It’s my understanding that TAMU is “selective” with non-NMS merit based aid. How are all of you planning on funding TAMU?
This is my son’s first choice. Due to some seriously odd situations, we don’t have any college savings and our EFC only jumped when my husband changed his career path 2 years ago. DS’s scores are good and he’s a good student, but I keep trying to explain that even though he’s really great, TAMU might not see it the same way.
Thoughts? Voices of experience?
I can only speak from our limited experience this year. D applied, was accepted and then even though we knew her first choice would probably work out, I made her wait just to make sure she had a solid in-state option. She hit “decline” sometime in later February.
So she didn’t wait until May-June for any late departmental offers. She didn’t apply to any regional Aggie Mom’s club scholarships, etc. She was an engineering admit. She did not apply to the Honors program so that may have hurt her scholarship chances? Hard to say.
ACT 34, #10 rank out of 675 (in-state) and she was offered zero in merit aid. Zero. The financial portal showed us being full pay and the COA on the portal showed a figure near $29,000 per year. Our EFC is close to 50K so yep—on the hook for the full EFC.
Hopefully others here had a better experience. She may have had more offered if she applied for Honors or did all of the local Aggie club scholarships as others have posted.
Out of all the relatively high stat kids we know of through the grapevine who are heading to Texas A&M, the only one offered $$ was URM and reported to be lower income. I can’t validate that for sure since I do not know that student but I do know that student’s rank and scores were both lower than my daughter’s. Probably more ECs but eh, maybe not. Hers were just different and not all at school.
As @carachel2 pointed out, the university itself doesn’t give a lot of scholarships to the average over achievig student that isn’t NMF/ NMSF . I’m not sure being a minority applied to most since they did use the scholarship application filled in Apply Texas and that application had no place to indicate race or financial assets and expenditures. I think income is the only thing that the application gets along with if you have any component of financial need and your essays . I think mentioning your EC’s in at least one of your essays is helpful since the readers won’t know your EC’s otherwise (unless they get it from the school) However two of A&M’s scholarships, foundation of excellence and Terry Scholars, do take minority and economic status into account by asking the university for the information but the rest don’t.
As far as how to afford A&M goes without worrying about EFC, I would point out how you can:…
If you are in state, then attending should be very possible if you are proactive enough during senior year. But the most important part that I was told when I started my scholarship search to attend A&M was that I needed to come to terms with how I would have to consider loans. That way your financial goal to hit for paying the 12 k tuition + 4k affordable dorms + 1.3k affordable meal plan becomes more attainable. That way a student knows to aim for 17.3k . loans drop that to 12.3k and the semester savings will bring down to 6.3k which seems much easier to find then the full COA. The best part is if you win more then 6.3 k you can either not take the loans or you could receive a refund check for next year.
PS if you have any special circumstances they say you should tell them and it may get them to check the box that states you have a component of financial need. http://financialaid.tamu.edu/undergraduate/apply-for-aid
@lessonwitch2 – you wrote out some seriously good advice about seeking merit and scholarships at TAMU (didn’t read your loan paragraph yet).
Honestly, if Texas A&M was my kids first choice and I knew we needed significant $$ to achieve that goal then I would make them keep another school on the back burner until the last possible minute. All of the misinformed people in our area kept saying “oh they will start THROWING $$ her way…a female in STEM is rare and always brings in $$.”
Yeah, that NEVER happened. TAMU is full of high stat kids. You likely are really nothing special there unless you are a NMF.
She did get $4K in local scholarships but those are non-renewable.
If they run out of scholarship money early, does it mean that review admits do not have chance to get scholarships regardless of their GPA or test scores? Review admits get admitted very late in the process, don’t they? The 25% threshold is quite tough in some schools. One more reason to consider to have a gap year and apply based on ranking after senior year, if junior year rank is at top 25.1%. It would also give an opportunity to earn some money to cover college costs.
@MadMoose --I’m going out on a limb here, but I would think top 25% and a review admit would also get zero in scholarships directly from the school. Local or regional yes, but not from the school.
@MadMoose
I don’t think so because I was a review and I was admitted to engineering in November. Then again I applied very early( like August) . And it seems November is good enough considering I got the Foundation of Excellence award . ( But I wasn’t notified until April ) when I asked I was told I was the last application they reviewed for their final award so I BARELY got my application in on time . Being early seems to help . But let’s not forget PVAMU is a good option as well. A 30 on the Act with a 3.5 earns you a full tuition scholarship minimum.
