Fake Scholarship possibly? UT austin's Longhorn Guaranty

Paying for College
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<p>Hi guys! I recently recieved a letter from UT austin with a scholarship offer with LOTS of money. However, when i googled this scholarship, i found 0 information about it and when i called the office they said they couldn't pull up anything which makes me question the legitimacy.</p>

<p>However, if it is fake, theres a signature of Tom Melecki who is the director at the bottom so i dont know if this may be real because ithought UT didnt give out scholarships. They also have my UT EID posted on this letter as well.</p>

<p>What are you thoughts guys??</p>

<p>Thanks!!</p>

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<p>What’s the name of the scholarship?</p>

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<p>its just called “Longhorn Guaranty” and thats it</p>

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<p>Is there a telephone number on the letter? If so, call them. I did see a bio on a student who is receiving the UT-Austin Longhorn Guaranty scholarship when I Googled, but that doesn’t mean it’s really real. It is odd that I can’t find the scholarship anywhere on the UT-Austin website, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist …</p>

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<p>Can you post the wording on the letter, please??</p>

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<p>Congratulations on your admission to The University of Texas at Austin! Your academic success and personal achievement have ensured your place among the elite class of 2018. I am pleased to inform you that you have also been chosen as a recipient of the Longhorn Guaranty.</p>

<p>Under this guaranty you will recieve at least 80,000 in grants and scholarships at 10,000 per long semester beginning fall semester 2014 and ending spring 2018 provided you :</p>

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<p>and then it lists a few requirements like enrollemt deposit, fafsa, etc etc</p>

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<p>then at the ends:
The university takes great pride in offering the longhorn guaranty to hardworking successful students like you. you are determined to make a difference in the world and for this reason we are proud to invest in you! I congratulate you on your past achievement and wish you the best of luck in your new academic career here at uta.</p>

<p>and then it says hook em horns and then tom melecki’s signature and his name and title stuffs</p>

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<p>When I google Longhorn Guaranty the first thing that comes up is this. Does this describe you and your high school?</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.utexas.edu/ugs/lsp”>http://www.utexas.edu/ugs/lsp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>i definitely do not think that my school is underrepresented haha</p>

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<p>Sure sounds legitimate! :slight_smile: It looks like they are saying that you will receive 4 years’ of money, at $10,000 per semester … and possibly more per semester. I imagine that would include any Pell or SEOG, in addition to UT money. So you can depend on at least $20k/year (as long as you meet any requirements of the award), and you may be eligible to receive more. I would guess your financial aid award letter will show just what is what.</p>

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<p>Do you have low income? It sounds like Tom Melecki provides financial aid which might mean loans.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.dailytexanonline.com/person/tom-melecki”>http://www.dailytexanonline.com/person/tom-melecki&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Almost all financial aid directors provide loans … because loans are financial aid. :wink: In the case of the Guaranty, though, it specifically lists grants and scholarships as making up the minimum-$10k.</p>

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<p>For those large scholarships, there are very few recipients so that you may not be able to find many people talking about it on the web. I don’t think it is fake or a practical joke.</p>

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<p>Why don’t you just call the financial aid office and ask them to confirm that you were offered the scholarship?</p>

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<p>you are lucky this is 100% real scholarship UT Austin started this pilot project this year, they awarded this to 59 kids and I have already done all procedure and I received the scholarship also</p>

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<p>merit based scholarships, call Student Financial Services / 512-475-6282 option 4 </p>

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<p>As you have probably learned by now that it is real, but I’ll comment for others who may find this page when searching Longhorn Guaranty. It is not a specific scholarship, but a guaranty of a financial aid total. My husband called the day after we got the letter and they had no information. When I called that afternoon, the representative said, ‘Oh, we just got a memo on that, let me read it.’ </p>

<p>It’s a new program where UT is letting students know there will be financial aid earlier than they can offer the specific aid, so they can make decisions earlier. It was effective for my son. He made his decision to attend UT because of this guaranty. We showed him the $$$ situation for UT and MIT.</p>

<p>It is scholarship for those who don’t have financial need, and will include grants for the who qualify.</p>

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<p>@sarah13579 - this is interesting. So this is being offered also to students without a financial need as a merit scholarship? </p>

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<p>Yes, it can be 100% merit or scholarship if there is no need. They subtract off the Pell grant, and any state grants. If you get a private scholarship, you can keep that up to the official estimate of attendance, about $26,800. </p>