<p>Something else I remember from the weekend that I found interesting. Green or Gillis, when talking about the Stamps Scholarship said MR STAMPS REALLY LIKES TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN SOMEONE’S LiFE and went on to describe a previous Stamps Scholar’s essay, which clearly discussed financial need. It was a kid who’d had to sacrifice one of his interests due to family finances. So at the end of the day…at least with the Stamps…there may have been another aspect to selection.</p>
<p>mithwhizmia, I agree and can commiserate with everything you said. I also agree that finances are a big part of the picture with the S/S scholarships. As I’ve said before, UM wants these top students, but so do many other schools. They offer the scholarships to entice them . There would be no point in offering them to students who didn’t need them because they will be making their choice independent of financial considerations.</p>
<p>@malaml
This was in a prior year though, as she stated, and in that year, there WERE some Singers who didn’t get Foote. It wasn’t like this year where everybody at Stamps weekend and all Singers got Foote. She said this year many things were very different than in the past years.</p>
<p>I don’t think financial need is taken into consideration. D is a freshman Stamps scholar, and we did not apply for financial aid. I think the Stamps award (and Singer) definitely gets kids to go to Miami that might not otherwise. In D’s case, she was deciding between several merit scholarships and a couple of schools that offer no merit. If she didn’t receive Stamps, I am not sure what her school decision would have been. So I do think these are true merit scholarships and not based on need. That being said, I really don’t know how they decide. All of the applicants are strong and qualified. Some interview better than others, and some just hit it off with their interviewer. Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the wall? One thing, I would not underestimate Foote Fellows. That gives such great flexibility to the students and is a huge advantage for them. Good luck with decisions…it is mighty tough. We were there last year, and it is a very hard decision. The good news is everyone has great options and can’t go wrong. D is thrilled with Miami and a year later, can’t believe it was a tough decision for her.</p>
<p>I agree with you Dumbo. My S is a freshman Singer, and although I completed the FAFSA, we qualified for $0. Whether you can afford to pay or not, they are looking to entice kids to come to the U. Miami wasn’t my S first choice, but the Singer was a better award than he received at his #1, so he ended up there. One year later, it couldn’t have been a better situation. If the kids who don’t get the S/S end up at their next choice, I’m sure the same will be true for them. I believe that college is more about the experience than the location…</p>
<p>I’m not saying at all that the selection is based on finances. The mere fact that people show up to Singer weekend is an indication that scholarships are important to them. Just because someones Efc is 0 doesn’t mean that they are willing or able to fork over the tuition. The weekend gives the students a chance to see other very strong students and to see that the school could work be a good choice. If we didn’t get the Singer invite and the subsequent merit awards than my D would never considered the school. ( it was nothing personal, just a bit too close to home.). Another thing I wonder about are the singer invites who have a EFC of 0. Since they are great students, they probably already have a Financial Aid package with mostly grants and low loan. Would they award the Singer to him or her her? Or to a person with a high EFC? Even if you didn’t fill out a FA form, there are easy ways to get a pretty good idea of someones general financial situation. All I’m saying is that the decisions are very complex. The students need to know that just because they didn’t win doesn’t mean they did poorly on the interview.</p>
<p>
This is a good point, and I wouldn’t doubt if they find other means to accommodate students that they “want” there (i.e. via financial aid rather than scholarships). I didn’t get Singer but they ended up giving me enough in grants and financial aid that essentially the cost of attendance is covered (~$52k), and that’s before even work study and loans.</p>
<p>The whole process definitely is complex. I even still wonder if it was a bad idea to show my true enthusiasm for the U in my interview… I revealed that I had decided I would be attending the U no matter what despite not hearing back from schools like Duke and Stanford at the time.</p>
<p>wow! 52K is great. we have 33, so almost cost of tuition but nothing towards room and board. Don’t even know what EFC is. We didn’t qualify for aid.</p>
<p>I think there was one person who posted that they’d put up their deposit that got Singer. Also I think that person said they qualified for aid but can’t remember. Wish others would post about their interview experience. Like you, my son thought he did great…was the last one out of the interview amongst his group and thought he got on well with both mentor and prof. Just my little conspiracy theory about having showed his hand with having put deposit down. But, I am not only an overthinker, I am a marketing strategist and mediator, and it just makes sense to me if you have too many people for scholarships and are trying to whittle them down that you don’t need to throw enticements at people that are commited without the scholarship. I tried to discourage S from putting deposit up because of my views…If I have 10 candidates applying for a job I’m probably not going to ante up a big signing bonus to someone I don’t have to lure in. Just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>Seekinguni, I think they wanted you! Those kind of financial packages are few and far between. In the end it comes down to the same $. Try not to second guess yourself. It’s all good!</p>
<p>I’m, yet again, doing the singer tour this evening at 5PM, so to anyone who is coming down, see you then! Singer tours are my favorite ones to do :)</p>
<p>does anyone know if there’s a minimum SAT cutoff for foote fellowships?</p>
<p>Hello:</p>
<p>My S is waiting on Singer. I don’t think ACT/SAT is the major factor. I think it is more about why you want to go for your field. They have to see something that shows that passion. Of course, I stand corrected if I later find that good students did not get it. (as always, it is all topsy-turvy) We have had interessting interview/scholarship responses so far. We had UMiami (somewhat prestigious) at least offering a Singer interview and others (less prestigious) almost not even considering my S. In the end, you really need to go where they want you. My advice. It really matters if you visit the department and you feel you want to be associated with those teachers. There are many schools where professors are interested in their research and do not care about teaching. It is true. When you choose your Bachelors, you really need to go where they like you (irrespective of where it is, small, medium, state, big, whatever). You really look for more prestigious schools in Masters. Bachelors is soooo important in your life and you have to be connected with professors.</p>
<p>Don’t take rejections personally despite the hurt. I also think a lot depends on who is reading your profile. There are way too many variables. It is a cope out if they don’t do their job and just base it on ACT/SAT.</p>
<p>I hear announcement for the second Singer weekend is today. Is that true? First group Singers, what time did you know and how? Emails?</p>
<p>Those that interviewed on the 3rd of March, heard about Singer results on Monday the 12th. They got an email in their myUM account sometime in the mid-afternoon I believe.</p>
<p>
Yep, these are the dates and we got the e-mail around 4-4:30pm.</p>
<p>Thank you for the information. So, in theory, since we had it on 24th, we should hear today. Will they let you know if you did not get it. I want to know the bad news as well so that I can pursue elsewhere.</p>
<p>Midwestdad, last year we were told we didnt get it the same time that the winners were notified. In the email, they told us about the extra 4k gables award. Then, close to the commit date( my daughter had a hard time deciding) they offered more merit$.</p>
<p>Mlam1</p>
<p>Thank you. I will wait then. It is a pricey school.</p>
<p>I am sorry to say my S did not get it. Now, I am going back to ACT scores. Maybe, it is all based on 33-34-35 etc. and they may trump everything else. For example, a 35 ACT will get Singer and not 34 and so on. Hope they looked at other things. All the best to those who have it.</p>
<p>Malaml, I am glad about the extra Gables award (which he did get). He got some grants and Gable award as well but I am afraid grants are teasers that could be pulled out next year. I know they have FAFSA and EFC etc but if some of those are pulled out, it could cause financial hardship on families with other kids in colleges. This is tough for parents who want the best for their sons and daughters.</p>