Hi I’m a fellow high school senior who will be attending UTD this fall, majoring in Biochemistry. I was curious on my chances of receiving the AES Achievement Award. However, I’m concerned that my SAT score may be too low for consideration.
SAT- 1270 new (670 math, 600 reading and writing)
ACT- did not take
Throughout my high school years I took 9 APs:
AP Chemistry (2)
AP Physics 1 (2)
APDC English Lang (both AP and dual credit) (2)
AP World History (3)
AP Human Geography (3)
AP Biology (N/A)
AP Calculus AB (N/A)
APDC English Literature (N/A)
AP Governmment (N/A)
AP Macroeconomics (N/A)
[All APs with (N/A) will be taken this May]
My UW GPA is 3.72/4, my weighted GPA is 3.98/5 and my rank is 64/667 (Top 10%)
My ECs include:
Member of HOSA, NHS and Beta Club since the start of junior year
Ethnicity: Ethiopian
If you have any other questions please feel free to ask, thanks.
Your SAT scores are on the low side for the AES. They say the average SAT for the lowest award is 1410. You never know but I would not count on it.
@GTAustin Yeah I am also skeptical of my chances of receiving the AES scholarship. What other scholarships do you think I might have a better chance of receiving? I am going to apply for the Diversity Scholarship and I already submitted my application for the Terry Scholarship. I also applied for FAFSA in November. I desperately need financial aid to attend UTD and the only way I’ll be able to achieve that is by earning grants and scholarships.
I really do not know of any other scholarships that you could apply for but don’t give up hope. You do have some things going for you such as taking a difficult schedule, being in the top 10%, URM. All of those things matter to UTD. Have you run the net price calculator? That should give you a close estimate for financial aid. If you live in the area, commute to the school and save half of what it would cost. Taking courses, normally the GE courses, at a community college also helps to lower the price. Start working part time and full time in the summer and save your money. Hopefully, one of the scholarships will come through and the financial aid package will be enough. I know the hardest thing right now is waiting for this information. Keep positive because you do have alot of things that UTD wants.
@GTAustin If I do not receive the Terry Scholarsip, I am definitely sure I will commute. I plan on working during the summer to start earning some money, hopefully that will help with all of the extraneous fees such as textbooks. Either way, I’ll continue to push forward and hope for the best. Thanks for all your advice, it’s been helpful.
For textbooks, my D rents. It is alot cheaper than buying. I think she spends $100/semester. At the end of the semester she figures out whether she needs to keep the book or give it back. So far, I think she has returned all books.
@GTAustin Wow, that’s very resourceful! It would also be wise renting a textbook someone already legibly annotated to help with studying. I will definitely make sure to do that.
@GTAustin, does your D rent textbooks through the UTD bookstore, Amazon, or some other source? Or a combination? When we were in Richardson this summer I thought I saw off-campus student bookstores as well. Renting textbooks is unfamiliar to me (S18 is my only child and when H and I attended college in the mid-90s renting wasn’t an option), so I’m curious about the rental experience at UTD.
@masterblackninja, I don’t think you can annotate those books if you rent and plan to return them. I think you would have to use the sticky tabs so you can remove them. @traveler98, I am thinking Amazon but I;m not sure. I’ll ask her and let you know. I will also ask about annotating.
Thanks for your help and insights @GTAustin!
My daughter is at UTD and rents primarily through Amazon but also has found through other sites as well. Some especially with online access she does buy through the UTD bookstore and half price books for anything she can find there. To the OP I would echo that your test scores are low for AES. MY DD18 just received the highest AES for Fall 2018 with 1460 SAT and 33 ACT but will not be going to UTD unfortunately. (Pursuing USNA).
I just talked to my D and she shops for the lowest cost. She has rented from Amazon, Off Campus Bookstore, Barnes and Noble and other smaller sites. For some of the books, she does get a hard copy. More often, she downloads a PDF version. She says normally the price is $30 or less per book. Also, she thought annotating was ok but because most of her books she gets as a PDF, its not an issue.
I first didn’t receive any award but then I emailed them at interest@utdallas.eduasking for a reconsideration and got awarded the achievement award. So give it a try and explain all your stats in the email and maybe you can get it. It worked for a lot of people.
@Pro1234 Wow thank you! I’ll definitely try doing that.
@Pro1234 Hi. How long do they take to reply? It’s been nearly a week and they have not responded to my request. Also, my GPA and rank recently got updated and have improved overall. UW GPA, 3.72-> 3.76; weighted, 3.98-> 4.03; rank, 64/667-> 54/680 (top 10% to top 8%). Should I notify them of this or not?
@MasterBlaster yea you can for sure! They take a while so be patient.
@Pro1234 The wait is agonizing but I have no other choice but to be patient. I’ll keep you updated.
I know exactly how that feels! @masterblackninja
@Pro1234 I got the AES Achievement scholarship! Thank you so much for your help I couldn’t have done it without you!
Yayy! I am really happy for you! Congrats! @masterblackninja