<p>So happy I got accepted...Congratulations to everyone who got in too!! :)</p>
<p>Just wondering, does anyone know when we'll hear about merit scholarships we received and/or financial aid notification is??</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>They start sending them out in mid march and the final ones are received by early April</p>
<p>Anyone know what stats they typically look for?</p>
<p>(If it helps, I got into Scholars, too.)</p>
<p>I’ll bump this thread. Very interested in the OP’s second question.
What are the typical stats for merit scholarships?</p>
<p>bump :)</p>
<p>Can anyone whose child (or you yourself) went through the scholarship process at Maryland comment, please? We’d love to know what the typical stats are for merit scholarships (especially any OOS students!)…</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>From personal experience, they’re pretty SAT-happy…</p>
<p>OOS students are eligible for the school’s merit aid just like IS students are. B/K recipients are usually the ones at the very top…the same ones who would be reasonably expected to get lots of other acceptances, merit offers, and competitive for the toughest schools to get into. (i.e. if you wouldn’t be accepted into one of the top LACs or ivies, or highly ranked schools you’re probably not in the running) It’s not always entirely SAT/GPA driven (there’s always the "why didn’t I get invited to the B/K interviews…my ### are higher than that person’s), but as nova indicates, the numbers are a big part of it. B/K is UMD’s way of trying to lure the very best students to attend…and usually they are the ones that have lots of choices elsewhere.</p>
<p>B/K is the only one that is a “full ride” and you are only eligible for it if you have been accepted into honors. You don’t have to be in any special program to get merit aid, but again, because it is numbers driven, the vast majority of merit recipients are also the ones in honors, scholars, etc. programs.</p>
<p>If you do receive the B/K invitation (and usually there are 3 waves sent out), you are guaranteed to get at least the partial B/K (half tuition, and book allowance each semester). For OOS students, this brings the tuition into reasonable territory (just as a hefty Presidential award will). </p>
<p>Check out the website to get details on all the merit aid available:
[University</a> of Maryland - Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.admissions.umd.edu/finaid/scholarships.cfm]University”>http://www.admissions.umd.edu/finaid/scholarships.cfm)</p>
<p>Department scholarships are usually offered after the University merit awards are made. For incoming freshmen, some colleges within UMD have more to offer than others (Engineering usually has the highest department scholarships for incoming freshmen).</p>
<p>A further (albeit depressing) note, especially for OOS students. Even if your EFC is 0, UMD’s need-based aid is underwhelming. In the past there are a variety of need-based awards for in-state students, but the awards for OOS students usually goes along the lines as the federal government minimums. There can still be thousands of $$ of unmet need even after receiving a merit award (other than B/K) and financial awards, including loans. Sorry to be a wet blanket, but that’s the reality.</p>
<p>@astrophysicsmom
Do you have any idea when those “3 waves” are? In other words, will we know if we have an interview soon?</p>
<p>plumazul or others can answer this better than I can… They usually have 3 dates for interviews (in March I think?), so the notification will happen this month. You’ll know as soon as people start receiving them, based on posts here on CC. Just don’t despair immediately if you’re not in the first wave. (usually a week or two apart I think???)</p>
<p>My son, currently a soph bio engineering student, received full B/K 2 years ago. We got email about interview 2/11, interviewed 2/22 and received notification of full scholarship 3/13. His statistics were very good, but not as good as many others interviewing from his HS who did not get full B/k. That year the B/K website said “the average B/K scholar this year (2010) had a 1500 SAT, 4.4 GPA and significant sccomplishments outside of high school, such as research, internships and foreign languages.” Further the website said they were looking for “the likelihood that a given student would make a significant contribution to the university”. (I know all this info because I wrote it down at the time.) My son had 1450, 4.4, two great internships, one at a hospital and one at an engineering facility, was captain of 7 different teams during HS and was the chairperson for a committee that sent packages to troops and welcomed them home at our airport. And I can say that he is equally involved at MD. He is a member of Imagers, the tour guides, he has been a mentor to freshmen engineers, he is on the exec board of his fraternity and has made Deans List each semester. And is having the time of his life. So those of you who do not have the highest of statistics, do not despair. The interviews are very important, (of course you have to get to that point, I know:)) and they are looking at your whole application. Good Luck!!</p>
