<p>My friend came to school ecstatic about a scholarship she got from the University The Michigan Experience Scholarship, whatever that is. Does anyone know about it? I didn't ask, but apparently it pays quite a bit.</p>
<p>My d just found out today that she got that scholarship also. It pays $40,000 over 4 years. Needless to say, we are ecstatic as well.</p>
<p>i got that too. is this a common scholarship, like do a good amount of people get it?</p>
<p>yeah I'm curious about that too. I mean, 40,000 is substantial! especially b/c she's in-state. without room and board, that's basically a free ride!</p>
<p>Apparently they're offered to students who have participated in the Dept. of Education TRIO program. In my d's case, she took part in the Talent Search program in middle school. I have no idea how many are given out. I'd be interested in knowing that myself.</p>
<p>bumpbumpbump</p>
<p>That is by no means a free ride! It is $5,000 per semester for 8 semesters non-engineering and 9 semesters for engineering students. Being that an OOS student would pay almost $40,000 per year, $5,000 is a nice gift but a far fetch from full ride! Maybe for an IS that live at home.</p>
<p>The award is a replacement for a program that targeted URMs in the past, but apparently now tries to acheive diversity by looking for kids from challenged backgrounds. Here is what I found on the website:</p>
<p>The Michigan Experience Award provides $10,000 for each of four years to students who participated in a state or federal early awareness or college readiness program, such as Upward Bound, Talent Search or Gear-up.</p>
<p>$10,000 per year is a great help when you are in state.</p>
<p>But here's the thing: she is your standard white girl, upper middle class. good numbers. never part of any college readiness program. her background is by no means "challenged." huh. weird, no?</p>
<p>Well, I don't know why she got it. Maybe just a lucky combination of demographic factors that made her fit their program.</p>
<p>luv2sail, it may not be a free ride, but it adds up. From an absolute point of view, it is a 12% reduction in the cost of attendence. That's $20,000 over four years. From a relative point of view, Michigan is already $5,000 cheaper than its private peers. With an additional $5,000 off, that makes Michigan $10,000 cheaper per year and $40,000 cheaper over 4 years.</p>
<p>My son received the scholarship and he is not any of the things described, so I am not sure who they are targeting. It is a bit of a challenge though because the letter asks you to commit by Feb 15, 2009 and many colleges may not have awarded their acceptances and financial aid packages by then so unless you know that U of M is your #1 choice it makes it difficult to accept the award.</p>
<p>luv2sail, my D is in the same boat- she received a Michigan "Tradition" scholarship ($10k a year) that again asks you to commit by 2/15. She likes Michigan, but there are other schools she likes as well- and being OOS, 10k will make a dent but not much.</p>