<p>Is a school allowed to pressure the student to make a decision to accept a scholarship earlier than May 1st? This is not an ED school. They are asking DS to decide by April 9th and it seems unfair not to allow him until May 1st to make a decision. It's their money though so are they allowed to do that? </p>
<p>I just don't like the pressure and the timing is not great since their open house is only 3 days before the due date. He won't have much time to think about what he saw and then decide. We haven't seen the "conditions" either except he has to maintain a 3.5 which only 20% of the kids do in that dept. so that seems scary and we don't have all the info about a grace or probation period. I plan on following up and asking the questions that sybbie told me to ask in my thread about the full scholarship but geez, not a lot of TIME to investigate.</p>
<p>I found an old thread that says:
"The truth is that you are not obligated to to reply to ANY school before May 1. If schools offer you a scholarship that is contingent on agreeing to attend before that date, you have, under National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC) guidelines, the right to request an extension of the scholarship offer to May 1."
"Again, colleges that request commitments for admission offers or financial offers prior to May 1 MUST offer candidates the opportunity to request (in writing) the opportunity to postpone their decision until May 1, even if they say initially that the offer is only good if attendance is accepted before then. If any school balks, report them to the NACAC."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nacacnet.org/about/Governance/Policies/Documents/SPGP.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.nacacnet.org/about/Governance/Policies/Documents/SPGP.pdf</a>
I found this document but is the University of California part of the NACAC? </p>
<p>In that same thread from 2010 (<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/842304-scholarship-acceptances-legally-binding.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/842304-scholarship-acceptances-legally-binding.html</a>) The advice given is:
"Just accept the scholarship. They can't make anyone attend, nor can they financially hurt you in any way later. If they complain to you after your daughter changes her mind, just tell them it's their fault for having such a silly policy. Scholarship acceptances are not legally binding."</p>
<p>Is the above still true today and would it pertain to a state school like UCSD? Does one just accept and then be allowed to change one's mind if needed without penalty or is it best to ask for an extension in writing? If so, is email fine, too? Since it's for one of the UCs and they are part of one big system, it seems as though there could be trouble if DS wanted to go to Cal instead but is waiting on their scholarship decision that doesn't come out until much later. </p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your help!</p>
<p>Hi fidoprincess! We ran into a similar situation at UCLA a few years ago, and the explanation we received was that the particular scholarship was only administered through UCLA, not technically* from* UCLA (though in every respect, it appeared to us to be a scholarship from UCLA), they could place any response date they chose. It actually ended up upsetting my daughter enough that she crossed UCLA off her list and told them it was because they pressured her to respond before May 1st.</p>
<p>The thing that makes it tough for the UCs is that if you submit a SIR to one, you are excluded from changing your mind to another later - and you are already aware of that.</p>
<p>In your son’s case, it might be a good idea to ask for an extension in writing - and if they won’t grant it possibly to make the commitment - I know he is waiting for news about the Regent’s at Berkeley, and it is very important to remember that without need, the Regent’s at Berkeley is a $2,500/year honorarium. With need, it will replace need-based loans with grants. It will not cover EFC except in the amount of the honorarium. [UC</a> Berkeley Financial Aid and Scholarships Office: Undergraduates » Types of Aid » Scholarships » Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholarship Benefits](<a href=“http://students.berkeley.edu/finaid/undergraduates/RCbenefits.htm]UC”>http://students.berkeley.edu/finaid/undergraduates/RCbenefits.htm)</p>
<p>If he submitted a SIR to UCSD, he could later accept an offer from a non-UC if they provided a better offer. I do not feel it would be an ethical breach in the case where they pressured for a pre-May 1st commitment, especially if you withdrew the SIR before May 1st.</p>
<p>Congrats on the great scholarship offer!</p>
