Hello all,
First of all, please excuse my ignorance and unawareness if this question I’m about to ask is already answered elsewhere; I’ve done my fair share of research and could not find an answer. Question: is the Presidential Scholarship binding? I will also be applying to several service academies which requires me to not apply to any early decision/action schools.
So let’s say I do indeed get the scholarship (1450 new sat and 4.0 uw gpa), will I be able to back out of the offer then?
And one last question. I believe I have just finished my regular application and paid the application fee. Was I supposed to receive my CWID right away or do I have to wait a few business days for it?
Thank you all very much in advance!! 
The scholarship offer, like the offer of admission is just that: an offer. You may accept or reject it, and you need not do so immediately. It is not binding.
As for your CWID question, I don’t know the answer, but there’s an entire thread that discusses this - I’m sure you’ll find your answer there: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1902805-cwid-p1.html
No worries. Alabama has rolling admissions; no early decision or early action. Neither admission nor scholarship is binding, and you have until the spring to make a decision. The only issue you might run into is if you want to make a housing deposit in order to insure yourself of a good time slot for choosing housing in the spring. That would require an enrollment deposit, which still doesn’t bind you to Bama but might be a bit tricky with the service academy requirements.
In the “Application for Scholarships” page, am I supposed to see an option where I can choose to apply for the Presidential Scholarship? All I see are alumni scholarships and I got really confused. If they don’t know my SAT/ACT scores (because there is no slot for me to enter in that info), how are they supposed to decide if I qualify or not? Thanks!!
Bumpp…
They will know your scores because you must have the testing agency, ACT or SAT, send the score directly to UA.
If you haven’t taken the test yet write in UA’s number, each test has one that is specific to each college, and have the score sent to UA for free. If you receive the score then choose to have the testing agency send to UA I believe there is a fee.
@2015pop So you’re saying that I would have to have College Board send my SAT scores directly to UA, and then UA will look at my scholarship application and my SAT scores separately? I just want to make sure that there isn’t a space where I manually enter in my test scores, because like you said sending test scores costs money.
You do not enter test scores manually, nor do you apply for the scholarship. You apply for acceptance to the college, and have your official scores and transcript sent. Once UA has those, they will award you the correct scholarship based on your numbers.
You need to send your test scores to all schools you apply to.
^^ That is correct (unless it’s a school that is test-optional).
As far as the SAT is concerned, you have until nine days after test day to send four free score reports. You’ll pay a small fee for any beyond that.
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/scores/sending-scores
There is a scholarship application and Yes, you do want to fill that out prior to Dec15.
Please see the following:
http://scholarships.ua.edu/freshmen/
And also this:
http://scholarships.ua.edu/faq/
You may want to fill that out, but you most certainly do not need to. No separate application is required for the Presidential Scholarship - that’s awarded automatically based on the GPA and ACT/SAT scores you submit with your application for admission.
The scholarship application referenced in Post #10 above is necessary only if you want to apply for additional scholarships. There are all sorts of those - for children of alumni, students who live in this or that county in Alabama (or elsewhere). You name it - there’s probably a scholarship for it! The application will ask you all sorts of questions to see which of the scholarships you might qualify for. But if you don’t want to do it, you don’t need to - it will in no way impact your receipt of the Presidential scholarship.
I am going to repost some information I wrote from another thread here. Reference my post #7 and # 4 in thread “scholarship application and ACT scores”
"Yes, that is true about the merit scholarships which is why I posted the link to the Scholarship FAQs section in the above post. Everyone really should become familiar with all the facts, there are various scholarships available.
Really who wouldn’t take the time to fill out the Schoarship Application? There may be additional scholarships that your student is eligible for and entitled to. Why leave potential money on the table?? Please take the time to fill out the application. That is my best advice."
@robotbidmom Thank you for this. I literally went through the Scholarship Application Portal yesterday and during that I thought to myself, “None of these applications apply to me… Where is the slot for the Presidential Scholarship??” So I did in fact try to take advantage of any available scholarships, but it turns out that there are none that apply to me, sadly… 
@clichescreenname you’re welcome
Did you complete the scolarship application anyway? My understanding is that there are also departmental scholarships which may be available as well. I think the application is where they pull information from.
Once you are a student you can apply each year for scholarships other than the initial merit awards.
This. The scholarships won’t be huge, but they’re there for the taking. Pay attention to any and all notices that you see (usually in January/early February), and apply for EVERYTHING!
Yes, and once you are a student, you can apply for outside scholarships as well. For example: if you are inducted into an Honor Society, check their website to see if they offer any scolarships. This is just one example.
@robotbidmom Oh, I have actually not finished my Scholarship Application, because I think someone from this thread (I may have mistakenly read) said that the Presidential Scholarship and other scholarships alike aren’t determined directly from the application, rather from the HS transcripts. Now nonetheless, I think I will go ahead and complete my Scholarship Application and see where it takes me from here. Thank you and everyone else very much for all your help!!
And one more question! Is the presidential scholarship so that you have to maintain a 4.0 GPA at U of A for all 4 years? Because I know of several private schools where they give incoming freshmen full-ride scholarships but then take the money back if the student makes a less than a 4.0 GPA. Does this apply to University of Alabama? Thanks!
Goodness no: http://scholarships.ua.edu/faq/ (scroll down and read how to maintain the scholarship).
“Students must maintain a University of Alabama GPA of 3.0 to maintain scholarships awarded by Undergraduate Admissions. Students are not required to be enrolled full-time to maintain scholarships.”
There has been much written every year that I’ve been here about students who are in jeopardy of losing their scholarship and there is much information and advice about how you will be put on ‘probation’ and how you can work to get off of it and maintain your scholarship. Use the search function on this forum to find out more. UA is very generous. Please don’t get yourself in this situation, however.