone who went to NCSSM actually giving valid reasons for this tuition waver to be in place instead of saying "We're smart, we deserve it more than other smarter people".

And StillFuchsia...

Quote :

"So you're prejudiced on this issue. Well that clears it right up."

Please don't point out someone elses small prejudice on this issue when you yourself went to the school in question which I think most people would agree is alot worse of a prejudice than "Most people I've met from there are snobby".

4/4/2007 10:36:27 AM

Quote :

"In fact, one of the SLIs saw me driving in Durham one weekend and turned me in - when I had checked out and went home and came to Durham to pick up a friend - how fair is that? I felt like I was punished for being a teenager."

wait, what? you couldn't drive?




[Edited on April 4, 2007 at 10:42 AM. Reason : i'm clueless yo]

4/4/2007 10:41:53 AM

^^^ I was clarifying for the person that posted before me about what to call it. And I understand that it is fun to call it S&M, I do it all the time. Really, its not like I went on and on about it. And I am not getting on a high horse, people need to be informed from both sides of the issue. From my personal experience I have encountered a lot of negativity from people who find out about the tuition waiver.

[Edited on April 4, 2007 at 10:54 AM. Reason : ^]

4/4/2007 10:50:09 AM

Quote :

"Nice to see someone who went to NCSSM actually giving valid reasons for this tuition waver to be in place instead of saying "We're smart, we deserve it more than other smarter people""

Which one of us said that?!

Quote :

"wait, what? you couldn't drive? "

You're not allowed to have a car while there. It's pretty silly that an SLI pulled him while he was signed out to home, though- that's stupid.

4/4/2007 10:51:53 AM

But scrager I admit it, after going back and rereading it, my comment did sound a little harsh about the name. Will you accept my apologies

[Edited on April 4, 2007 at 11:08 AM. Reason : oops]

4/4/2007 11:07:19 AM

I love how many other folks thought of kinky shit and tuition and went 'wtf' at first

4/4/2007 11:14:33 AM

Quote :

"But scrager I admit it, after going back and rereading it, my comment did sound a little harsh about the name. Will you accept my apologies "

Yes. When i first read it, it just sounded very pompus. Not to pick on you, but i wanted to point out to everyone that went or did not go, that we should not be arrogant that we went or judge one another just for going or not going.

4/4/2007 11:17:10 AM

^^^^ pulled HER over ;-) I was a 2BL girl

4/4/2007 11:32:47 AM

Oh god- sorry!

I was 2nd Bryan.

4/4/2007 11:43:49 AM

I graduated from S&M in '03, right before they started doing this tuition thing. From what I've heard though, it isn't all that great...I'm assuming this aid is automatically reported on your financial aid application, and I'll I've heard is that it just comes out of whatever other aid you're given. I.e. Joe's determined to need $8000 in financial aid; however, he receives this $3000 tuition break and thus is only given a $5000 break for the rest of his costs.

Is that right, to anyone that used this? I guess it does help anyone that's paying full price, but who wants to sympathize with rich people?


And about all the arrogant students that went there: yeah, they exist. yeah, there's a lot of'em. But it's by no means all, half, or even most. There are quite a few of these smarter-than-thou snub-nosed "Unis" that are just as despised by the general graduating populace of the school as they are by you. Many of us are content to have enjoyed that part of our lives, realized and appreciated the opportunity, and moved on gracefully into real life. I only tell people I went there if I'm asked or if it's socially relevant somehow; I can't stand it when I run into someone from S&M that holds it over the heads of others like a trophy or point of debate. I want to knock the stupid right out of them.


As far as the tuition thing goes, if my initial assumption is correct, it's pretty much just bait for the parents and kids that don't know anything about the financial process of attending college. "Free tuition" sounds awesome, so they make the decision to stay in-state only to realize down the road that it didn't really help at all.

I definitely met some dumbasses that slipped through the cracks at S&M, perhaps by oversight or as a result of a need to fill some quota, but the vast majority of kids there are very, very intelligent, and it would be worthwhile to try to keep them in NC. This is not to say there arent just as, if not more so, intelligent kids out there that didn't apply. Hell I didn't even KNOW about the school until (literally) the day of the application deadline. I think that a lot of high schools don't want to lose their top students so it's not promoted; I'm sure that many well-qualified kids miss out on the opportunity due to plain ignorance of it.

In a battle of cost and efficiency, it's a safe, easy bet that you're going to find bright kids to keep in the state at S&M rather than spending resources wading through hundreds of thousands of graduating seniors in all the high schools throughout NC. And I agree with the point that it's embarassing to pay for $2mil a year for half the kids to jump ship post-graduation.

If they continue this, I do agree that the free tuition should be limited to, say, the top 200 of the 250 graduates. The grading system is different, and whereas I was the head of my HS both years before S&M, I graduated somewhere middle-of-the-road at S&M. But imposing a cap on the money given out to S&M graduates would not only have the potential to make kids there work harder, but it definitely ensures the money is going to the all the right kids while the leftover can be better spent elsewhere.

I really didn't intend this post to have this many words, I'm sorry.

