My sons first choice was a school that required a 3.5 to maintain his scholarship. We cautioned him that this might be very difficult to do. My sister actually said something to him that caused him to take it off his list. She told him “you can do everything right but all it takes is that one a**hole professor to screw it up for you”. You know the one, we’ve all had them.
He chose a school with a lesser requirement and based on his first semester it was a good choice. The other thing is check with the school when they check. At his school they don’t withdraw the scholarship til after sophomore year, so he has had 4 semesters to get his GPA to the minimum required.
I wanted to thank everyone for their sound advice and provide you with an update. We visited the school in question and spent quite a bit of time with admissions and the director of the scholarship and research program. They told him that this was not a cut-throat program, that they only gave the scholarships to kids they really felt would be successful and while he would definitely have to work hard there is a lot of support and study group help at the school. In the last 2 years of the program nobody has lost the scholarship and it is the rare exception (typically the brilliant high school student who doesn’t think he “needs” to study) that anyone who received a scholarship has gone below a 3.2 average. My son loves the school - while he can go to a state school with no debt and here he will still need to borrow some money even with the scholarship - he is so excited to attend that he figures it is worth the risk because the rewards can be so great. I think it is absolutely the right choice school for him and sometimes you just need to take a small risk in life to get what you want. After visiting the school and the meetings we had I have no doubt he’s going to be successful there.
3.2 GPA is a tough GPA to maintain for eng’g.
I belong to a FB parents of eng’g students group and I’ve seen some lose their merit due to GPA. Some were very close, but very close doesn’t cut it. A few have left their school. some parents took out Plus loans so their child could stay.
All it takes is maybe a C in a 4 credit Gen Chem class, maybe a B- in 4 credit Cal II, and the rest Bs and maybe one or two As…and suddenly the student is below the minimum.
I know one girl who had an A in Calc got a 5 on the exam, who retook Calc thinking it would be an easy A, lost points here and there, and ended up with a C. She almost lost her scholarship because she also got C’s in Gen Chem I and II. She luckily had enough A’s to balance and came in just at 3.0 …which was the minimum needed to keep the merit.
This was a straight A student in HS.
This. Bs are a 3.0. I was super fantastic in high school but I’m getting deep into core in my degrees now and I’ll be honest, I’m studying my butt off just for Bs. It’s very easy to dip to a 3.0, or lower if you make a mistake.
I should have added that we have had long conversations about this and he knows and understands he will need to transfer back to a state school if he’s unable to maintain the scholarship. He loves the school and feels it’s worth the risk of going there. But I certainly appreciate all of the feedback and we have made sure he understands he needs to study and get help in everything from the very beginning to help ensure he will be successful.
Although GPA 3.2 requirement is not unreasonable for a major scholarship renewal, it does need some planning to achieve. I told my D not to take too many credits in her first semester because it can be a shock for many freshmen transitioning from HS into college. This is particularly important for students with a lot of AP credits that skipped most of the 101 classes. After taking only 14 credits in her first semester, she took 18 credits in her second semester and got even higher GPA. Of course, the GPA would depend on which courses you take too. With a lot of “useful” AP credits that can fulfill the graduation requirement, my D can take any electives she wants or to keep a low work load (12-14 credits per semester). For one semester that she found she may need to spend more time on one elective to get a grade higher than B+, she decided to change it to P/F early enough that it would be counted for credit but not for GPA. For the same reason, she took a tougher course in a CC over the summer after freshmen year and transfer the credits. So she can fulfill the curriculum requirement for her major without a chance hurting her GPA (she got an A in CC easily but it may be a B if she took it in her school). Now she is in junior and have very good GPA in record that she has been getting additional departmental scholarships every year (she just got a larger one for her senior year last week). So a good strategic plan goes beyond the renewal of merit scholarship but may get you even more scholarships.
Yes, you should consider all aspects of what you need to do to keep a scholarship, not just GPA
-My DD has to keep a 3.3 and take honors courses and that has been doable.
-A friend at the same school has to keep a 3.5 (got a Laptop as the difference, not worth the stress!!)
-A friend at a different school has to keep a 3.75 and participate in a myriad of honors programs, courses and conferences. That has been tough.
I think all have some service requirement too.
All have full rides so do not need to work as since the parents are not paying a dime, they can send the spending money. That has been great. Working on top of the GPA and other requirements can be tough.
Note: All 3 of the aforementioned would not be able to afford these schools without the scholarships.
Here is a TIP:
Find out how many credit hours you are REQUIRED to take under the scholarship. If there is not a minimum, consider doing 12 hours (usually that is minimum to be full time) the first semester. Most top kids come in with AP credits so this can be doable and makes the GPA requirements very reachable.
Consider taking a summer class back home at a community college or state school later. Usually a C or above transfers BUT does not impact your GPA. If allowed, then take your non major impacting tough course (for some that is a foreign language, for some a math, etc.) there.
My D had a friend in a similar position at a different school but also studying engineering. One semester he did fall below the minimum by a bit but he was able to talk to his advisor and the financial aid group and they agreed to keep him on the scholarship and he was able to bring his GPA back up to the necessary level. In retrospect he said he would have chosen his non-engineering classes/professors more wisely so he could use those classes to to help cushion his GPA.
It should all work out – it sounds like the school wants your S as a student and he wants to attend the school so it is a good match.
My son is in engineering at a good UC and he has the same 3.2 GPA requirement for his scholarship. So far he’s been able to maintain well above that, but there is also a requirement that you can’t have two consecutive quarters below 3.2, so it seems in jeopardy all the time to me. Based on my college experience, I didn’t know if he would even be able to get 3.2 - that seemed very high to me. But apparently there has been grade inflation since those days at many schools. So what your husband recalls may be a little tougher than it really is. That said, if it’s not financially affordable without the scholarship, I’m pretty risk averse and probably wouldn’t do that school. I guess it will depend on your confidence level and how much you’re willing to accept the consequences if the scholarship is lost. I know my son occasionally feels stress trying to maintain the scholarship and I can imagine it would be even more so if staying in the school depended on the 3.2. Conversely, the 3.2 requirement is a good motivator. I certainly understand your concern and hope you are able to come up with a decision you’re comfortable with.