that probably wont happen under after ED2. They are not rolling.
FYI we received the appeal results yesterday with his financial package. They added a recognition scholar award of $1500. Which is renewable so better than a grant. Still $500 short of the NPC which is a bit annoying but it’s better than no increase at all and is about what I expected.
Thanks for the update - we need to send in an appeal request and see. It’s encouraging to hear that they responded quickly. Our son did apply for a separate Co-op scholarship which RIT’s site gave a link for. It’s a national scholarship. not an RIT specific one, but only for engineering students going to schools with Co-op programs, so it’s pretty specific. And at $8,000 a year, it would certainly help.
All 3 of his top choices have accepted him, so he is hoping to make his decision soon.
Just spoke to our financial aid counselor, who got back to me really quickly. He asked for an official appeal letter, which I forwarded on to him and he said there obviously is no promises, but the committee would re-review his file and see what they decide. Granted, $1,000 - $1,500 isn’t going to make a huge difference overall, but anything we can get to help a little more wouldn’t hurt. Our son’s second choice (University of Denver) came back with a really strong scholarship offer (their overall cost is more, however), so I’m hopeful that RIT can come close to matching the total cost when it’s all said and done.
As far as the co-op scholarship is concerned, I was told that RIT does not stack scholarships. Therefore, you’d only be able to use the scholarship that holds the greatest value.
My S was also accepted to PSU main campus for ME. We are hopeful that with co-ops and scholarships, the costs may be very similar.
Anyone have experience with the co-op program? How much should a student expect to earn?
Interesting about the stacked scholarships - I guess I would be surprised if you got an outside scholarship and they took away an institutional scholarship because of that, especially for merit-based ones. I suppose we’ll deal with that if our son happens to get the scholarship.
As far as co-ops go, RIT publishes a chart of hourly rates (min/median/max) for the different majors:
I agree, an outside scholarship is different funding and would not impact a merit award from RIT directly. However outside scholarships are looked at in terms of your overall remaining needs. So for example if the scholarship was large enough it could change how much of a subsidized loan you are eligible for, or whether work study was offered, or actual RIT grants that are need based. But it wouldn’t impact merit awards directly from RIT.
On the Co ops do factor in that living costs may well be extra depending on the location of the co op. So while you won’t have tuition you will likely have some sort of room and board expense.
That said, if a student can manage a go co op at a location where they’d have free housing (family etc) then it can really pay off early.
We also appealed, and heard back very quickly. They added a $2000 per year recognition scholarship. Every little bit helps.
To be clear, I asked directly about the co-op scholarship, and that scholarship would apply to the stacking concept. The scholarship with the greatest value would be used to reduce debt, you could not use both.
How did you get notice of the extra scholarship - through e-mail, portal or USPS? Just curious what to look for - thanks!
Well, technically we weren’t notified specifically about a response to the appeal, we just had the financial aid award letter show in the portal and an email notice that it had updated. The additional scholarship shows on the letter and a hard copy showed up a few days after that. There is something in today’s mail from RI but I have no idea what it is.
Kind of sad though as my S19 isn’t used to reading FA letters and went straight to the bottom number and was like OMG! I was traveling and seeing this by text as he got it while we were in the air. I had to be like um…no…that total INCLUDES loans and work study. He got crazy excited for a bit.
We got a hard copy letter during the holidays - denying any additional merit-aid. Still haven’t made the final decision yet - I’m not sure what our son is still thinking through (he’s not giving us any indication of what he’s thinking). I still think RIT is his top choice, but for some reason, he’s possibly waiting right up to Jan. 15th to made his decision.
@soccerdad72 I am sorry to hear that. Unfortunately with ED I think RIT has zero incentive to match other offers so getting anything extra at all is a bit of dumb luck if you ask me. It is still quite a bit more than my S’s second choice, Seattle University. Interestingly he committed to RIT on the 21st, and received his acceptance and award from Seattle U (EA) the next morning. Which included a very generous merit award. For most of the day he said “I should have waited a day” to which I’d respond, would it really have changed anything? “no, probably not”.
I admit, for a 12K annual difference I would have liked to hear more than “probably not”! I’d really hoped to close the gap more than we did. That said, I do think between the potential monies earned/saved during co op and the fact he will likely have sophomore status when he starts so could either shave time or consider the 5 year programs without adding time, as well as just the overall strength and recognition of the program, it will be worth the extra investment.
And if not, he has a back up plan lol. And…a bunch of scholarships now to apply for to try and close that gap
Here are my stats (I’m not terribly confident, this school is a reach for me)
F
3.6 (w)
29 (act)
-President of 2 clubs, had lots of jobs outside school
-both my recs were good, my teachers actually asked me to write them which was a nice confidence boost and took some pressure off my shoulders
-I think my essay is pretty good but it’s such a subjective thing
Anyway, trying to stay positive. As much as I love RIT I know there are so many schools. I applied ED|| for the engineering explore program
@graydayokay i think you will be fine with ED2. Being a female in Stem will help
@grayday I also think applying for the engineering explore major is a good call and should help your chances. How does your ACT score break down? They will definitely look at your STEM classes and scores more closely than the others for that major.
sorry, I meant the above comment to be for @graydayokay ! As you know RIT doesn’t publish GPA so it’s hard to say really where your 3.6W falls as rigor would be considered and stem versus other classes but your ACT is in the middle 50 so that’s good. I admit I am a bit shocked your teachers asked you to write your own letters. It is a nice confidence boost but a teachers insight into you isn’t something a student could typically write and adcoms may be able to tell that you wrote them. That said, RIT doesn’t require any letters at all so I don’t think they can do anything but help. I think ED2, a female in stem, and your major choice all help. Good luck!
Son wants one or two more days to be 100% sure, but it does look like he’s going to choose RIT for this fall 
It’s been fun chatting with this small group. My son accepted the RIT offer; a future Tiger. Now I’m moving onto the next step. Does anyone know how RIT handles assisting students with finding roommates?
I was under the impression that all schools had some type of student interest/personality survey to help match kids up with like minded students. It appears that it’s random. True?
The survey on the housing contract is so basic I don’t know that it is helpful. Once they do that they can search for kids with similar choices within the housing portal. There seems to be a delay and it’s a bit sparse now as the contract just opened.
Or they can connect through social media including the private RIT one. They can select a roommate until 5/3 I think. My S is “chatting” with a few through the RIT app. I’ve told him not to rush.
If they apply to an SIH they find out in May but I think it’s after the contract closes, and before lottery dates are assigned.
I think they mentioned a Facebook group as well as their own site (The Loop?). I don’t think my son uses Facebook, so he’ll probably use the other one, I’d imagine.