Howdy! I’m new to this forum, so please redirect or correct me if this is not the right place to post. As a mom who has never gone through this, the waiting is almost as stressful as the application process. When we’ve all watched our hard working kids strive for something and excel on a local level, it’s a harsh reality to see that they are one of thousands of amazing kids, all competing for the same thing. I almost feel it’s worse on me than it is my son, although I know he’s anxious to know if we’ll be able to afford A&M (1st choice), or if he will take second choice and go in state (I know…first world problems, but still, it’s stressful). I know things change on a yearly basis, and I have read that we should hear about 2017 merit awards early February, but in past year, for those current A&M students or alumni, do you remember the month or time of year you received your letters? Were you notified by mail or online first? Did departmental awards follow, and if so, how much longer did you wait? I love this forum for the honesty and support.
@rvhappynow Hello, I asked the scholarships and financial aid office about this about a week back, here is their reply:
Scholarships offers will be made available to you on the third week of January. You can check your financial aid and scholarships via the financial aid portal on Howdy. We mail our scholarships notifications the third week of January and students can check their portal by the end of January for any offered awards. To check your financial aid through the portal please log on to Howdy and go to your financial aid portal.
Hope this helps. 
@k_03 Thank you very much! If anyone also knows the average time of year departmental scholarships are awarded, that would be awesome as well! With the OOS waiver amount jumping to $4000 this year, I think I speak for many when I say we’re more anxious than we would have been. Haha! It will likely take some scholarship “stacking” to equal the amount we’d need to get the waiver. Thank you again!!
My son is an engineering student and received the Opportunity Award last year. The letter is dated Jan 26th. July 7th his scholarship was replaced with the Association of Former Students Endowed Scholarship for twice the amount
@K5hacker Thank you for the info! I think one of our biggest fears is since the OOS waiver is now $4000, it will likely take more than one award to get the waiver, which is crucial. I would be so sad if he got some scholarships but not enough for the waiver, but then received more after it was too late to turn down a larger offer here in state. I feel like it will take a departmental scholarship on top of one of the main merit awards for A&M to be a reality, but I don’t have any idea when they start awarding from the departments. I had an advisor email me that the engineering department only sends out awards once a year, usually in the summer for the following year. But, could that be correct, considering incoming freshmen have to make their decisions in the spring? I would be sick if he had to commit (reluctantly) to another school for financial reasons this spring and then get enough of a scholarship in the summer to have been able to afford A&M after all. I’m so new at all of this, so I appreciate all of your advice and information! I know so many of our kids have the same dream of being an Aggie, and I wish the best to you all!
Sorry to ask this again, but does anyone out there happen know if departmental scholarships go out around the same time as the primary merit based scholarships do? I think we are all fish out of water this year since it is the first year of the increase to $4000 for the OOS waiver. @K5hacker mentioned awards third week in January, which I’m guessing was this past week.
Following.
The Corps of Cadets is just starting their scholarship process and posted that most offers will go out Feb. Being member of the Corps significantly increases the chances for scholarship as well as the OOS waiver. I know it is not for everyone, but worth checking out.
Aggieland Saturday schedule is now online and registration is open.
@3boysmom92 To piggy back off your post. You can log onto Howdy go to the My Finances Tab and then click on the Financial Aid portal. Login and check to see if you have an award. My son, who is still deciding whether the Corps is right for him, was awarded the Sul/Ross Corps Scholarship. It is $1,200 a year but as I said he may not accept it as he may not join the Corps.
When did he receive the scholarship?
@3boysmom92 We noticed it about a week or so ago.
TxSker, Thanks, I will have the boys look tonight.
I’m a crazy person and check 3 times a day. Haha! I’m just glad we have a place where we can chit chat and help each other out. Wishing I’d found this forum a year ago. I would have done so many things differently. But, that’s life. One learning experience after another. I won’t sleep well until we know about the scholarships. Being OOS, it’s our only chance. And his stats and EC’s are very good (not the strongest essay writer, but they were good), but from what I’ve read, there is no guarantee. So, I’m just holding my breath to know if his hard work all these years will actually pay off for him. It’s agonizing.
Do you have to accept your offer before you can see scholarship information?
