I’m curious if anyone can explain how/when final packages are supposed to be put together for SMU. It seems they may be different than many of the other schools that my daughter is applying to in that there are a variety of factors involving different schools and the larger university.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like she received any traditional academic merit aid, which according to the website would have been notified at the time of admission. This includes a variety of institutional scholarships that were not required to be applied for separately.
That leaves artistic merit award (for the Meadows school - based on her portfolio submission), and then of course need-based aid, which I assume is based solely on the FAFSA/CSS profile, which was submitted back in October at the time of her (EA) application.
I’m seeing on the 2025 admissions thread that many folks have already received their final aid packages (inclusive of all components), so I’m curious why she hasn’t received hers and what that possibly means. When i asked OFA, I was simply told mid- to late March… So why have others seen or been given theirs?
ETA: I’ve checked and confirmed they received FAFSA/CSS and no other outstanding documentation has been requested on tasks in My.SMU
Dear, if you remember me from 2025 thread, I am in the same boat. We didn’t receive any financial aid package yet. I know some people have already got it. On one hand, they keep sending admitted emails every day, while on the other hand the financial aid department is too slow. My daughter at least expected a reply from her financial aid advisor when she sent an email. I am very surprised she didn’t get any reply yet. I didn’t expect this from such a reputed college. All other colleges gave a timeline at least and we got the package before the timeline. Baylor sent the financial aid package within 4 days of admission.
@soniamaanu - OK, once AGAIN, very frustrating here… as I think I mentioned to you, I had my daughter reach out to OFA a few weeks ago (with me AND her regional admissions representative on cc) to inquire about need-based aid as well as merit from Meadows…She was told it would be “a few weeks” for the need-based aid to be put together, and nothing was mentioned about Meadows… we had to dig that out ourselves. So the bottom line is, she still doesn’t have a final (or estimated) aid package, and yet today I (the parent) get an email from Dean of Admissions titled “A Deposit Request for XXX”… I think that’s kind of nervy and very off-putting. Do they really expect people to commit without knowing their financial aid packages… particularly when they were admitted EA back in November/December? I think SMU needs to better align the process to make parents and students feel good about the institution they’re are committing to.
I have no idea whether this is related to the pandemic, the current weather in TX, or what. I’m pretty confident it is a world class institution, but not for those who have an EFC well below the sticker price of $75k+… About at the end of our SMU journey here
I feel the same as we got an email too regarding the deposit request. We checked with them last week about the package and we were told to wait for another week, as usual. We are a middle class family and definitely we too cannot afford the sticker price. The financial aid advisor has still not replied to my daughter’s email! I know the weather is really bad and along with the COVID situation, it is delaying the process but other colleges have given us the financial aid package and my daughter has applied to the colleges in Texas only. This makes my daughter feel that she is not at the priority even after getting accepted under EA in December. Her friend got her package in Jan though she applied EA too.
The financial aid office can take time. It doesn’t depend on how much they want your daughter to go; sometimes, the process can be slow. It’s going to be especially slow right now amid the current situation in Texas and most of SMU is shut down. Students haven’t been in classes all week. You’ll get the information before decision day, but I know it sucks having to wait so long
Thanks for the reply dear. I felt there must be some order in which they were reviewing the financial aid packages. First it was COVID and now this crazy weather. I hope things get better soon.
Just wanted to post to help with a timeline. My son was admitted EDII and I just checked his portal and his financial aid award was posted on my.smu. We never received any email notification and no notification on my.smu other then just clicking on the financial aid tab. Maybe they are working all the EDs then they’ll finish up the EAs?
Hello all! I am an accepted EA applicant and haven’t received anything either. When I was accepted on December 17, I did receive an SMU Distinguished Scholar merit award and was accepted into the honors program later on as well. Furthermore, I was sent an email saying I was being considered for further scholarships and wrote an essay. Still haven’t heard back, but it’s for the full ride and I have my fingers crossed! I’ve been checking the my SMU frequently and I just checked again and my financial aid info is missing too. I have filled out the FAFSA/CSS. Does it say under Tasks in anyone wlse’s profile that you need to do some FAFSA forms for anyone else even though you already completed it a long time ago? Not sure why it says this. Thanks!
call the Financial Aid Office and I’m sure someone will look and pull it down if it’s been completed, especially with the timelines you’ve listed. We had to have them pull down the CSS for my son.
