<p>I've been planning to go to Texas A&M (Commerce, not College Station), and I've just been accepted. However, I had been planning on going to the Honors College there. The TAMU Commerce Honors College program provides a full four-year free ride to anyone who gets accepted. My SAT score was 1410/2090 and my ACT was 27, I'm second in my class at high school, and my GPA is I think 3.75, and from what I understand most of the people who get accepted into this program have SATs of only about 1200; it doesn't seem to be too competitive. Everyone I had talked to, especially my school counselor, seemed certain I would accepted if I applied for this. But I just got my rejection letter from the Honor College today. So now I don't really know what to do. I was really banking on getting into the Honor College. I know I can find a way to pay for college, but it was looking like I was going to be able to go for free and have piles of cash to spare. Now it's looking like I'm going to be another broke college student, and I would like to avoid that if at all possible. I've signed up with FastWeb, so I have some scholarships in line, but I don't qualify for anything needs-based (due to some financial intricacies the FAFSA doesn't really take into account, my EFC is unrealistically high). Does anyone have any ideas for me?</p>
<p>tl;dr version: Going to TAMU Commerce, rejected by Honors College, SAT=1410/2090, ACT=27, 2nd in class, GPA=3.75, don't qualify for needs-based aid, how do I get money?</p>
<p>Considering the requirements, I'm quite puzzled about it myself. (Also, I know of at least one person who was admitted without meeting the minimum SAT score.) My counselor and I are close; I'll consult her about it and we'll probably look into it (as you said, politely). It's definitely a full ride, though; it pays for tuition, books and materials, housing, food, and even provides furniture and appliances, all for four years, as long as you maintain at least a 3.0 GPA.</p>
<p>I looked at it too. They take 50 people into that program. Nothing on there says that if you meet the SAT threshhold you are GUARANTEED a spot. Surely more than 50 people applied than are qualified.</p>
<p>I realize that a 50 person admission limit seems small, but it's a fairly small school (I think only about 9000 people go there), and considering that they've admitted people who don't meet the minimum qualifications in the past, I doubt they're getting swamped with highly qualified applicants. Of course, the program has only been in place for a year or two, so it's possible that it just hasn't been well publicized until this year, but that doesn't seem a likely explanation. And I was mainly going with what my counselor was telling me; she was dead certain I would get accepted.</p>
<p>But in any case, worrying about why I didn't get admitted into the honors program isn't going to help me now. I just need to find a way to pay now that Honors College isn't an option for me.</p>
<p>You should still ask (nicely) and have your counselor ask. Sometimes the squeeky mouse gets the cheese. My daughter was initially turned down for the honors college at her school (no money involved) and we queried it, it turned out someone had entered her GPA wrongly in the computer. This also affected a separate scholarship she had hoped for and she ended up getting that also.</p>