Disagreement Over Scholarship - What Do You Think?

<p>So many variables, which makes it a gamble.</p>

<p>My kid needs to maintain a 3.3 cumulative GPA, and went through the Honors College. She is acutely aware of what she needs to do. In the end it boiled down to her maturity and time management. She was up for the challenge starting with building the cushion 1st semester freshman year. This has not been at the expense of having fun. She is also involved with clubs, activities, and volunteering</p>

<p>And yes, we had (still have) plan B. But she was up to the challenge. We took the chance. We let her know we believed in her. So far so good.</p>

<p>Lot of good points are being made in this thread.</p>

<p>Okay, I did some more checking. The criteria actually says she must “…maintain standing on the Deans List.” The Deans list does require a 3.5 GPA. However, I interpret this to mean that if she slips one semester, gets a 3.3 for example, and misses the Deans List, she would still only have to achieve a 3.5 GPA the following semester - not a 3.7 to achieve an average of 3.5. </p>

<p>I will also add, in fairness to the school, it seems pretty clear to me now that they are targeting this scholarship at students they plan to groom to represent them in national fellowship competitions. I’m a bit slow I guess, and didn’t initially put two and two together, but I believe that’s what they are really paying and prospecting for. It’s not explicitly stated, but from what I can gather, it appears they will put a lot of resources behind this group hoping they will be competitors for prestigious awards in a couple of years. In my view that changes the paradigm somewhat. Given the latter as a defined purpose, I’m less inclined to think of their expectations as being unreasonable or unduly onerous. However, the price for not succeeding along that track will potentially be the loss of the scholarship. I think D will just have to discern whether or not that’s something she really wants to go after under those terms. I’ve decided that if she does, I’m not going to continue expressing any reservations and, as calmom suggests, give her the chance to take an open shot at it I tend to agree that if I play too much of a role in dissuading her it might backfire anyway by leaving her to wonder what might have been, and perhaps, thinking I didn’t believe in her enough. </p>

<p>D says she will wait to see how everything else shakes out. In the meantime, I will quietly hope something comes to light that is similarly attractive with a little less anxiety attached. :)</p>

<p>OP- apologies if you took my comments to be a lack of faith in your D, or that I felt a 3.5 was unreasonable or onerous. I don’t know your D, and there are oodles of kids who consistently have 3.5 and above in college without breaking a sweat.</p>

<p>But the parents of those kids usually do not express reservations about those kids. There are just some people who are constitutionally unable to “blow off” an assignment. They show up on time, they pay attention, they leave parties at 10 pm even if they’re having fun because they have a lab the next morning, they know they won’t get much sleep during midterms so they’re careful not to eat junk food and take care of themselves. Some of them even reach very hard to make sure their schedules don’t have gut classes, and they actually enjoy being stretched and challenged and overworked.</p>

<p>I was not one of those kids. Something in your posts suggest that this is not your kid. But apologies- there’s no question that if your D got offered this scholarship, that the college has every expectation that your D can be successful there without making herself miserable in the process.</p>

<p>But I know many kids who have lost merit scholarships for various reasons. Sometimes it’s the mono/appendectomy the week before finals- i.e. truly beyond their control. Sometimes it’s the bad break up half way through the semester and the kid just can’t bounce back (so partially under control but then again, what 19 year old isn’t emotionally fragile from time to time?) And sometimes its TOTALLY under the kids control- bad planning, poor time management, inability to hit the books consistently (i.e. not the night before the midterm, but every day for at least a couple of hours.) Sometimes it’s coupled with a hometown honey or a BF/GF at another college so the hours visiting or IM’ing or calling suck up too much time. And sometimes the kid gets to college and realizes it’s WAAAY more fun than living with mom and dad, and between writing for the college paper, learning photography in the state of the art darkroom, going to poetry slams and comedy nights and string quartet performances… there’s just something going on 24/7 at a busy college campus, and finding time to sleep, go to class, eat some protein occasionally, plus read 1,000 pages of Tolstoy every week… well something’s got to give and it’s usually going to class.</p>

<p>So it’s great you are encouraging her and I’m sure she will make a great decision!</p>

<p>Oh no no Blossom, no apologies necessary at all. If such notions had not occurred to me I’m not sure I would have opened this thread. Certainly no offense taken. Many of the reactions posted are similar to my own initial reaction. However, to be clear, D and the university are indeed quite confident. The reservations I’ve expressed are predominantly just mine, and even those mostly eminate from the knowledge that sometimes "stuff’ happens :).</p>

<p>Just curious…
Every merit scholarship I’ve seen requires a cumulative GPA of a certain number. I’ve never seen one that was by the semester.</p>

<p>Before making such an important decision I think it would be a good idea for your daughter to speak directly with someone in the scholarship office and ask for a written copy of the award to make sure.</p>

<p>The award letter stipulates D must maintain standing on the Deans list each semester. Deans list = 3.5. </p>

<p>D has reached out to a few of the current scholars. Some spoke about running into some issues here and there, but they are are highly complimentary about the available resources and help they receive - especially from the advising program and their profs. I noticed a few have a lot of ECs and/or are also athletes. </p>

<p>I still have no idea what the scholarship retention rate is, but I no longer suspect these scholarships are designed as a “bait and switch” ploy. </p>

<p>I think D has convinced me to lean in this direction along with her at this point… but still waiting to find out about a couple other opportunities.</p>

<p>good luck to your D with the rest of her applications!. To have as a “fall back” position a FULL RIDE at a great U is fantastic, and if she is not going to be majoring in a heavy duty science major with a mean curve, then I’ll bet she will have no problem maintaining a 3.5. Son has a full tuition scholarship at a top 30 U [it was his safety] and has maintained a 3.5 for 4 years, [it took hard work, mind you] with a science major/ physics minor while doing outside research. Most colleges DO have a good idea of what their top students are capable of.</p>