Howdy! I was admitted to TAMU & Mays in October & recently happened to check the Financial Aid Portal on Howdy & saw that I’ve been awarded a $500 Opportunity Award scholarship. For whatever reason I thought we didn’t hear about scholarships and financial aid until around March. I’m wondering if this is all I will be getting, or if not when will I hear about more scholarships or aid/why am I already seeing this one? My stats are 1540 SAT, 4.6 GPA, top 6% of a very competitive and large school, good amount of ECs. Thanks!
@mokama01 Congratulations!!! My daughter just checked and also received a small Opportunity award!! Reading through some of the other scholarships she qualifies for most say they will notify in February. Hopefully more good news will be coming in the next few months.
Congrats to her as well!!! Just out of curiosity, how much was she awarded?
@mokama01 , @momosmom , did you find your scholarship award on the Howdy Portal > My Finances > Financial Aid Portal?
@CamandCam yes, and be sure to change the academic year to fall 2019 or 2019-2020 
Thanks! @mokama01
Thank you!! Have been checking the financial aid portal without changing the academic year all this time. Now I see Presidents Endowed Scholarship
@AggieMom74 are you instate? We are out of state, we only saw the Maroon award so far. Can you let me know what the awards that you see in your financial award portal?
May have been addressed before. Thoughts on choosing the 4 year “Fixed tuition” versus “Variable tuition” rate ??
WOW, that is unuaual that it was awarded this early. Per the President’s Endowed Scholarship website, they release that decision in February or March.
RECEIVING A PRESIDENT’S ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
President’s Endowed Scholarships are awarded by Texas A&M University’s Academic Scholarship Selection Committee in March to outstanding high school seniors.
http://scholarships.tamu.edu/FRESHMEN/University-Scholarships#0-AcademicScholarships
Since the web pages have contradicting info, I tried calling the scholarship and financial aid office for clarification but the hold time was 35 minutes. I’ll try later today.
@Thelma2 So glad my son took the writing portion of the SAT, as it appears necessary to be considered. My son does meet the minimum SAT scores for the PES but nothing has showed up at his financial portal…yet, we hope!
@Houpilot We chose “fixed” tuition rate. Thoughts being, what are the odds of tuition actually going down?
Congrats to all those being notified about scholarships! My daughter hit the threshold with ACT scores for PES, but, we are not crossing any fingers here.
@Houpilot We did not chose fixed is it had a higher cost on the outset so we took a gamble that what it costs to pay more for fixed up front may all even out in the wash. So far, since fall of 2016, our tuition has been almost exactly the same every semester. Some classes have cost more, so there is that variation but for the most part, it is the same figure every semester. The tuition has not had any spikes and the fees have been the same all 6 semester for the University Advancement fee, which is 1397 per semester, the student complex fee of 100, regional sports fee of 106, and Health center fee of 72.50.
Thank you very much for the input !
@thelma2 were you able to reach TAMU for clarification on the two different links about the Presidential scholarship? My DD was only aware of the second link talking about the Presidential and no where did it say the writing was required therefore she did not take the writing portion as none of the schools she applied to required it.
@vet2be93 I am sorry, I did not. I have been under the weather today and didn’t think about it.
I think your daughter is ok. However, I would call to make sure. The wording is confusing on the first link. It says:
Students competing for the scholarships must take the writing component of the SAT and/or ACT and achieve:
a combined SAT math and SAT critical reading score of at least 1360, with a test score of at least 620 in the math component and a test score of at least 660 in the critical reading component
OR a composite ACT score of at least 30 with a test score of at least 27 in ACT math and ACT English
It does not say they must take the essay portion.
The second link states: New style SAT: 1360 total with at least a 620 Math and 660 Evidence-Based Reading and Writing
In breaking down the SAT for benchmark scoring, the literature reads:On the SAT, the Total Score is the sum of the two sections with a score range of 400–1600 and Section Scores, Evidence-Based Reading and WRITING, and Math, with a score range of 200–800.
Each assessment reports three test scores: the Reading Test score, the WRITING and Language Test score, and the Math Test score with a score range of 10–40
Scores on the SAT Essay are reported separately and are divided into three dimensions: Reading, Analysis, and Writing. Each dimension is scored on a 2–8 point scale.
The SAT Essay is optional.
So, long story short, I think the first link is misstating the requirement and says “writing portion” and it is really the EBRW (evidence Based Reading and Writing) section. If it meant the essay section, and is calculated separately, they could have worded it as essay.
If your D did not complete the EBRW section, she would not have the minimum of 660 required and I am sure she not only met it but exceeded it. The scores they state are the minimums for academic admittance to the university.
Does this make sense?
@Thelma2
Yes, thank you. I thought the same thing just needed confirmation from someone else. With someone posting that they received offer already she began second guessing what we read.
@Thelma2 does the variable cover a set amount of hours? My understanding with the fixed is that the tuition price is the same for upto a set amount of hours.
Let me chime in from perspective of PES recipient this year (around Thanksgiving notification) and knows other recipients in the past.
Eligibility Keywords: To be considered for Academic Scholarships.
last year 271 PES were awarded (This year will be higher guessing 280-300)
Most recipients are National Merit Scholars, valedictorians and salutatorians, High SAT/ACT
According to freshmen 2022 by the numbers.
192 NMSF
385 Valedictorians
268 Salutatorians
?500+ High SAT/ACT scorers
79 PES spots are open after all 192 NMSF awarded.
PES is matching scholarships from Former Aggies. Limited by number of donors and if Scholarship recipients decide not to attend TAMU, scholarship will move to next qualifying student in-line. I guess students can be awarded/notified before September banquet.
I believe Century Scholars Program & President’s Achievement Scholarship is URM scholarship, Opportunity Award scholarship is OOS, will quality as In-state with additional scholarship.
In conclusion, most scholarships will be added after enrolled, registered classes and before first day in the class.
I welcome any corrections.
Everyone, Thanks for keeping up TAMU pages live and Gig 'Em
What is a high ACT in TAMU's engineering context though? For non NMSF/SAL/VAL? Does anyone have a figure? Thanks!