In-state, accepted to UT Austin. My family makes less than $30k, so I think I’m qualified for free tuition, but how about room and board and other required fees (not sure if there’s any)? Will I get a chance to have a full ride (or room and board covered)? I didn’t apply for the 40 acres scholarship (missed the deadline & I probably won’t be competitive enough). What can I do now to get a better financial aid package? Thanks in advance.
Did you run them NPC on the UT website for your situation? That can give you some idea until your aid package arrives
@cptofthehouse Yes, I did it on www.collegeforalltexans.com. It is showing academic year 2019-2020 though, and I got this:
Median Grant: $16095
Estimated grant and/or scholarship assistance: $600-$30252/year
Estimated net cost: $0-26618/year
Estimated student loans and/or student work earnings: $0-$26986/year
Estimated net cost with self-help: $0-26618/year
It seems that range of each item is so large so it is not really helpful to estimate my true net cost. 
I would start getting to know the financial aid director real well! UT does not guarantee to meet full need and about a quarter of those getting fin aid get 100% of need met. And a number of those are commuters. I do not know what their policy is for meeting g room and board need , and there is no break out of that statistic.
It appears that about 72% of need is met, on average, but average doesn’t help you if it isn’t enough or you get the low end of it.
You do need to talk to your financial aid officer there to make sure s/he knows you, that you are eager to go there, and you need money to make it happen.
@cptofthehouse You mean I should email the finaid officer to introduce myself? Is it a common practice for incoming freshmen to do so? Would that be too awkward?
Room and board isn’t covered on that scholarship. You would need to work part-time and during summers to pay for those other things. Student loans can help, but there’s limit on how much student debt you can take out. Still, you’re getting a great deal!
Yes, email your FA Officer. Introduce yourself. If an award or money comes that way, you want to be first in line, first on mind. And it doesn’t end once you get there. I visited the FA office regularly in college. I needed that money. If a goody came in there, I wanted to be in consideration for it.
In NY, there are all sorts of grants and programs for tuition. But they are designed so that it’s very difficult to get room and board paid. I don’t know how TX works but, I suspect it’s a challenge to get living expenses paid. And there are good reasons for this. Why should tax payers have to pay for you to go to sleep away school, your food, your transportation their, your personal expenses?
So, yes. As the ranges for financial aid show , it’s up to the Financial Aid Officers as to whether you get full need met or only half or less.
Students may answer the phone at a call center. Ask if they are a student, and request to speak to an officer. Visiting the office, an actual financial aid officer is behind the counter. Fill out the general scholarship application. Look into the Terry Foundation. Look into any programs you might qualify for. Check the tuition waiver page for anything might qualify for. Fill out the Fafsa (Pell Grant, Fed loans, work study can be used for room & board…). Process is not very individualized. Emailing is a good idea.
Looks like the new need based program will cover almost full tuition for you. Room and board is probably going to be on you and your family though.
https://news.utexas.edu/2018/04/20/ut-increases-aid-to-low-and-middle-income-families/