Hi everyone. I received a reply from the Coordinator of Honorific Scholarships at LSU. @afbratmama, as you correctly guessed, LSU is processing merit awards on a rolling basis. However, the coordinator informed me that the invitations for essays to apply for the Stamps and President’s Alumni Scholars Awards have already been sent. I’m not sure why my name wasn’t included on the list. Was my SAT score too low (1430)? That’s all I can figure. I’ve asked the coordinator to let me know why I didn’t make the cut.
I’m burning the midnight oil applying to more schools.
The good news is that LSU is still rolling out a lot of merit scholarships. Best of luck to those of us still in the hunt, and congratulations to those who have received merit awards! Geaux Tigahs!
@GhostOfBanquo So your SAT was too low for the Stamps and President’s Alumni Scholars. My daughter had a 31 ACT and qualified for about $20,500 a year. That gets her at better than in-state, but no where near a free ride like Stamps (and I wouldn’t expect it). She does very well in school, but she does like to have fun and isn’t always the most focused. What state are you a resident of?
@afbratmama - I’m not sure if my SAT scores were too low. I know that each university sets its own cut-off scores and qualifying criteria for the Stamps scholarship. Some schools like UGA post their cut-off scores. I couldn’t find anywhere where LSU had that info posted. Do you have that information for LSU?
Although I live in Taiwan and am on scholarship here, for tuition purposes I’m currently OOS. My family moved from Georgia to Louisiana this past summer, and I will not be able to qualify for Louisiana in-state residency until my parents can show proof that they filed state income taxes in Louisiana, which they should be able to do this upcoming filing cycle.
The situation has placed me in a kind of state of limbo with regard to LSU. Since I listed a Louisiana address as my permanent address, LSU wants me to complete a residency form which cannot be completed until at least next month sometime. By not having that form completed, it has made me wonder if LSU is not sure how to award me merit aid. I may be over-thinking it, but the scenario has crossed my mind.
Two of my sisters had full rides to LSU. They were recipients of Louisiana TOPS scholarships and had TIGER scholarships on top of that. I graduated high school in Georgia and qualified for Zell scholarships, but they don’t do me any good in Louisiana since I can’t use them outside of Georgia.
The reason I mentioned my daughter’s ACT scores is because your SAT is the same score. Look at a chart. The kids who get Stamps are in the 1500+ range.
We are AF so I know all about residency. LSU May still not give you in-state even after they file tax returns. Most universities you have to live in the state for 12 months prior to applying. This keeps people from moving to NC or CA (and any other state) to get their kids in state tuition.
So a full ride is different than TOPS. Full ride includes room and board. TOPS is just tuition. I don’t know what a Tiger scholarship is. Sorry.
Do you currently go to college? You said you are on scholarship in Taiwan. It sounds like you may be a transfer student.
Good luck. Sounds like you need to talk to admissions and get your status first before moving forward. If you are transfer, freshman scholarships and your SAT won’t even apply.
My OOS D was accepted via the portal right before Christmas. Will we hear about any $$ in the package she gets in the mail? There was no mention of anything on her portal letter, so not sure if that means she gets nothing or if they will be mailing her the info??
@afbratmama - I’ve done my homework on LSU admissions and the Stamps scholarship. I’ve also been in touch with the Coordinator of Honorific Scholarships at LSU and have exchanged several emails with her. According to her, I normally would qualify for Stamps at LSU; however, she explained that LSU received over 1,000 students who qualified for the top scholarships this year, the most ever, so the scholarship committee used other criteria to narrow the pool. (BTW, your daughter’s ACT score converts to an SAT score range of 1390-1410. Please see the ACT Concordance Table https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/ACT-SAT-Concordance-Tables.pdf)
Also, LSU does NOT require 12 months prior Louisiana residency FOR TUITION PURPOSES. This is the EXACT criteria (taken verbatim from my LSU portal):
In order to determine your residency status for tuition purposes, please upload the following document(s):
Written statement explaining the circumstances under which you attend(ed) school in another state but claim Louisiana as your parent’s home address
A copy of your parent’s Louisiana driver’s license
A letter from your parent's employer verifying full-time employment in Louisiana
A copy of your parent's state taxes filed in Louisiana listing you as a dependent
Sorry, but two of my older sisters got full rides to LSU which included a stipend each semester. One graduated two years ago, and one is currently a junior.
I was a dual-enrolled student throughout high school, and I now attend Wenzou Ursuline University of Languages in Kaohsiung, TW through a scholarship sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. (Look up NSLI-Y if you want to know more about the program.) There are ten of us in my cohort, and most of them committed to a school last cycle and deferred enrollment this year so that they could do NSLI-Y as a gap year. I applied as a first-year applicant to LSU, not as a transfer, and LSU has already offered me admission as a first-year. LSU only my safety school. I have several other schools in which I have applied.
BTW, brother in law is AF pilot. Take care.
@Lacole03 - A lot of us are in the same boat; we’ve been offered admission, but we’re waiting for scholarship awards. Best of luck!
Hi, I applied on December 14. I know it’s still pretty early for a word back but waiting is just so nerve racking. I’m also an AF dependent. My parents were born and raised in Louisiana, and still pay taxes there today. The only update I received about my application is that I qualify for in-state tuition and nothing else. I’m crossing my fingers!
Does anyone know how those that advance in the Stamps scholarship are notified and when it takes place? Regular mail, email, portal, etc.? OOS, SAT 1560, ACT 35. If you have already received a scholarship for $25k a year (100k over 4 years) a couple weeks ago from a purple envelope was that your clue that you have not advanced?
