Gates Scholar from Guam! So stoked!
@NJRoadie, my I don’t know what exactly you are seeking with your question. My son attends school in Texas, so he attended the conference in CA. He is small town, so he enjoyed the experience and said it was empowering and impactful. Before the conference he was actually embarrassed to state he was a scholar because he felt it defined him economically. He chose a private school where many of the students do not share our economic background. He has had the opportunity to apply to participate in the Alternative Spring Break, however he chose to come home and work instead to have extra money for school. In our case, the GMS has not been a full ride because of our EFC, but it has made his school of choice affordable. He is now also a McNair Scholar, which will give him the opportunity to participate in a paid summer research. The program also prepares him for his GRE and graduate applications. I hope this is the information your are seeking…
@macbeth13 when did you find out and did you find out through email or air mail? saipan finalist here
@gekikira I was notified through email first. I received the package through mail the day after.
Hi macbeth13: You are from Saipan? As in the Northern Marianas? Cool. I’m international too and hear via email. As of today, I still haven’t received my envelope. I don’t think they sent them FedEx but ordinary mail. I’m waiting to Friday and will then ask them to send everything again…this time by FedEx.
@ScubaMom9026 can you elaborate on what you meant by tuition not being a full ride due to your EFC? I am still not sure how this award works in terms of the actual grant money.
@vrantriliquist The GMS scholarship pays for what you cannot pay yourself. How it works:
-You recieve your FA package from the school(s) of choice.
-If work study is included in the FA packet, then that will also be counted as part of the FA packet.
-If your EFC is NOT zero, then the school will include that as your responsibility on the COA bill.
-If your EFC is zero, then you need not worry about that.
-Finally, when it comes time to pay the bills, GMS will pay what is NOT included in your FA packet (excluding loans).
For example:
COA: ~42k
Financial Aid Packet:
ALL Grants/Scholarships from the school and other sources (that are reported to the school): ~25k
Work Study (if granted): ~5k
Total Aid (not including EFC): ~32k
Now:
If EFC is zero, then GMS covers 42 - 32 = 10k (i.e. the rest of the cost).
If EFC is NOT zero, then GMS covers 42 - 32 - EFC = 10k - EFC (i.e. the rest of the cost after deducting your EFC).
Basically, GMS covers the leftover amount still owed after all available sources of payments (that are NOT loans) have arrived.
Does this help?
ScubaMom, thanks for your help and the information!
My scholar has an EFC of zero, and no work study has been offered. I believe that the top choice college is likely the first Scholar they’ve had. We are concerned that on the COA, they do not presently list books, personal expenses or travel. We are hoping we can ask them to include these items, since clearly they are part of the cost of attendance. Scholar also won State level Horatio Alger, gets other grants and such. We just want to make sure they have a clear picture of the actual cost as our scholar has no family support.
@NotYetEngineer thank you—that clarified a lot!!!
NJRoadie, I know how you feel. We can only support our son so much. We still have 2 children at home 1 graduating in 2016. We find a way to help our son as much as possible with the cost of his education, but fun money is on his dime. He substitutes during his breaks and has a PT sales position geared to college students. We haven’t had to take out loans YET, but we know the time is nearing. The only loans he is qualified for as a scholar is unsubsidized federal loans (the ones that accrue interest on day 1). We are banking on him working in an industry that allows for loan forgiveness in the long run.
Thanks Scuba. Our scholar is not our child, and has no family supporting him.
Hello fellow scholars! I was wondering how does travel work out. I live in Louisiana and am going to school in DC
Are most scholars first generation students?
Both loans and Federal Work-Study are considered to be “self-help aid.” Gates covers (i.e., substitutes for) all self-help aid that is part of the award from your college. You can accept the Work-Study job if you want to, but since Gates will cover that as part of your scholarship, I would advise getting a non-Work-Study campus job so you can have some extra spending money or to help cover your Student or Family Contribution, if you have one. Remember that all scholarship monies that go for room, board, travel, and miscellaneous expenses are taxable. Also, any money you earn from a job (Work-Study or not) will have to be reported as student income on next year’s FAFSA. Depending on how much you earn during the fall semester, it might or might not affect the amount of next year’s Pell Grant.
The tax situation is complicated and it isn’t as straight forward as you imply. You are entitled to various federal deductions and adjustments that, for most students, eliminate their tax liability. The problem usually is State taxes. As for room and board, the IRS publishes a worksheet to determine what, if anything, you owe. So don’t panic, you wind up ahead.
Have any scholars outside the US received the envelopes? It seems they sent them surface mail, not FedEx, which could take weeks to arive.
Heck, my scholar is IN the US, and still hasn’t rec’d his packet, although we got the letter as nominator and scholar got the email saying “Scholar”!! Kind of impatient to get this packet and learn the details. Is there anywhere else this information is available online?
@ NJRoadie, I worry that the top choice school doesn’t have GMS students. We had a GMS student attend a local university that was unfamiliar with the scholarship and her experience with the financial aide office has been a nightmare. She is transferring next semester (as a Junior) to a private university that has more experience with the program.
@ScubaMom9026 Good afternoon, I was wondering if you could please help me out with advice on my situation. I am a Gates finalist from Naples, FL and am Hispanic. After reading some of the previous comments, it seems that other Hispanic students have received notification whether through email or mail of their scholar status. I have a PO Box, so I am not sure if that could delay my package from arriving. I try and call the Gates office but they dont respond back. And now that I think of it, I never received my letter informing me I was a finalist but saw the decision online. Based on your experince, at this point since I haven’t received anything should I just assume I was not selected as a scholar? Do you know when letters for those not accepted get mailed out? Any advice is appreciated from anyone, thank you 
@MeliAlamo, I think you should know by now, but you could check with your nominator or recommenders and see if they have received an email on your status. I believe the scholars nominator/recommenders were notified via email.