<p>I’m not sure if fido’s son has to submit a SIR . . . or just indicate his acceptance of the scholarship.</p>
<p>If, as you say, the scholarship is a 3rd party scholarship that’s merely administered through UCSD, then maybe the SIR wouldn’t be needed. After all, why would the 3rd party need the SIR? And UCSD can’t require the SIR before May 1.</p>
<p>Yes, if he is not required to submit a SIR, just say, “Yes! I’ll take it!” In my daughter’s case, they said she had to submit a SIR to UCLA by April 14th to receive the scholarship.</p>
<p>Sadly, this is done a lot. My son was asked to accept offers before May 1 for a special program where only a few kids were offered slots so that if he turned it down, another student could be offered the position. I’ve seen this with scholarships and aid too, where a school simply will not get it together by May 1. </p>
<p>In such cases, the recommendation is to commit to the award, in the case of the OP, but not to the school, or to commit to the school and request to delay the enrollment deposit until May 1, and then rescind as soon as another school replaces the choice. If the enrollment deposit has to be paid and is not refundable, one has to make that choice to pay the money, file a complaint with the college organization that has agreed to this May1,if the college is a member of it , and take the risk of losing it if the student changes his mind.</p>
<p>My nephew had to make a May1 decision with his first choice waitlisting him, but he was accepted to a ROTC spot there with scholarship. THough he pleaded with the first choice school, they would not budge, so he had to switch the ROTC award to another school and commit there. A week later, he cleared the waitlist at his first choice school, but could not move the ROTC spot again, because it was filled by someone else and he was put on a waitlist for that Very frustrating. .</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all of your help and replies. My DD was in a play tonight and I thought about this the whole time! </p>
<p>Alamemom, thanks so much for telling me your experience with UCLA. I pulled out the little bit of paperwork, just a letter, and realized it says ABOVE a 3.5 but can’t tell if it is not directly from UCSD. That gpa requirement seems really high compared to others I’ve seen. Even Regents is 3.0. Thank you, too, for making sure I knew about the Regents. Yes, we have need! Our EFC is most likely more than we can manage even with Regents meeting full need but there is a possibility of a similar full scholarship at Cal that my son applied for but won’t notify him before the due date of this one. I’m simply rooting for Cal because it’s so close to home, (90 minutes vs. 9 hours to SD) but we still haven’t see any other finaid packets and you know he loved USC, too. It’s no wonder your DD passed up UCLA for USC. I want my DS to see all his options. Who knows what else will come his way in the next few weeks? </p>
<p>I think he just has to write the letter asking for more time and also the exact conditions of the scholarship. I still am shocked that there wasn’t anything in the packet regarding the “fine print.” It leads me to believe there is NO fine print-ie. no grace period, probation, etc… It just dawned on me that if he takes 4 classes each quarter, the MINIMUM grades to be ABOVE the 3.5 requirement would be 3 As and 1 B. (3 As and a C would be a 3.5 and 2As and 2Bs would be 3.5 also but not qualify so that seems like a tough feat, especially in his major of aerospace engineering, doesn’t it?) DS is not concerned having never gotten less than an A but college is different. </p>
<p>To accept the scholarship, there is just a link to click on an online form. I didn’t click it of course, so I don’t know if there is a SIR attached? We have never seen a SIR yet…</p>
<p>This is a shame, really. Between the ABOVE 3.5 gpa and the time limit, it almost seems as though it’s not really a sincere offer. I just thought we would get the acceptances and finaid packages and have a month to look everything over and decide, ha, silly me!</p>
<p>Do you think he can just email them? They’ve emailed him twice so far so I told him he could just reply back asking for time and details but is that considered “in writing” and formal enough? I’ll post back after he gets a reply. Thanks again!</p>
<p>Oh yes, absolutely - an email is fine! You just don’t want the “more time” agreement to be verbal, in case someone questions it later.</p>
<p>And I get your point about the 3.5 . . . that sucks! I’m sure the kids who receive this award can probably manage it . . . but that would make for a stressful four years! That’s something to think about for a student who’s lucky enough to have a choice between merit offers and financial aid.</p>