@carachel2 Do you mean accept offer of admissions? I’m not sure, but that’s a great question. We did accept, and we also signed up for NSC. Can you access your financial portal through the Howdy site? Although we “accepted”, we can only afford A&M if we get OOS waiver. We are able to see the financial portal and check regularly. And since I work from home, my poor mail lady has to daily see my face begging for a letter. Lol!
We checked Howdy and sure enough there was the Rudder Corps scholarship offer for one son. The other received a letter stating he would receive a corps scholarship and the amount would be determined by the end of March. I don’t understand this at all. The one who received a letter scored 2 points higher on the ACT. Makes no sense at all.
@3boysmom92 Maybe they are looking at a more competitive scholarship for the son with the higher ACT score? Congratulations! My son is still hoping to get accepted to the university.
Scholarships that are decided outside of the financial aid & scholarships building are released as they are decided - there isn’t a ‘date’ that all of them roll out. If ‘affording’ TAMU means your FAFSA number for EFC is lower than OOS tuition, you have a better chance (it is considered for many merit based scholarships - you do not have to have need to get the scholarship, but it is part of the evaluation). Some merit scholarships require a FAFSA be filed to be eligible, even if it is not an eliminating factor, so filing enters your student into the maximum amount of scholarship opportunities. Most scholarships are awarded between Jan- Mar, but like another poster, mine got an additional scholarship in the summer twice. Continuing scholarships are generally awarded in April and scholarships are renewed in the summers that have GPA requirements for eligibility.
You can ( and should) apply for outside scholarships, both of mine had those awarded to them all four years.
The dollar amounts of scholarships here are relatively low compared to other colleges, the NMF package was $3000 per year to give an idea – OOS waiver eligible at that time. Vast majority of scholarships were $1000-1500, a select few were higher. It wasn’t unusual to get a few scholarships or none at all. Why? There are two types of scholarships here - general fund ones (my term, not theirs) that are determined by a committee with a more ‘standard’ set of criteria and individual sponsored scholarships (tons of them) that the donor determines the criteria - almost anything goes - that is the main reason no one can really determine your chances. When you do get a scholarship, they don’t tell you why you got picked. Thus the mystery continues…
Do you have to accept your offer for scholarships to be offered? No. Is your acceptance binding? No. However the new housing system does start the clock running for your housing priority upon your offer of admission. Do you get a better offer if you wait - my experience is no. There is some recruiting done on the major level, they will contact you if they feel they need to persuade you. The door then opens for you to ask for scholarships if you’re contacted. My youngest got additional scholarships even after accepting. It is a very large, popular school so the waiting game doesn’t really work here.
Notification of scholarships are primarily done online in the Financial Aid portal. It will show up there for you to approve or decline (by clicking it). The name of the scholarship and amount will be shown. We have been also notified in the past by phone (for a large scholarship, only once), by mail and ONLY online - it just showed up. There is a summary letter that does go out - I believe in April- that comes from Financial Aid with your entire offer and finances listed (COA, EFC, scholarships, financial aid offer - loans, grants,scholarships) in the past it arrived in the mail as a hard copy but is also online. Your loan offers will also show up on the portal.
Hope that helps!
@AGmomx2 Thank you for being so thorough! Because of my son’s 35 on his ACT, he receives automatic full tuition at a school here in state, but he only has eyes for A&M, as it seems do so many. His GPA ((UW 3.8), rank (5/82), course load, and EC’s are also very good. He’s extremely involved and well-rounded, but somehow we are only now grasping the reality that even with all of that hard work, nothing is guaranteed. Please don’t get me wrong that we are grateful he can still get a good education here in Louisiana, but it will be so disappointing to not qualify for OOS and be a part of such an amazing place as A&M. Thank you again. If nothing else, during the painful wait, we can at least have other people to talk these things out with. It doesn’t change things, but we’re not alone. Hopefully, I’ll soon be an Aggie mom to pass on what I’ve learned to other newbies like me.
@3boysmom92. My son got the same letter. I don’t know what to think. I’m hoping it is a good thing. The smaller Corps scholarships are showing up in various chat threads but the larger Corps scholarships don’t seem to have been awarded yet. Fingers crossed that’s what the letters are for.