My son received a great scholarship to one of his top schools - a competitive private technical university in the Northeast. The scholarship comes with a requirement to maintain a minimum of 3.2 or the scholarship will be lost and he can’t re-apply. The school is not a financial option for us without the scholarship. The other scholarship programs from the school require a 2.0 which we would not be concerned about at all.
He will be a mechanical engineering major and is obviously a bright kid or would not have received this scholarship. But every college we go to talks about how rigorous the engineering programs are. He’s concerned about maintaining this each year. If gets off to a tough start he may not be able to recover. It’s not helping that my husband, a graduate of RPI, told him how hard it is to get above a 3.0 at a comparable school (which this school is)as I think he graduated from RPI with a 3.0.
We will definitely sit down with the school and discuss this when we go back for another visit. I know each situation and each kid is different, but I’m wondering if anyone can speak to their experience with this situation. This is a very competitive school and is a place he would like to attend but he doesn’t want to transfer after a year if it doesn’t work out.
Thanks!
You are right. Countless students lose their scholarships each year due to GPA requirements, whether in a technical major or otherwise. It is wise of you to think about this carefully now before committing. I would recommend choosing your next best option that is more financially secure. This technical university is not going to be that much better than any other university to make it worth taking such a risk.
It will be a lot of pressure on your son and tremendous stress if he goes there and winds up in classes where the professor gives average grades of 60. If he puts in all-nighters and his best efforts and still comes up short with GPA due to difficult professors, which is common, then it could affect his self-esteem, make him feel like he let everyone down, and cause disruption in his college education as he transferred to another university, not to mention the financial impact of him starting over somewhere else. While he may very well wind up with a very high GPA there, the risk is real that he won’t, because that is the nature of these types of majors.
I assume the requirement is an overall 3.2 GPA. Is it based on the GPA on the end of the year or at the end of each semester?
Like your husband, I am also leery about higher GPA scholarship requirements for engineering. I also went to RPI and had a rough first year (but finish strong). I had many classes where the average was in the 50-60 range. Thankfully curved. So much depends on the student and school. Is the school known for grade inflation or deflation? What is the average GPA for engineering? Does your student have STRONG study skill and a Strong math and science background? Does he have to work? Is he focused?
Also consider that having a GPA requirement can be stressful. The stress will be greater when it involves having to transfer if he misses the target. Will this stress your student out? If he drops below 3.2 at the end of the any fall semester will he have to transfer in the spring or can you afford one semester with no scholarship? Transferring mid year could be tough. What happens if he is borderline going into junior year (which for engineering can be rough). Then what? Most schools require two years of study at their school to get a degree so more time and money will be needed for additional semesters. Also transfer students don’t get as much FA.
How do the two schools compare academically? Do both offer similar opportunities for projects and internships? How do the career centers and job placement compare? Is he planning on graduate school?
There is no clear cut answer. You know your son and his abilities. Truthfully, if the schools are similar and if the money is that tight (when isn’t it), I would take a closer look at the school with the lower GPA requirement and see if it would work. Look at the courses offered, the research and internship opportunities, the quality of the facilities and professors, what companies recruit, the clubs and social life, … These are all things that are often overlook by the student when looking at school. At least, I overlook many of them.
My understanding is it’s based on the GPA at the end of each year. This school has a higher profile with much better internship opportunities and job placement than the state school he is considering. But we would be full pay at the state school which we can financially cover without the stress.
He is a very focused student but does have to work to get his grades. He is involved in a lot of time-consuming extra curricular activities and has learned excellent study and time management skills. He knows he needs to put time into his studies and I’m convinced he will do that.
He loves the school but thanks for your comments - it helps to know we are right to worry about this.
What is the average gpa of the school? (or the engineering school?) If 3.2 is above the average, I think it would not be a good idea to based the decision on retaining this scholarship. My daughter (civil engineering) has a 2.8 requirement for her major merit award (and a 3.0 for a much smaller one). She has never been close to losing it but her gpa did fall below 3.5 and her goal is to get it back to 3.5 by graduation.
She’s part of several groups on campus that publish the member’s gpa. I think her team’s is about a 3.1 (many are not in engineering). I think her sorority’s is about a 3.0 and it is highest among the Greek organizations… The entire school’s is, I believe, around a 3.0.
But here’s a question: does he have other options where he’d be giving up a big freshman scholarship? If he takes this opportunity and it doesn’t work out, if he has to transfer for financial reasons, what would be his options? Would it be the state flagship with the same financial aid he’d get if he went now? Some opportunities are worth the risk.
One thing my daughter did was put of taking the English class required for engineers until she’d established her gpa. She had a very solid freshman gpa, and it did dip a little when she took the courses she has a little more trouble with. My other daughter has done the same thing with a math class (still putting it off).
He may have to give up the EC’s. How does he feel about that?