@Mkaylaj My son applied OOS on December 12th and was received his acceptance email on December 18th…I imagine you will hear sometime next week…I’m sure the holidays put a hold on everything. Still waiting for the purple package in the mail! Good luck!
@townavenue - Based on the email I received this past Monday from the LSU Coordinator of Honorific Scholarships, email notifications have already been sent to students selected to compete for the Stamps scholarships. They have each been invited to write an essay. Here is a portion of the email I received explaining why I was not emailed an invitation:
"This year, we have seen the largest number of eligible students in LSU history with over 1000 students being eligible for our top merit awards. There are a number of considerations beyond test scores and GPA, including: Intellectual Distinction, Initiative, Commitment to Service, Leadership, Global Knowledge, and Career Exploration.
If you were not invited to submit an essay, that does not mean that you may not be offered a substantial merit award. Our committee is continuing to evaluate all applications at this time. We recognize that you are one of our leading students, and we absolutely are wanting to support your path to LSU."
I hope this helps answer your questions. Best of luck!
@GhostOfBanquo
So her 31.25 is 20 SAT points below your score per those 2018 numbers. Stamps is much higher than either of your scores (even at LSU). You can search Stamps LSU on these forums and see previous years students had much higher SAT/ACT scores and didn’t get invites to apply.
What you quoted from the scholarship office doesn’t say you would’ve previously qualified for Stamps. It just says they received over 1,000 qualified applicants and you will get a merit scholarship.
We have many friends in the State Dept. We are located in DC. In-state is tricky for everyone coming from other locations and up to each state/school.
Each year is more and more competitive with the top scholars. The level of scholarship my daughter would’ve qualified for at 3 other colleges went down a level or two between 2019 and 2020. So your sisters’ application years were not as competitive.
I’m sure your school/program is great, but there are many students coming from highly competitive schools/programs too. I live in an area where money can buy tutors that can get you to any scores and top schools are on every block.
LSU wasn’t even on my daughter’s radar. I think she just applied to humor her dad and I. It wasn’t even her safety school.
Good luck at your #1! My daughter is headed to her #1!
@afbratmama - Please don’t compare your daughter to me. I’m in competition with neither her nor you. There is no need to be condescending. Your daughter and I are both trying to get accepted into the colleges of our choice. The process is holistic. Sometimes it’s frustrating, and sometimes it’s exciting and fun. I wish her the best.
In terms of the Stamps scholarship, you really need to do your homework. The Stamps scholarship website clearly states that each school sets it’s own qualifying criteria. For example, University of Oregon sets the Stamps qualifying SAT cut-off score at 1300 and 28 for the ACT. Check out the URL for yourself: https://financialaid.uoregon.edu/stamps_scholarship.
Based on my email correspondence with LSU, I’m relatively certain that my SAT scores were high enough to qualify for Stamps at LSU. Funds are limited, so the committee used other means to narrow the pool of qualifiers. Many otherwise well-qualified students did not get essay-invitation emails this year. That’s the way the cookie crumbled.
Also, you know nothing about my sisters or their ACT scores, so please stop digging and pretending that you do. They both were outstanding students and got full rides to LSU. Those are the facts.
Btw, I love LSU. Even if I attend somewhere else, I will have high regards for the university. I congratulate everyone who has been admitted this cycle. Geaux tigers!
Just to affirm your statement, @GhostOfBanquo, my daughter has a 32 on her ACT, or equivalent to a 1430(ish), and received the invitation to do compete and write the essay for Stamps, so you are 100% correct that your SAT score would meet their criteria as it’s higher than my daughters. You shared something from your email that stood out to me: they consider also “Intellectual Distinction, Initiative, Commitment to Service, Leadership, Global Knowledge, and Career Exploration”. I can see how those more subjective aspects may factor in for how they invite others to participate and make it difficult to nail down who should/shouldn’t receive an invitation. I hope you hear from them soon with good merit news!
1 Like
I don’t think I was being condescending. I was just stating facts. Scholarships are more competitive this year than last at most schools. You can look at all of the college boards and see that. If LSU received 1,000 qualified recipients and they didn’t expect that many then they had a more competitive field than previous years.
I am sorry if you took offense to me explaining that there are many kids from all over applying for these competitive slots.
I wasn’t digging for info about your sisters. Just was telling you their years were different pools.
Good luck to you and I hope you get resolution.
Did you guys receive an email or update in the portal?
@warmmorningsun - Thanks for affirming my statement and confirming that my SAT scores did not disqualify me for Stamps scholarship consideration at LSU. Congratulation to your daughter for getting the invitation email to write an essay. I hope she writes a winner!
Tbh, I am a little frustrated that I was not invited. I have what I consider strong extracurriculars, a strong record of community service, and a strong record of leadership. I can’t help but feel that I was left off the committee’s list for students to be considered since I was added to the OHC after I appealed to the dean. I think I will write Dean Earle this weekend. The admins at OHC are getting to know me. lol
Since I’m in Taiwan, if I am allowed to write an essay, attending the mandatory honors day event will probably cause me to write yet another appeal. I hope I’m not making myself too much of a pest, but I only have one shot at this, so I gotta do what I gotta do. 
Does anyone know anything about Destination LSU? My parents are alum and I’ve been to countless events on the LSU campus before. Is it still worth attending?
I’m also interested in others’ opinions regarding “Destination LSU.” We are OOS (Omaha, NE) and have less familiarity with the campus, although we have visited previously. If it’s worth flying in to attend, we will, but I am unsure if this is the event we should be flying in to attend or if waiting for future orientation events may be wiser.
@GhostOfBanquo I get your frustration, I would feel the same way. I read your decision to contact someone as advocating for yourself, not as being a pest. I think you have nothing to lose! I wish you luck 