I am a current senior who really loves University of Mississippi and I am hoping to make the experience as cheap as possible, especially after seeing what the government expects us to be able to pay elsewhere on the FAFSA.
I have a 34 ACT and a 3.65 GPA (4.15 or somewhere around there weighted.) All but four of the classes I have take have been Honors, AP, or Dual Enrollment. I am involved in many EC’s and have multiple leadership positions. I am also currently interning for a congresswoman and participate in community service projects frequently. I am applying to the Ole Miss Honors College and the Lott Leadership Institute as well.
The scholarships I am eligible for are the Dorris Raymond Honors, Academic Excellence Technology, Ole Miss Women’s Council, Lott Leadership, and Holmes Scholarships. I wanted to know A) if its possible to stack the scholarships up to or exceeding the cost of attendance, and B) whether or not someone can provide me with a profile of those who have received such additional scholarships in the past.
This is one of those questions that people have to guess at a little bit. I think theoretically you can stack above the cost of attendance, but in giving out the scholarships they tend to award them in such a way that it doesn’t go substantially over. I know someone quite a few years back who was offered substantially above the cost of attendance, but this was when the honors college was new and they really wanted her; she ended up going to the Ivy League anyway. But I would guess it’s possible to go a little over the cost of attendance.
I can’t provide you with a profile, but you would seem to be a good scholarship candidate.
@Kennison98 Your test scores will grant you automatic money that covers the non-resident tuition plus most of the resident tuition. Beyond that, as stated, it’s difficult to estimate since all other awards are competitive. If you meet any statuses like Student Body President, Eagle Scout/Gold Award, etc. There are additional awards. Make your application the best so you can maximize opportunities. Ole Miss does not and cannot award over the printed cost of attendance. Awards will be adjusted if they do go over to fit into the cost of attendance.
I saw the due date for the scholarships tab is not until February…does anyone know if applying earlier will be given priority? I believe completing the “optional essay” about diversity is important even though it states “optional”. My DS is on overload with school and applications and would prefer he wait to prepare a decent essay rather than rushing through it or submitting without.
@collegeguider thank you for your response! I was hoping that there may be a chance of making money to go to ole miss but I suppose thats not very realistic haha. it was worth looking in to though
@MCardella Personally, I did not fill out the diversity essay. I had tried to come up with a way to spin myself as “diverse,” but it proved to be more difficult than I expected. As for applying earlier, I’m not sure if it provides an priority or benefit other than simply getting on more thing off of your to-do list but I can’t say for sure
DS also did not fill out the diversity essay. Would have been a tough spin for him I think lol. Receive his acceptance one week ago but was waiting to learn about merit aid.
@STEM2017 I just checked on my son and saw that he has the Academic Excellence and Academic Tech award, totaling $8,950 per year. He also has two state scholarships totally $3,000 per year; MESG $2,500 AND MTAG, $500. I had never heard of these awards.
The scholarship portal has nothing about the Bledsoe, which my son qualifies for, for $2,700 per year.
Does anyone know when the various “named” scholarships are awarded?
ADDENDUM: I just looked up the MESG and MTAG. This stands for Mississippi Eminent Scholars Grant and Mississippi Tuition Assistance Grant. The former requires a 3.5 g.p.a. and a 25 ACT. The latter requires a 2.5 and a 15.
@earlvandorn - My son is OOS and he got the scholarships for the ACT/GPA that are listed worth 22,884 per year. If I’m figuring it out correctly it’s cheaper to go to Ole Miss than UA…Anyway, he didn’t fill out the special scholarship App until Dec 1st and when it was submitted there was a message that said he would be notified when they had looked at it. He hasn’t received that email yet. BUT I thought when we visited his summer they told us that we might not be notified of all scholarships until spring. I’m thinking they said Feb or March?
@MichiganGeorgia I believe * complete * financial aid packages (including need-based aid) will be sent out in the spring. But applicants to Barksdale and special scholarships should get notified sooner of their awards - probably this month. This is what I’ve heard. But I’m sure there’s all kinds of misinformation floating around.
@MichiganGeorgia Ole Miss gives students with a 3.5 g.p.a. some cash to go along with their free tuition, so this does make Ole Miss a bit of a better value. The Alabama scholarship is good for eight semesters of undergraduate or graduate school, and they will apply the full amount of the OOS scholarship to study abroad, both of which are very valuable features.
From what I have been able to gather, it’s very difficult to get any “extra” money at Alabama, while Ole Miss is far more likely to stack scholarships on top of free tuition.
My son has yet to apply to the Ole Miss honor’s college. He’s taking Intermediate Accounting through dual enrollment at Ole Miss and the past few weeks have been spent studying. The course is apparently as hard as “they” say it is.
Thanks to @MichiganGeorgia for letting me know the awards were up. I’m reading the posts regarding Ole Miss only awarding the cost of attendance at maximum but I’m wondering if I’m reading his award wrong. it looks like the Academic Excel 9 + Academic Excel NR 9 + Holmes Sch5 = approximately $26 K? OOS is approximately $22k correct?
Thank you MichiganGeorgia - Yes I called the office of scholarships and she said they consider the total cost of OOS attendance including fees, books travel etc to be $39400 and that’s the number they won’t exceed with scholarships. DS really loved Alabama when we visited last week but that’s a generous aid offer he will have to look at carefully and go visit!