<p>Undecided- I hope that the University comes across with some aid for you. I am seeing many well qualified students in your position. A&M is one of the few Universities where you can expect an outstanding return on your college investment, though, and well worth the money. As for the hispanic factor, please know that Texas A&M University cannot consider race as a factor in determining financial aid. My daughter also received the College Board recognition award for being a National Hispanic Scholar- it is merit aid and not need based. The Century Scholar program targets specific high schools in Texas that are underrepresented at A&M and is also merit based. Opportunity awards are a mixture of merit and need based, and it sounds like hello’s son was awarded one of the merit based. My guess is that he has outstanding credentials. </p>
<p>@undecided2014 Aside from the National Hispanic ($14,000) which is based on the college boards PSAT cut offs for the country, I don’t think it was based on his Hispanic ethnicity. I don’t mind sharing his stats if that would help you get some insight.</p>
<p>He is currently ranked 5 out of 400 students and we moved due to my husband’s job several times so he actually attended 3 different high schools in 4 years and still manged to keep a 4.00 (unweighted) - his weighted GPA is much higher. This was possible in spite of not having as many AP/DC classes offered at his 2nd high school because he had nearly perfect grades when the classes were not AP/DC. He was neck in neck with another student for 1 rank at his second school.</p>
<p>His ACT score was a 33 composite (his reading was a perfect 36)</p>
<p>He had a ton of extra-curricular - Varsity football, team power lifting ((All district football as a senior and was selected to the All state academic team - elite level)
UIL Academics Science, Math, Number Sense, Social Studies, Calculator (Some individual district championships in these and several regional qualifier in others - he qualified for the regional meet all 4 years)
NHS 10th-12th, FPS (State qualifier)
…these are the ones that come to mind right now.</p>
<p>Community service - Peer tutor during the school year. volunteered at a health/wellness business doing research, and volunteered during the summer at an under served medical clinic for up to 35 hours per week (after his athletics summer conditioning workouts).</p>
<p>His essays included the difficulties of attending 3 high schools for one and his experiences volunteering at an under served medical clinic in an poor urban area for the other. </p>
<p>Not sure if you had similar stats but I will say that A&M did seem to take a holistic view of his achievements versus just focusing on his ethnicity - his ACT score alone is much higher than the average ACT score at A&M. </p>
<p>UT on the other hand puts financial need on the top of the list and so my son was offered almost nothing but loan and parent loans options there- that made our choice pretty simple. </p>
<p>BTW I know a lot of other middle class Hispanic kids that did not receive anything but an acceptance letter (no scholarship offers just loan options) but their stats were not similar to my son’s - aside from being top 10%. I only know of one other student that received a similar generous offer - he is white and his parents are also middle to upper middle class but his test scores and stats were also very impressive and high. </p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>@hello1999 yes, that helps. My stats are way higher than your son’s, so I called A&M to try to ask them why I got nothing, not need based, not merit based, when my stats are higher than anyone else I have read about getting aid. They declined to answer. So, left hanging again. The National Hispanic thing, the cut off for that is much lower than white people or Asian people can have for the equivalent award…the National Merit, so that was a race based scholarship. My PSAT score was a 216. My SAT was over 2200 (super score). I am in 5 honor societies from NHS to subject honor societies. I am in Varsity Orchestra and City Orchestra. I was in World Youth Symphony Orchestra for 2 years running, before I gave that up to work full time as a volunteer teaching science to children. In addition to that, I was a competitive fencer through 10th grade. I have over 1000 hours of volunteer work. I have also taken regionals in math and French (1st place). I am not even listing everything here. A&M decided to decline to tell me why I was not given any need based financial aid nor was I given any sort of merit. I have seen people who have no community services and no extracurriculars receive scholarships. So, I have no clue why A&M has chosen to do what they have done, but, obviously, I won’t be there this fall. They told me how much they wanted me when they did this. But it appears same stats, different race, and I would have had school covered.</p>
<p>@undecided2014 It is an unfortunate situation that you cannot attend the college of your choice. I commend you for your stats but do feel you are somewhat negative in your comments and need to blame your race or ethnicity for your lack of merit/need aid. Universities such as TAMU are filled with top 10% students with great ECs and high test scores so I’m sure they make their decisions based on other factors.</p>
<p>First off, TAMU does not super score the SAT so your super score is not relevant. And even then a 2200 is about the same range as a 33 composite - the difference is his 33 was in one sitting (not super score) and his reading score was a perfect 36 and 32 math. I’ve seen your previous posts about your SAT score and it was not a 2200 in one sitting. As far as PSAT, the college board decides the cut offs and I failed to mention he was a commended scholar along with National Hispanic Scholar. (FYI…Hispanic is an ethnicity not a race).</p>
