<p>A full ride at an excellent unversity that requires a 3.5 GPA to maintain. </p>
<p>D wants it. I have serious reservations. I think the margin for error is too narrow with potential consequences being too great. D suspects I might be doubting her abilities. I do not. However, I do think such scholarships discourage academic risk taking and carriy potential for lots of undue stress. </p>
<p>What do you guys think?</p>
<p>I’d call & ask the school the % of kids that keep vs. lose their scholarships in your D’s intended major (the U should have that info handy). I’d also ask whether there is any “grace period” for the student where the student will keep the scholarship as long as grades are brought back up. </p>
<p>You might also ask if there is a lower GPA cut-off for a different level of merit award (sometimes there is a slightly reduced scholarship with a lower GPA cutoff, e.g. 3.0 or 3.25).</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I think both my kids would have had trouble maintaining a 3.5 every semester, if that’s what 's required. Not sure that S is even graduating with a 3.5 & don’t believe D has achieved one yet in college (she’s a junior). I know many bright kids who have trouble getting & maintaining a 3.5 GPA in college for many reasons, including those you cite.</p>
<p>Is D majoring in engineering or one of the sciences? I wouldn’t want to have to meet that standard in those majors given the often tougher grading standards applied in them. I don’t think it would be unreasonable to ask the school what the average freshman gpa is in major(s) D is considering. </p>
<p>I’d also get more information on whether this 3.5 requirement is semester by semester, or cumulative, and if cumulative, do they only look after the end of the first full year?</p>
<p>I can see both sides,. A lot of students lose their scholarships, especially in the first year when they are adjusting to college. My daughter’s scholarship has a lower requirement (3.25 cumulative). She still has it at the end of her junior year (breathes sigh of relief). I know 2 really really smart kids who got the same scholarship and lost it their first year. Their grades improved after the first year but the scholarship was gone. My daughter had a really high GPA her 1st year which gave her a nice cushion the in a couple of later semesters when she had slightly less stellar grades (darned organic and micro). If those semesters had been the 1st year she would have lost the scholarship. </p>
<p>So you are right, it does happen. A 3.5 is quite a high GPA to have to maintain. I know another family (different school) whose kid got a full ride scholarship with a high GPA requirement. He lost it the first year and they wished he had taken the slightly less scholarship that required a slightly less high GPA.</p>
<p>And then of course her are students who manage to keep their scholarships with no problem. I know some of those as well.</p>
<p>What school is this? Is it known to be a very difficult school?</p>
<p>what is your D’s likely major?</p>
<p>If she didn’t accept this scholarship/school, where would she go? Could she later transfer to THAT school if she loses her scholarship at the merit school?</p>
<p>My kids have scholarships and I’ve just advised them to balance their course loads each semester so that they can maintain their GPAs. Also, neither of them has taken an 8 am class.</p>
<p>Kids who lose their scholarships seem to lose them their first year (at least that what I’ve noticed) because they either partied too much or they overwhelmed themselves.</p>
<p>The GPA requirement is per semester. If she misses the target one semester she is put on probation during the next. It’s not specifically stated, but my guess is that if she misses the mark two consecutive semesters she will lose the scholarship. </p>
<p>D is not planning to major in engineering or any of the sciences and I suspect she will do quite well in her intended major. However, there are several distribution requirements. She is a smart kid, a hard work worker, and exceptionally gifted in some areas, but I would not describe her as being especially strong all across the board. Like many, she has some great strengths, but also a few weaknesses she has been able to minimize somewhat by putting forth more effort. </p>
<p>She has options to attend several other schools where she’s received scholarships ranging from $12k to full tuition. I think the full tuition school is only requiring a 3.0 GPA. One school provides scholarships valued at roughly 85% of tuition with no GPA requirement. Expecting at least full tuition and possibly more from State U. Waiting on financial aid from a couple of “elites,” but we are anticipating comparatively little from those. In other words, there are some other very good options - some we know about, some we are still awaiting to hear on. </p>
<p>Fortunately, D is not particularly hung up on any one specific school, but having spent a few days on campus and making several acquaintances, she feels strongly that the school in question would provide an enriching experience for her. Unfortunately, if she lost the scholarship I’m not sure I’d be able to keep her there, financially speaking.</p>
<p>Sounds like your D has a lot of good options. She might want to visit some of the other Us (particularly ones with lower GPA requirements), just to see how those compare. </p>
<p>Having to worry about whether you might lose your merit award is a pretty huge burden to shoulder, especially if it is EVERY semester and the student can’t have a cushion from starting off with great grades. There are always a few tough courses for whatever reason–TA with a tough curve, teaching/learning styles, etc.</p>
<p>The GPA that S had to maintain was a 3.0 cummulative, so he really had no pressure & was able to challenge himself and take what he found interesting & major in EE. He had a friend who switched to another major, partly because he was at risk of losing his scholarship due to lower grades (loves the new major).</p>
<p>On thing to consider is that if she is receiving a full ride scholarship, she is likely in the top 5%, and more likely closer to the top 1-2% of the applicant pool at that school. That would tend to make me think that she’s not going to have a huge problem keeping a 3.5 on strictly academic grounds.</p>
<p>It’s still useful to ask the school how many kids DO keep their scholarships all 4 years & how many lose & when, particularly in what your D may major in, just to get a feel for things. Some schools are notorious in awarding full rides that very few kids are able to keep due to weeder classes freshman year that disqualfies many of them.</p>
<p>S was offered a full-ride at one of them as a NMF. Had read a thread about many NMFs who lost their full-rides there. The major didn’t seem to matter & the school wasn’t considered that “competitive.”</p>