@carachel2 is right ;back up schools are critical! Ask him what are something he likes specifically about A&M to help create a list of other options .
Also I was a review and top 25.5% so anything is possible ( since foundation was awarded with the school . )
@lessonwitch2 --but the Foundation is need based, right?
The Foundation Excellence Award is open to an entering freshman, currently-enrolled students at TAMU-College Station, and transfer students from under-represented groups, including minorities and students from economically or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds. Recipients must attend Texas A&M in College Station and must be legal residents of the United States. Students’ academic qualifications, extracurricular activities and financial need are considered in selection.
So for anyone reading this ^^^^ if you are not URM and you have a high EFC (i.e. you are not economically disadvantaged per the FAFSA), then you will not be getting this.
This also seems to echo the experience of the ONE student we know of from Ds large public Texas school who did scholarships from Texas A&M = URM and probably some economic needs as defined by FAFSA.
So anyone with a higher EFC and no URM – be prepared. It will likely not be happening. I would love to be wrong—anyone with a different experience please chime in. And again, she bailed early in the game and did not apply to Honors. I’m pretty sure that could’ve made a difference also.
@carachel2 I guess so. I received it after I had my Financial need met(i.e. it lowered my loan amountrather then exceed the cost of attendance) with out side awards, but maybe its because I had a component of Financial need when I applied.
I though someone would chime in by now, but if it helps I have plenty of caucasian friends who have tried my strategy and it worked for them. Most get enough to cover instate tuition and room and board for the first year or two . One of them had a very high income (i think around 125k) and he still got a president and opprotunity award but the most important part were his local scholarships. But since this may not be the norm your best bet is to try to take your future into your own hands and find the scholarships yourself.
@lessonwitch2 --oh I do know you can put on the hustle and get some local scholarships. Totally possible.
But for families expecting a merit scholarship right from TAMU itself it might be a different story.
My experience with incoming freshmen. We have twin sons who will be in the Corps and Engineering. One received the Presidential Endowed, a Memorial Scholarship and the Rudder scholarship from Texas A&M. He was also interviewed for the Terry Foundation Scholarship, but did not receive it. (Letter stated other students with more financial need). The other just received the Corps 21 Scholarship from Texas A&M.
Last year DH lost his job, I went back to work but our income was less than our EFC. I called, asking for special circumstances, but we own farm land (with family members) so we are not eligible for anything.
Local scholarships were around $3000 each but are non-renewable.
Two students who attend the same high school did received grants from the state but no scholarships.
@3boysmom92 --that’s great that one received the Presidential Endowed! Do you remember when he was notified?
@carachel2 - He was notified late January on the University scholarships, March for the Corps. A friend received the Lechner, but wasn’t notified until June.
@carachel2 > All of the misinformed people in our area kept saying “oh they will start THROWING $$ her way…a female in STEM is rare and always brings in $$.”
I’ve had plenty of family members go through A&M Engineering programs… If she’s excellent, she probably would get departmental aid, but not so much during the first 2 years.
@rahgax2 --yeah, I do think if she had stayed the course until summer maybe she would’ve had some $$ thrown her way and perhaps in the upper years. It was never a favorite and never a top contender for her so she did not put too much effort into the process with them.
I will say again—the only student from her school to report any scholarship $$ from A&M itself (i.e. not local scholarships, not A&M Mom’s clubs, etc.) was a minority rumored to have financial need. And all of the others headed to A&M outranked that student and via the grapevine, probably outscored him as well on ACT/SAT–but that’s all just hearsay.
Howdy! I actually heard from a financial aid employee that a good amount of freshman receive financial need based scholarships because a lot of scholarships require at least a component of financial need. (But that isn’t just here, that is at most public schools in Texas) anyways, the main sources of scholarships, that are purely merit based are thing like Lechner or Presidents Endowed scholarship and these ones are award until they run out. (I think they only have around 300 Presidents to give out) So unless you apply early DON’T expect one. While this may seem scary to some, remember that nearly all of TAMU’s continuing student scholarships are need blind. If you are an excellent student you should have not trouble earning awards from the university, not to mention your department, after freshman year.
