I’m an OOS student looking for any type of merit award from UTD (since anything from AES qualifies me for in-state tuition).
I have a 1420 SAT (720 RW / 700 M), a 3.7 UW, and have taken nothing but honors, AP, and dual enrollment classes during high school. I don’t know my exact rank but I’m in the top quarter.
I just submitted my application, including optional essay, last week.
If I even get in, do I have a shot at receiving a merit award? Would it be worth it to take the SAT again for a higher score?
I think it would be worth it to take the SAT or ACT again. I think you are borderline for the lowest AES scholarship. If you could increase your score 1450 or higher, I think it would definitely increase your chances and there is nothing to lose by doing it.
Chance me for AES -
SAT (superscore) - 1470 (E 710; M 760)
Weighted GPA - 4.13 (school does not publish unweighted)
AP Subjects - Calculus BC (4); Computer Science A (3)
In state - Top 20% at a competitive HS
100 + voluntary hours of service
NHS
@UTexas2024 it’s hard for anyone to chance you on AES because it gets harder every year as more as more students and more high stats kids apply to UTD. They used to publish a general stats range for the various levels of AES but they don’t even do that anymore.
Some things to keep in mind:
- it doesn't matter if your school only reports weighted GPA, colleges have your transcripts and can figure unweighted GPA if they like. Many colleges recalculate GPA based on their own critera, only count what they consider "core" classes others give a PE grade the same weight as AP CAL BC. I don't how UTD will figure your GPA but know that they many not use the same figure your school has provided.
- AES stands for "Academic Excencence Scholarship" they won't consider ANY ECs even those that require a high level of academic achievement like NHS or Mu Alpha Theta, nor will they consider volunteer hours. This might be important for other scholarships, just not AES.
- They do consider, rank (yeah, it's Texas), GPA, ACT/SAT scores. and rigor (the number of AP and DE classes) They don't look any one area and they will look at you compared to your peers. If your school offers 30 AP classes and you only took 2 they might not look favorably on that but if your school only offers 4 AP classes and you took 2 that might look better. If you are unsure of what your schools offers you can google your high school's name school profile and see where you stand.
- In the fall of 2017 24% of the incoming classes had some level of AES (I'm not sure if this includes NM too) of that 24% - 42% got the lowestest level $3K a semester, 36% got full tuition plus $1K a semester stipend and 21% got the highest level of full tuition and $5k a semester.
In the fall of 2017 24% of the incoming classes had some level of AES (I’m not sure if this includes NM too) of that 24% - 42% got the lowestest level $3K a semester, 36% got full tuition plus $1K a semester stipend and 21% got the highest level of full tuition and $5k a semester.
Those statistics are definitely helpful. Are they published by UTD? Is similar information available for F2018 and F2019? Thank You!
You can find them on the common data set - section H.
https://www.utdallas.edu/ospa/files/CDS_2018-2019_Final.pdf
A quick look from last year (the 2019-2020 common data shows about 21% got non need based scholarships.
For anyone looking at this in the future; I was able to raise my score to a 1480 on my November retake (710 R&W, 770 M), putting my superscore at a 1490 (which I believe is what UTD uses). My GPA did not change.
I was awarded 10K a year AES, plus a 4K ‘non-resident grant’. This is more than I was hoping for and I could not be happier with my results
Congratulations @AverageJean! I’m glad you retook the exam and it worked for you. Its nice to hear good news.