@nopenoway apparently admissions is still working on applications according to a student.
I just spoke with Financial Aid. They stated more scholarships will be coming out through mid April. Also, they stated that Capstone is definitely need based. It will be based on EFC. I stated this information should have been communicated prior to the Early Decision date. FA stated the new criteria was in place in August.
My daughter applied in 11/15. 4.0 weighted GPA, 1600 SAT. She has not heard a word from Howard. Does anyone know how they are reviewing applications? Obviously, it is not in order of receipt.
This makes no sense. Accepted students day is this Friday, and folks dont even know if they are accepted, not to mention if they have money! I am done. Fortunately my child has another offer, but she is very disappointed.
I’m looking at the website, and it seems that Howard has gotten rid of all merit scholarships going forward (My D is H '17). Is that right?
@justkaron At this point, my best guess would be that their process it to just throw everybody’s application into a pile, and then randomly pick ones.
Partyof5 I fully understand your frustration and faced a bit of it during our child’s application process with Howard. However, I have to say that she not only ended up going, but with a great merit scholarship and honors program and has loved it. We are a large family and I have been down this college road before and have a couple of more kids to go. The Howard process was a mess and there have been challenges while there, but she loves it, has had a TON of opportunities and will be a part of an alumni network that will aid her, I believe, for years to come. She is not one to party, not an athlete and had never been in anything close to an HBCU environment. But the accepted students day and overnight honors visit sold her. Blind-sided us completely…never would have guessed she would have turned down the top schools she did and go to HU…but she did and loves it.
So, I would say IF you (to all here in limbo) can hang in there, don’t let the MESS of admissions right now take away what could end up being a great opportunity. But if you must move on, HU really will learn that they must do better!
I use to come on here and read and gain lots of insight. But now I am hoping to return the favor and post to help some other parents. Final thought: Remember, one was or another this crazy college process will work out.
There are still several schools my daughter haven’t heard from admissions or financial aid wise and they are not HBCUs. My D’s high school counselor has been very frustrated this year because so many schools are sending admission notices out so late giving students very little time to make a decision by May 1st. I don’t know what it is about this application season that so many schools are behind. That being said we just have to be persistent. It is frustrating and tiring but it is what it is. My D got her acceptance in February after applying in October. We’re waiting on the financial aid package now to see what they are offering. She’s also still applying to outside scholarships. So we will see.
@ReturningFavor you mustve not read my posts. I have a child at Howard, so I am well versed in how Howard works. My current senior was hoping to join her sibling there, as her sibling is there on scholarship. The problem is that they eliminated some of the scholarships, and made the others need based. Again I have no problem with Howard trying to tighten the belt, but they shouldve posted this in the beginning of the year so that I wouldve made other decisions. They knew in the fall that they were revamping the scholarship program. Also, they shouldnt call them merit scholarships once they are taking need into account. They are basically excluding a whole bunch of middle income kids that dont technically have “need”, but excelled in school.
@partyof5 You hit the nail on the head. They should have been upfront with the change rather than misrepresenting the scholarships on their website well into March. I ended up using the scholarship they offered as leverage against another school to get more money. So I guess applying to Howard wasn’t for naught.
I can’t phathom what Howard is thinking with scholarship changes implemented after the application cycle began. Without need, someone pursuing merit would perhaps retake the ACT to get 32 or prioritize other applications.
My son has a full ride at Prairie View and full tuition at Xavier. He is full pay at UT Austin and Texas A&M. He wants to go to med school and so we were counting on merit to make undergrad + med more feasible. PV is a top contender but if money were no object he’d choose UT. He thought Howard could surpass PV if he got Capstone. Oh well…love thy financial safety.
@JAMCAFE congrats to your son. I would take the tuition at Xavier if he is going to med school. They have an excellent track record for sending kids to med school. And yes, Howard really did it this time. They will see it in their yield. As I said, they are losing a ton of middle income kids with good test scores.
Does anyone have a schedule for accepted students day? It’s this Friday and I still haven’t gotten one
Does anyone have a schedule for accepted students day? It’s this Friday and I still haven’t gotten one
My son applied in January, got an email in Feb asking him for some additional information, and that was the last we heard from HU. We will most likely move on as he has been offered a full ride at Morehouse, and also accepted into Brandeis, Babson and Amherst.
Does anyone know if Howard will mail official scholarship letters?
How do you know it’s Friday? I can’t seem to find anything online about when they will send acceptance letters and What do you mean the schedule?
@cecelexis2016 what are you trying to find out? Accepted students day is Friday. If you are still waiting to find out if you are accepted you need to call admissions.
@partyof5 I did not read the whole thread, so missed some of your other posts. If you have one at HU, then you certainly are making an informed decision. It is very disappointing that things are such a mess this year for applicants! To all others…I agree that kids should learn to love their financial safety schools. Problem seems to be that many thought HU would be just that based on prior scholarship information and now the rug has been pulled out from under them and that is unfair.
My friend said she heard that HU realized that there are FAR too many legacy scholarships now and that only requiring a 3.0 to maintain is not demanding enough. Understood. But the new criteria should have been clearly defined and released last summer.
Our experience was messy, but not at all this messy. I’m sorry you all are going through this during an already stressful time. I’d grab this Xavier and Morehouse offers and keep stepping.
I think what’s being left unsaid and swept under the rug is the shear lack of professionalism not befitting a school that esteems itself as “The Mecca” and the best of the HBCU’s. It’s quite remarkable and I have never seen anything like it.
Exhibit A - the school doesn’t officially inform prospective students that the scholarship program is changing DRASTICALLY. There is no update to its webpage even as late as March. The website as of TODAY may still have old criteria on it. What self respecting institution does that??
Exhibit B - calls made to the admissions office (albeit during Spring Break) are answered by voicemail giving the operating hours of the office and saying it is after hours, not ONCE indicating that the school was on break and would reopen on Monday.
Exhibit C - many people applied in October EA for the purpose of finding out their decisions early. Many that applied EA with stellar grades have not been notified as of late March, yet many that applied RD have been accepted already.
This is absolutely ridiculous and achieves a new low in expectations.
My son applied and was accepted to Xavier Univ of Louisiana, Hampton, TUSKEGEE, NCA&T, and Morehouse. ALL of these institutions have been EXTREMELY professional. Communication with their admissions offices has been absolutely fantastic! As good or better than any PWI he’s been accepted to (UMiami, Purdue, DePaul).
What a disappointment and disservice. I expected better. Someone truly needs to be terminated.