<p>I think it depends a lot on the student. My daughter has kept a very high GPA at a demanding school. In 4 years she has only had 2 B’s, the rest of the grades were all A’s. The school does have distribution requirements but somehow my d. has managed to get A’s even in the classes that are tough for her, like math. </p>
<p>My d. only needs a 2.0 GPA for her need based financial aid – she is under pressure, but its all internal. However, she’s in an environment where most students have plans for grad school – and even though my d. will not be going on to grad school right away, I think that she has realized from the start that her college GPA will have impact on future plans as well. </p>
<p>My d’s college is significantly more challenging than her high school, but even though she finds the volume of work high, she does not think it has been difficult to get A’s, once she got the hang of college. That is, there were some rough spots her first semester, but once she got a good sense of what was expected on a paper or exam, she felt capable of producing high quality work. She does think her college classes are hard – but the point I am trying to make is that she feels she has to put in a lot of work and effort, but fairly confident that she will get at least an A- in any class where she has does that. (I agree with the poster above who suggested that it could be tougher in math or sciences)</p>
<p>I think my d. does take academic risks – she doesn’t look for the easy way out when she selects courses. However, you might encourage your d. to check into the policies of the full ride u. about opting for pass/fail courses, and how late into the semester that option can be exercised. It is a way to bail out if a course seems unexpectedly difficult. </p>
<p>I think you should be open and honest with your daughter about your ability to pay (or lack of ability) if she loses the scholarship – but if she feels confident, and that is the school she wants to attend – then she should go for it. If she ends up studying late at night because she is worried about her grades while her suitemates go out partying … well, from a parental viewpoint, maybe that’s not so bad. </p>
<p>I’d also note that if your d’s grades and test scores are good enough to qualify for a full ride, she will probably be one of the most capable students at the U. going in. </p>
<p>As a parent, I think you should be proud of your d’s accomplishments and goals – one thing you could do if you are uncomfortable about this choice is bank the difference. That is, if you were willing to pay more for one of the other schools that offered less than a full ride – put aside the money you were willing to pay, in reserve to help your d. if she runs into trouble maintaining that 3.5 GPA. It seems to me that as a parent, you could say that you are willing to pay $X a year. If she works hard at school but finds it hard to get the required GPA despite the hard work… then you will have a little more in reserve to kick in. (Of course if she loses the scholarship because she slacks off that would be a different matter – but I think you could decide for yourself what GPA you would want to see for you to maintain the daddy scholarship).</p>
<p>To a certain extent it depends on the student but it also depends on circumstance. I’ve known fantastic students who had chronic health issues emerge or had family situations come up. 3.5 is very high to maintain for every semester, although the ability to go on probation for a semester is a saftey net of sorts. </p>
<p>I would try to convey to my kid that my concern is not his abilities but rather the unpredictability of life itself.</p>
<p>Altho it was eons ago, I got mono second semester freshman year and missed lots of classes. I struggled and ended up dropping a class or two and had to make them up later on. Perhaps that type of situation would be excused.</p>
<p>Is there grade forgiveness if a course is retaken?</p>
<p>I understand your hesitation. Son has a full ride scholarship dependent upon maintenance of a 3.0 GPA. He knows that if he loses that scholarship, he leaves the school. But 3.5 is a lot different from 3.0!!!</p>
<p>What is the option for taking a class “pass fail”? The deadline for doing this? She would obviously be able to have some B’s in the mix, but if she seemed likely to get a C in a class, could she switch it to a “pass” that would not count toward her GPA? I think that knowing you have maintain a 3.5 could be quite stressful.</p>
<p>I’m glad you brought this up! Something that those of us who are looking at merit aid schools really need to think about.</p>
<p>Very careful advising/class choice can have a substantial impact on GPA and protection of the scholarship. I believe that many high caliber high school students do not consider balance in their college schedules as freshman. Taking 17+ hours (all honors or advanced level) their first semester can be a mistake if a scholarship is on the line. We are so used to these kids being able to handle anything and forget that they are adjusting to a whole new world.</p>
<p>S1 had a merit (full tuition) scholarship that required a 3.2 gpa. He mananged to keep it all the way through. A 3.5 would have been much tougher to maintain though. </p>
<p>The head of his dept. that administered the scholarship told us that most scholarships were lost in the fresh/soph year but if they could make it past that, they usually had no trouble. True to that prediction, S1 had the lowest gpa (3.25)of his college career and his whole life first semester freshman yr. He picked up the pace after that and kept the scholarship. The gpa req. was checked at the end of each Spring sem.</p>
<p>In our case, S was at our big state u. and would not have had to leave the sch. if the scholarship was lost, so the pressure was not as great.</p>
<p>Having to maintain 3.5 would make me very nervous if your D being able to stay at the college was dependent on the scholarship.</p>
<p>Interestingly, my son has been accepted to Southwestern University and been offered a pretty decent scholarship. He received a letter a few days ago informing him that the cumulative GPA requirement has been dropped from 3.0 to 2.0. Their reasoning was that they wanted the students to focus on learning and challenging themselves academically as opposed to worrying about keeping their scholarships.</p>
<p>3.5 is a high standard to reach, each and every semester–college is NOT high school. If she goes there, I’d have a Plan B in mind if you can’t afford to go to the school without the scholarship. Of course, you don’t have to tell your D about Plan B. Wouldn’t want her to think you don’t have faith in her abilities, but still, I’d have one.</p>
<p>A 3.5 sounds high. I know at Bama you only need a 3.0. I would see if you could get slightly less scholarship money, but only maintain, say, a 3.2…if your child is stressed all the time they can’t enjoy college</p>
<p>One of my GPA requirements is 3.2. Scary stuff, especially since its about $20,000/year, I couldn’t afford to go there otherwise and I’m international and will probably have a hard time adjusting. A 3.5 sounds scary, especially if its the requirement for EVERY semester.</p>