If the GPA is at the end of each year then he has some breathing room to recover from a bad semester. That also eliminates the mid year transfer issue. Since you can afford full pay at the state school then there is not an issue about loss of freshman FA.
So what is seems to come down too is 1) is the GPA requirement reasonable compared to the average engineering GPA, 2) can he handle the stress of scholarship GPA hanging over his head and 3) how would he feel about transferring after getting establish academically and socially? I would not underestimate #3. One thing I don’t like is that a GPA requirement can cause you to take safe courses to pad the GPA and to avoid a challenging worthwhile course that can cause a GPA hit.
Based on what you wrote, it sounds like this is a decision for your son. There doesn’t sound like there is a deal breaker that would make going for the better school a bad choice assuming that he can actually transfer to the state school if his GPA is below 3.2. Is that the case? Some state course are impacted for engineering.
You are right to be concerned. The GPA requirement to retain most scholarships at my D’s school is 3.0, and there is a very generous probation period. Even with the lower GPA number, I know a number of engineers who have either lost their scholarships or are on scholarship probation due to classes where the whole class didn’t do well, or classes where most kids withdrew and they stuck it out and paid the price with a C. Once a student starts having to worry about retaining a scholarship to stay at school, stress and anxiety levels can peak and it can be a downward spiral from there - even for a smart kid. You know your kid and his mental and emotional toughness. Sometimes that will come into play more than his actual smarts.
Also find out from the school how any students lose their scholarships because of gradeseachyear. Does everyone get a scholarship and half lose them?
Some law schools do this, with everyone getting the scholarship and then the faculty being told to give B’s and C’s so that a certain percentage lose the merit aid. Unfortunately, I’ve read articles that some of the HBCUs also have an issue with this and the United Negro CollegeFund has had to step in.
Use the history of the award to guide you
Our kids both got merit awards. We made it VERY clear that if they lost the awards, we would not be able or willing to make up the difference. However, for them, it was a 3.0 GPA.
Your son needs to understand what you will do if he loses the scholarship. Will you ask him to transfer to a less costly school? Or what?
How are his core math skills? To me- this is critical (along with your son’s work ethic, which you seem to feel is appropriate.)
If it has always taken him a little longer than the other kids in his math class to “get it”- even if he has solid grades in math, that would concern me. If he’s great on calculations but weaker conceptually- that would concern me. If he breezed through calculus- fantastic. If it was (is) a slog for him- I’d be worried.
Ask him. He will have a good “feel” for whether the math comes naturally to him or whether it’s a struggle. No problem if it’s a struggle- he will be working hard and learning and stretching. But math is the language of ME and even though there is NOTHING wrong with a 3.0 average in engineering— it won’t work for him at this school. Plenty of kids who “finish strong” have a tough freshman year and you don’t want the financial sword hanging over his head while he’s also focusing on his classes.
@xmaschild
3.2 is hard to achieve/maintain at a competitive engineering school. And don’t assume high school GPA would translate to college, things are very different. Your son may excel or he may struggle, but it is too risky to gamble the scholarship on that. Knowing you have to maintain a 3.2 is a lot of pressure which may in itself effect your son’s performance. Giving up ECs to study more may also not be a good idea because, for some, ECs are helpful to reduce stress at college.
How do you know that? OP didn’t post that he had other good options that he’d be giving up to accept this school.
We’d really have to know if the student has other options, if this school is known for taking away the scholarships, if the son wants to commit to getting the 3.2.
My daughter was not a superstar in high school. Good solid gpa (that she earned by studying twice as hard as everyone else), mid-20’s ACT, no credits for AP classes in high school, did not take AP physics or calc. She got a 3.8 her first semester in engineering. She got an A in calc even though more than half the class had had calc in high school and she hadn’t taken it at all. Not a superstar, just a turtle moving along the road at her own pace. Her scholarship requires a 2.8 but there is no effort to thin the herd and every student on a merit scholarship can keep it if he earns the gpa.
My D is at a IIT in Chicago studying engineering. Her scholarship also has a 3.25 GPA requirement.
Our approach was that she had to maintain the scholarship to remain at the school. She knew that we could not and would not pay the difference if she lost the scholarship. We also had a clear backup plan if she did lose the scholarship–she would come home, live at home, and finish at our local state university. We felt she was a very strong student and there was every reason to think that she was capable of succeeding, but if things went awry, it didn’t have to be the end of the world and wanted her to know that. We also discussed ahead of time what she needed to do to succeed–pay attention in class, do homework, office hours, and get tutoring or other help if needed. She already knew this, but we discussed it anyway. A top student who never had to ask for help in high school may find it difficult to ask in college. We knew after her first semester that keeping the scholarship was not going to be a big concern and we stopped worrying.
D2 is also attending college (social sciences) on a large scholarship. Her GPA requirement is 3.5. She is a first year, and has had more anxiety about keeping her grades very high during the first semester. She’s been very successful, but that high requirement was more stress-causing for her. She had a harder time knowing how she was doing in her classes. Once she got over the fear and went to office hours and talked to her professors, she was fine. Second semester the anxiety over grades seems to be more from her own high standards than fear of losing the scholarship.