Also, I’d like to point out, that Foundation of Excellence and Terry Scholars are the only scholarships that can actually see the ethnicity of a student and their exact family income and EFC. All of the others see the exact same thing. And on that note, literally every scholarship on the University Scholarship page does say that more things then rank and test scores are used for awarding (because generally speaking, its a shocker when a kid like me gets in) but if you got in you typically have similar stats so scholarships tend to rely on the other stuff put into the application. Think about it; if you are giving 10,000 to an incoming freshman from Harvard, are you gonna give the award to the highest scorer? Or to someone who scores around as high but demonstrates more “leadership, talents, academic achievement under circumstances, etc” I think that is how a l ot of top schools are getting well rounded individuals. |
If motivation is needed, I am a below average student and here is what I received from the university (not from local clubs)
Edmond I. Bailey '61 Memorial Scholarship 3000
Bechtel Group Foundation Scholarship 2000
CLEN UG DT Scholarship 1000
Boeing Company Scholarship 400
Foundation of Excellence 5000*
Jay H Stafford '48 Scholarship 1000
Aggiebound 3000
and most of these required no component of financial need .
@lessonwitch2 —some of those say “no specific criteria” so really no one has any idea about the basis for awarding those scholarships.
Your largest award had a diversity/financial need component. (Foundation Excellence award: “For nearly a decade, Foundation Excellence Award (FEA) scholarships have helped recruit and retain outstanding undergraduates from historically disadvantaged groups often underrepresented in our student body, including minorities and those who face significant economic or educational hurdles.”) — which does totally prove my point.
Its truly a mystery how a “below average” student raked in so much $$ in scholarships and it’s hard to know their formula. Congrats to you–you must have something that caught their eye. Just please please please please know that this is not the experience for most CSTAT bound students. We know so many who are amazing kids and they got nothing.
@carachel2
Scholarships that say “no specific criteria” still only get the general scholarship app (because public schools can’t use federal funding to promote any type of race. Foundation of Excellence and Terry scholars are outside orgainzations ) .
And its true that Foundation of Excellence was my largest award, Its nice to point out how if any other student recieved that other 10k(not with foundation) , they could simply compete for continuing student scholarships if they are determined that they need more . (after all, 10k is nearly all of tuition as it is. And sophomore year a high achieving student can still earn a more scholarships to cover the rest if they are truly prepared academically .) If you get 10k from a public school and you are disappointed feel free to decline you admissions so others can get those awards early. I.e. had I not been a minority and not looked for out side awards, I would have (theoretically) received the same thing.
I did call a lot of the donors that gave me the scholarships and they tended to point out how they reviewed applications chronologically and they typically ran out of awards for people who applied as late as I did. as late as EARLY TO MID AUGUST! And my extracurriculars may have been a bit excessive with leadership and community service.I think that all I had going for me that the kid third in my class didn’t have was my habit of finishing things freakishly early . It was noticeable when I finished my full application in under a month rather then top 10%'ers who wait till the November 30th to writer their essays or when you attend symposiums or other Aggie events ( you get to put those events on your application for a reason) . It takes time to show a school how invested you are and you could NOT do this same idea for literally EVERY school you apply to. It does take time to show dedication to a school. A LOT of time. which I guess high efc parents aren’t aware of. But then again, maybe this is just some random trait that I happen and it has nothing to do with my awards. But it at least might have helped. But if their is a “formula” then test scores and rank can’t be a big factor since everyone at A&M (and most schools) have about the same stats academically. It must take into account something else .
But I strongly encroage that if you are truly CSTAT bound and you know you are a good student, all you need to do is find a way to pay for freshman year and prove you deserve to say beyond that. And while this does seem kinda dicey, its one of the best deals for the educational value that you will find in Texas if you can pull it off. Because even out of state, most schools would only give big bucks to cover part or all of tuition and they expect financial aid to cover the remiander of your fees like room and board. If you have a huge EFC this problem is un avoidable but at least A&M is one of the schools that give need blind cont student scholarships to people who truly deserve them
Two engineering Texas A&M daughters with no possibility of financial aid help and they both received some merit scholarships from Texas A&M. Further, so did quite a few of their friends. My youngest daughter (not a NMF but a good student with good ACT scores) is a President’s Endowed Scholar from freshman year and has now received additional merit aid each year as she is entering her senior year. Yes, it is competitive to receive merit aid but, because they have one of the best career fairs/career centers in the country, she also has had multiple internships which have now lead to a permanent job offer in which she can also work remotely (as much or as little as she feels she can handle) from College Station. Therefore, she can even handle all her living expenses herself now. My point is that there have been opportunities from various points in the process to help out with the cost and the reputation coming out of A&M with these degrees they have found to be amazing.
Only having enough scholarships for freshman year is a poor strategy that no one should follow. Everyone needs a 4 year funding plan.