Aid notification process

At one of the colleges my son has been accepted to it reads as if he has to accept to get notification.

"As you continue celebrating with your friends and family, we want to let you know that your official OU account will be activated in November. We will email you once it is ready.

In the meantime, we encourage you to take your first step as a Sooner by submitting your enrollment commitment. This will let us know you will be joining the OU class of 2021! Once your official OU account is set up, you can complete your housing contract (available on December 15), submit your final transcripts, view any scholarship and financial aid offers, and much more."

Looking at the website it gives the same info. He applied through the Common App so he doesn’t have any kind of account with them yet. Will they just email or mail info if he doesn’t set up an account? He’s hopeful on going to Rice, but I think Arkansas will give a good aid package if he has to go local (about the same distance to OU or UA for us) The net costs calculator shows Arkansas being more affordable. My older two kids did community college for the first two years so this is new territory for us.
Thanks.

No, it says the account will be set up and you can accept, send in housing contract, and view scholarships and grants.

That is oddly worded. I don’t think they’re deliberately trying to make it sound like you need to commit before you can see your financial aid offers but that’s definitely how it comes across.

The first paragraph quotes says that your account will be set up in November and doesn’t say anything about needing to commit so I think you’re fine. It’s the second paragraph that muddies things but it doesn’t contradict the first.

As I remember from last year, most application portals were up and running by November or early December at the latest. If you haven’t already, look to see if Rice and the other schools have theirs up. (You could check the Rice forum here to see if their portal is up.)

Agree with @twoinanddone They are trying to get you to commit, though. It’s like salesmen asking how much you would like rather than if…

Yes, Rice, Tulane, Baylor and Mines have all sent links with a user name and temporary password to log in and check admissions etc… When I click on the link in the OU mail it send me to page with just an acceptance link. Then if I go to a page they have for admitted students it lists six steps, share admission on social media, #2 accept …

http://www.ou.edu/content/admissions/admitted/checklist.html

My son wasn’t willing to do ED for Rice so we may not hear for a while. Colorado School of Mines accepted him, and it’s probably tied with Rice for choice, but I hear Mines doesn’t give much aid. Mines said they will start working on aid in December.

Wow. That’s chutzpah. Good luck on Mines and Rice (sounds like a side dish doesn’t it). Does OU have a board presence on CC where you could ask?

Certain majors at Mines give money, others not as much. I was at an event there recently and talking to some students and was surprised at how many students said they were from Colorado. Oh right, it is a state school (duh) so tuition and merit aid and some other programs are geared toward instate students (but Mines and CU are much more expensive than other schools for instate students).

They want you to set up their student account. Call them and tell them you would like an accepted student account…and that you are not able to commit to attending without seeing your financial aid information.

Just set up the account and don’t worry about any kind of commitment for now. Their phrasing is just a sales pitch.

^^Except that you may have to accept to put in a housing deposit. Schools set their own rules on that.

Once more…call the school.

DD got a similar thing back in 2005. Rolling admissions school,acceptance…with the need to commit note. She called admissions and said she was not prepared to make a commitment which she knew she had until May 1 to make.

No problem…school set up her accepted student portal, and she was able to pay her refundable housing deposit.

IF they are a NACAC school they can not force you to commit before May 1.

Call the school, to find out if you submit an enrollment deposit how much is refundable if your child decides not to attend.

The housing deposit at most schools is not refundable.

At many public universities, housing is done on a first come, first served basis, so you may have to pay the deposit so that he can have a place to live