<p>I got into the UMD Honors College. The problem is that I don’t want to go there. I’ve thought it out, and there’s no situation that would end with me attending (they don’t have my major). </p>
<p>If I receive a B/K scholarship, and I turn it down, they’ll offer it to someone else, right?</p>
<p>Or should I call UMD now and tell them that I won’t be attending? So that they don’t offer me money that could potentially be offered to someone who needs it?</p>
<p>3mdboys, a question for you. Did you son applied to any High Caliber schools (like Ivies)? If so and if he was accepted, what made him decide to go to UMD (other than his scholarship)? I was accepted UMD Honors College as well and currently waiting to hear from other tough schools (I’m hopeful). If I get B/K or other scholarships, this will be hard to turn it down, considering these private universities costs about ~$60k a year.</p>
<p>saman, just like in the admissions process, the B/K offers are made knowing that a certain percentage of the people who are offered it will turn it down in order to attend an Ivy or some other place of their dreams. However, that being said, if you are SURE you won’t attend, you might as well tell them. I would just be very sure that this is the case (and talk it over with whoever may be helping you finance your college degree).</p>
<p>Do the people making scholarship decisions know which students have already accepted their admission offers? Are you less likely to receive a scholarship or B/K interview if you have already accepted? My son is certain he wants to attend UMD, but he is worried he won’t get a scholarship if he accepts now. On the other hand, he doesn’t want to wait too long to sign up for housing and orientation. There is only one orientation date for honors students that he will be able to attend because he will be away much of the summer.</p>
<p>Hmm, I guess I’ll wait and see just to be safe. I just want to make sure that me getting an offer wouldn’t preclude anyone else’s getting one.</p>
<p>But I’m feeling better now after seeing the average BK stats, which are higher than mine.</p>
<p>Is there any preference of SAT over ACT in the scholarship process? It really seems that way for admissions, but I can’t be sure. I have an ACT score with an SAT equivalent that would put me a bit above average for the B/K recipients on the previous post but an SAT that’s below it(I submitted both). Just wondering what I should expect.</p>
<p>Momofapplicant…your son should sign up now for housing…there is no $$ commitment to do so, and the sooner you request housing, the less likely you’ll be in a triple or some other overflow situation. I can’t answer your question regarding the B/K process…They say it shouldn’t matter, but most B/K invitees probably have not made a decision yet. Since he should hear whether he was invited for B/K within the next couple of weeks (based on info posted from other mom), he should be ok to wait to accept for a week or two…but then immediately sign up for the Orientation date he wants/needs.</p>
<p>2016grad. Yes, son did get accepted to other more prestigious schools. He visited and stayed overnight at his final 3 picks, attended classes, ate in the dining hall, went to the rec center and tried to imagine himself as a student there. Even though several people told him “You want to say you graduated from…” we reminded him that he had to enjoy and feel comfortabe at the college he chose for the next 4 years. And that included the fact that he would not have a lot of extra money if he went to the schools that cost $50+. The decision fortunately became easy the day we attended the Fischell BioEngineering day when the senior class presented their Capstone projects. There were 48 students graduating from the BioE school in 2010 and their presentations blew us out of the water. We had attended a similar day at UVA and there was no comparison with the depth and complexity of the MD presentations. He is very happy with the education, the lab facilities, the research opportunities and the fact that he has extra spending money.</p>
<p>If I sign up for housing, is that a commitment that I’m attending?</p>
<p>bumping for my question (#16)</p>
<p>And yodelo, no, you can cancel it if you decide not to go.</p>