4/4/2007 1:05:34 PM

I find the NCSSM to be kind of discriminatory by calling its students "the best and the brightest" If they have this school for science and math focus, then they should also have a statewide magnet school for liberal arts as well, you know "the best and the brightest" of liberal arts focuses. I know there is the HS School of the Arts in W-S, but thats performing arts. I feel like them saying that the science and math kids are the best and the brightest and giving them tuition breaks while offering nothing, no commendations or tuition breaks to liberal arts kids is pretty discriminatory, and pretty much a jip.

4/4/2007 3:14:42 PM

^ Note, the writer of the article called us the "best and brightest"- no NCSSMer in here said that.

Aside from which, our humanities professors had their doctorates, too. The education wasn't only Science and Math with no focus on anything else. I wouldn't be an English major if that were true: one of my biggest reasons for going into English was two of the literature classes I took at NCSSM. I mean, the tuition break doesn't say "well, you can only have this if you're a science or math major in college," it's for whatever you want to study.

By the way, I don't know if you've noticed, but investing in the Liberal Arts is not a profitable endeavor- we barely even value teachers if you look at how they're paid. Engineering and science get all the funding because of the huge rate of return on the investments of companies, etc. Humanities programs rely a lot on the state, and therefore get next to nothing. So I don't know where you'd even get the money for Liberal Arts scholarships only. As other people have mentioned before, if you keep science and math kids around here, it strengthens the Research Triangle. I don't agree with the way this works at all, and I think it's a damn shame that science is so favored in our economy. But that doesn't look like it'll change anytime soon.

I'm still for expanding tuition breaks for other kids around the state- I just have no idea who'd sort through and select the kids who'd get them. Even then, I bet there'd still be bitching from people who didn't get them.

[Edited on April 4, 2007 at 3:39 PM. Reason : .]

4/4/2007 3:32:33 PM

there will always be bitching. always.

4/5/2007 12:48:00 PM

This doesn't add up. Is NC really having a problem attracting talented students?

I don't mind paying for kids' college. Just because it's unfair to other kids doesn't mean the solution should be to stop it...instead we should expand it.

[Edited on April 5, 2007 at 12:56 PM. Reason : sss]

4/5/2007 12:55:16 PM

Quote :

"This doesn't add up. Is NC really having a problem attracting talented students? And why is it only free tuition to UNC? It should be for all colleges in the UNC system..."

The problem is keeping talented NC students at in-state colleges, and the program does apply to any UNC-system school despite what the article says

4/5/2007 12:59:47 PM

Quote :

"The problem is keeping talented NC students at in-state colleges"

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

Are we really having a problem with this?

4/5/2007 1:43:03 PM

At NCSSM, yes. Everyone from S&M gets into NCSU, and virtually everyone gets into UNC. When I was there (before the waiver started), they were the back-up schools.

4/5/2007 3:09:37 PM

^^ um duh...


Many elite students come out of high school and realize that they have the opportunity to attend elite schools, not just good schools like UNC and to a lesser extent NC State.

Giving them free tuition certainly gives them added incentive to stay in state.

[Edited on April 5, 2007 at 3:17 PM. Reason : a]

4/5/2007 3:17:31 PM

Quote :

"A reported 82 percent of graduates attend a UNC system school, up from 55 percent before the law took affect. Out of 300 seniors this year, all but six applied to schools within the UNC system."

Where did you get this? When laws are made active, they are "effected," or "effective," (as in "effective immediately" depending on the context.

4/5/2007 3:26:08 PM

WRAL---the pinnacle of high editorial standards

4/5/2007 3:35:35 PM

Quote :

"I find the NCSSM to be kind of discriminatory by calling its students "the best and the brightest" If they have this school for science and math focus, then they should also have a statewide magnet school for liberal arts as well, you know "the best and the brightest" of liberal arts focuses. I know there is the HS School of the Arts in W-S, but thats performing arts. I feel like them saying that the science and math kids are the best and the brightest and giving them tuition breaks while offering nothing, no commendations or tuition breaks to liberal arts kids is pretty discriminatory, and pretty much a jip."

NCSSM wasn't just calculus, chem, physics and bio. they have a very strong language arts program and an excellent arts and photography studio. I was actually very weak in math by comparison to most and got into NCSSM.

I missed out on the free tuition but my brother earned it when he graduated from NCSSM. I'm all for the tuition credit. If NC is going to invest in these students durring their junior and senior years then we'd better keep them in our state to benefit our economy.

[Edited on April 5, 2007 at 6:02 PM. Reason : typo]

4/5/2007 6:01:51 PM

^ but what is there to keep them in NC after they get out of state schools. They could just grub some more free money and move to NY or CA.

4/5/2007 7:03:03 PM

Quote :

"Where did you get this? When laws are made active, they are "effected," or "effective," (as in "effective immediately" depending on the context."

But the law was passed right before I graduated, set to START taking place with the graduates of the next school year.

4/5/2007 7:26:28 PM

i'm pretty sure he was just pointing out the error in diction

4/5/2007 7:31:42 PM

ok

4/5/2007 7:42:06 PM

haha...S&M'ers suck. They had a shitty ultimate team too, we kicked their asses. I almost dated a girl from S&M in highschool though, her friend asked me out first though, so I dated her friend

4/5/2007 7:45:24 PM

what, you want a biscuit?

4/5/2007 7:48:43 PM