@twoinanddone
My comment was in response to the OP’s post that
GPA requirement for scholarship renewal is common. 3.2 is a little bit on the high side but still reasonable if it is for a very competitive scholarship that goes to a very small number of students. 3.2 may be around or right above the average GPA of this school, but that scholarship may be offered only to the top few percent of students. So they certainly have some expectation. My D got several scholarships that have GPA 3.0-3.2 renewal requirement several years ago when she applied to colleges. At the end, she picked the engineering school that has the lowest out of pocket cost and a GPA 3.0 scholarship renewal requirement. GPA 2.0 would be the minimal GPA to stay in her engineering school. So you do need to think about how competitive are the other students at that school and what would be the average GPA there to see if that GPA 3.2 is likely achievable or not. Like someone said above, it is very hard to predict the student’s performance based on high school GPA. Nevertheless, if the student does perform well, there may be additional scholarships available after freshmen year.
Ugh it’s very stressful for the child and the parent. I have two kids at school on scholarships, BUT, we can afford both schools even without the scholarships. But I still don’t want to give that free money up!! My Jr engineering major has been towing the line and thankfully was able to keep her scholarship for all 4 years but we had some years where she was getting close to the cutoff 2.8 and she took summer courses to bring her GPA back up.
My freshman nursing major is worried sick! It was an adjustment her first semester being away from home and going to school. She came in under her requirement for her scholarship so now the pressure is on for this semester to bring her GPA back up. As luck would have, it she got very sick for a few weeks and that effected some of her test scores so now we’re back to worrying again if she will be able to actually make her requirement. If she makes it she is just going to barely squeak thru. And it is effecting her well being and all the stress just isn’t good. Of course she won’t be able to get in the nursing program so that is what is stressing her out more than losing her scholarship.
I didn’t realize it would be this difficult for the girls to make grades to keep their scholarships as they both did very well in high school in all their honors and AP classes. College is just a different playing field. And it’s not always an even one! Teachers have so much to do with how well your child does. Some curve, some don’t, some throw out lowest test scores, some count them all, so offer extra credit, some don’t. It just doesn’t seem fair that the teachers don’t all have to do things the same way at a particular school.
Good Luck with your choice. If I were in your shoes knowing what I know now, i wouldn’t put my kid in that situation. But you know your kid best.
I need a 3.4 semester and cumulative GPA to stay in my school’s honors college (associated with two scholarships that make the school affordable). Only once (currently finishing up 6th semester in ChemE) was I ever scared I would dip below the 3.4 for the semester.
Is the 3.2 requirement cumulative only? If so, that’s easier – studying hard freshman year, when some students slack off or don’t learn how to study, would put your son in a good position to maintain the requirement. Go to office hours, do all the homework plus extra practice, form study groups. It is doable with hard work and commitment.
But that’s going to be true at a lot of schools, for a lot of scholarships. There is no way I could afford my daughter’s school without her scholarships, especially the bigger merit (about 1/2 tuition) and athletic (the other half of tuition). We still felt it was worth the risk (and effort) to take those scholarships that required future events (the 2.8 or the staying on the team). Daughter knew that if things changed, she’d most likely have to transfer to a school that didn’t cost $55k per year. She weighed that option against other schools, requirements, offers and the risk was worth it. She could have picked a state school with no athletic award (or requirement) but no or much lower academic awards too. Her school currently costs us $0 per year but best case at a public school would have been at least $15k per year, so I figure we’re ahead at this point. Even if she has to transfer (she won’t), we’ll still be ahead. The aid wasn’t a sure thing, but the risk was, IMO, worth taking. If we took all the schools off the list we couldn’t afford without merit money, our list would have been very, very short. Even my other daughter who has a teeny, tiny merit scholarship helps. We probably could afford her school without the merit aid, but it might require taking some semesters off to work, working more during the school year, or borrowing more. Her school isn’t in the COA $55k-60k range, but less than half that.
There are some schools that have no gpa requirement for the merit award. If OP has one of those, it’s has to be considered. What are the other options?
I have two kids - one on a full ride at an OOS school that has a 3.0 minimum. He is in engineering and is finishing up god first year with a 4.0 average. Not worried about him. He also finished all the college engineering math before heading off to college last fall so I knew he’d deal just fine with physics (and chem simply because he’d already taken one term of college chem in high school.)
Second kid will go off to an OOS school this fall with a tuition/fees scholarship that has a 3.3 minimum and he too is in engineering. He also will finish all engineering college math before heading off this fall. So again, not worried.
Math can be a killer. Physics requires strong math skills and I know the oldest kid was grateful this week to have Calc 4 under his belt because the physics midterm pretty much required that knowledge.
Strong math skills will get your kid through. If you are unsure, then opt for a different school.