<p>Furthermore, based on some of your previous posts you are “right around the top 10% mark” - remember so is almost everybody else that is admitted. If you read my son’s stats carefully you will see my son ranked 1 or 2 at his second school and ended up 5 out of 400 at his final high school - that is top 2%. There is huge difference between top 1 or 2% versus top 10% - rank shows a student’s cumulative work ethic and results over his/her entire school career. He has a 4.0 unweighted GPA - that is also a relevant factor for merit aid. </p>
<p>A&M also requires you to list your top 10 ECs or activities…he listed his volunteer work, regional and state honors/awards, along with leadership roles such as being a peer elected captain of several Varsity sports and Academic teams. All of which he kept up for his entire 4 years of school - he did not drop off he actually added to his list as he progressed through high school. He showed his ability to excel in academic,Varsity sports, and community endeavors. NHS is a pretty standard EC for most high achieving kids (and yes he was inducted to it and the subject areas as well just making a point that that does not stand out as much - helpful but not a standout).</p>
<p>Essays also are your opportunity to distinguish yourself from the pack of high achievers that are admitted to A&M. His essays were well thought and focused on very unique situations he dealt with but answered the essay questions at hand and were submitted on time - A&M is very particular about the timing of this and also only allows one submission, re-submissions are not allowed. He took this part very seriously as it is a golden opportunity for them to get to know you and your goals.</p>
<p>I know of many students that have been accepted to a&m of different ethnicities and races that have not received any merit/need based aid because they are middle to upper middle class. As I stated before I do know of one other student that received a large merit aid package as well - he is white and upper middle class but is ranked 1 out 315 at his high school, scored a 33 in one sitting on his ACT, is a National Merit Scholar, and also excelled in ECs.</p>
<p>Attacking their financial aid department is hardly a way to gain more aid and neither is demanding answers from them. All of this info is readily available on their website <a href=“https://scholarships.tamu.edu/SCH_Opportunities/tamu_scholarships/freshman/apply.aspx”>https://scholarships.tamu.edu/SCH_Opportunities/tamu_scholarships/freshman/apply.aspx</a>
Once you do your part the rest is in their hands.</p>
<p>Good luck to you.</p>
<p>I know for certain that the essays are very important to get big scholarship dollars. Hello- it sounds like your son’s essays were quite compelling. The National Hispanic Scholar program is a guaranteed merit program, just as the National Merit is. You score above the cutoff, then you get the $$$. No one should have to feel bad about it.</p>
<p>Undecided-I’m sorry you missed the NM cutoff because that program is pretty generous too. Maybe you should consider UA where I think your ACT score would get you a good package. Best of Luck.</p>
<p>For those of you waiting on continuing student scholarships, we had one post this morning- whoop! The department/college scholarship has not yet posted for continuing students (they said probably after grades are posted for this semester). Good luck to everyone!</p>
<p>I received the Century (20,000) and The Opportunity scholarship (1,000) in the same month which was February. But I received the Regents (20,000), the Texas Grant (5,000), Pell Grant (5,730), Keys to Aggieland Sch Outreach (500), Top 10% (600), and Federal SEOG (500). So my entrance to Texas A&M is completely paid. Recently I received the Dell scholarship (20,000) Beaumont TAMU Club (8,000) and Project Hope and Joy (1,000). When I went to check my howdy portal they had reduced my regents to (374) and my Texas grant to (2,000) I still have a full ride but I’m confused on why that was reduced so heavily. Does anyone care to explain because I still have about 17 scholarships I’m waiting to hear back from? </p>
<p>"Scholarships & Financial Aid typically adjusts overawards for students who are over need and for those students who exceed their cost of attendance prior to aid being disbursed. " Found this statement on the following page: <a href=“https://financialaid.tamu.edu/eligibility/Overawards.aspx”>https://financialaid.tamu.edu/eligibility/Overawards.aspx</a></p>
<p>I believe this will answer your questions. </p>
<p>@Aggies18, you might want to consider carefully which scholarships you accept, many have requirements ( must be used for tuition or academic expenses for example), do not give up a 4 year scholarship to accept a one year. If you’re thinking, oh I just won’t tell them, scholarship awards are normally made out by check to the college and not to the individual. Keep in mind many of these scholarships require need, if you have your COA covered, you now have zero need. Therefore, the money is put back in the system to benefit another student with demonstrated need. Talk to financial aid before you accept/reject scholarships so you know the four year impact. I have a student who is close to maximizing the one year COA, although all merit based, they require it be used for academic expenses so we had check COA to make sure we were not over by accepting. </p>
<p>^^Good advice. Also consider the renewal GPA requirements. Sometimes it is hard to get/keep a certain GPA with a heavy course load. Also, a few of the need awards allow you to exceed the COA. The Top 10% is one of those and Pell I believe. The FA people will know about that.</p>
<p>@Debbie7452 @AGmomx2 @muse3sqrd Thanks for the help on understanding this. I will thoroughly check my scholarships before accepting any also since I have been awarded the regents which lets me have a spot on campus if it is reduced to 0… What happens does that guaranteed spot disappear?</p>