<p>Daughter is at UMDCP honors and LOVES it! But it still bugs me that she got no scholarships from them. Despite a "grueling courseload" in HS of all AP courses etc..thousands of volunteer hours and special awards in several youth groups..and an extremely high GPA
There was no $ because her SAT was right around 1300..I read a book that said that was good enough to get in anywhere ..she felt she did her best on it and did not want to take it again (she took it twice)
She was like a merit scholar on the PSAT. I didnt realize that they have a cut off for scholarships at a certain SAT and she is right below it.
Also she cant get one now because she is not in a major yet while she decides (ie the college of letters and sciences does not offer scholarships)</p>
<p>Anyway I could KICK my self in the butt for not having her take a prep test.
The kid is smart and making straight A's in college.
Now she did manage a few small outside scholarships which we were thrilled with.</p>
<p>AND YES YES I am thrilled with her happiness at college. But it still bugs me that with more knowledge of how the system works some money most likely could have been hers. I mean we know kids with full rides and much lower grades but I guess higher SAT's and fewer hours etc.</p>
<p>So anyone out there with a similar type story ?? Or any way I should look at this differently..</p>
<p>PLEASE DO NOT BLAST ME FOR SHARING MY THOUGHTS ON THIS.</p>
<p>I surely would not want to blast you! I do think, though, that this goes under the heading of file and forget. It's the past, now, and it's a shame you were given non-helpful information (the book that said she could get in anywhere with a 1300 was technically correct, and she did get into the program she loves, but it apparently did not take into account cutoffs for merit scholarships.)</p>
<p>Ultimately, the school seems to have objective rules which are presumably made public, and unless they change, it's a situation you have to live with. You can't change it, and dwelling on it is making you unhappy, so I'd really urge you to put it behind you (and definitely not discuss your disappointment with your D.)</p>
<p>I can definitely relate to what you are saying. I have an opposite story about my nephew, currently a HS senior, who wants to attend a small LAC for college (not a state college or university which have lower costs), which may or may not make you feel better about your daughter's situation. His parents feel that they will not qualify for need-based aid, and are not filling out financial aid forms, but can only afford private tuition if he gets a very large merit scholarship. He is taking many AP and Honors courses, not a slacker by any means, but never made it a priority to get the very best grades he could in his classes. He studied a lot on his own for the SATs and earned an excellent score of 1500. However, his rank is below the top 10% (I don't know what it is, probably in the top 15-20%) while it was obviously within his ability to achieve top 10%, and is thus not qualified for many of the offered merit scholarships at the LACs he might have wanted to attend. He is also a starting football player on a very competitive high-level large school team and wants to play Division 3 football (He is definitely not up to the level of Div 1 sizewise and whatever else, but loves to play). Because of his grades and the financial constraints, his choices seem to be limited to LACs where he would be among the academically strongest in the school, and I can only hope he is happy where ever he ends up. Personally, I feel that, because there are not too many football players with his SAT scores and decent grades, he probably could have gotten into a highly ranked school in spite of his class rank, but his family does not want to take out loans or whatever, so that is their choice.</p>
<p>20-20 hindsight can be so painful. Maybe the fact that you have shared this with the CC community will inspire others to carefully look on college websites and get info to see if by taking a prep class and the SAT one more time, a score could be raised enough to get the extra money.</p>
<p>At our house, d got a decent SAT score, not stellar by CC standards. But we found on a couple of college websites that if her grade were raised by just 30 points she would be offered a lot more money. Thus, even though we were fine with her original score, she studied hard(on her own), took the test again, raised her score by 70 points, and got to the cutoff point for the higher merit aid. But if it wasn't for the lure of the money (we offered her a monetary incentive to get the score since it directly benefitted our budget) I seriously doubt she would have taken the test over again.</p>
<p>I'm very sorry that you weren't able to do this. But it's absolutely great that she's happy where she is. Congratulations on the positive!</p>
<p>Angst, definitely file and forget. Because our D started at Dickinson (with a good merit aid package), and is now transferring to UMD, she will not get the modest amount of scholarship money that UMD had offered her AND she will not get the Maryland State scholarship money that she had a good shot at, being a MD Distinguished Scholar semi-finalist (semi-finalists often get scholarships when enough finalists go out of state). So, we will pay full instate costs a UMD, unless and until she declares a major and maybe gets a departmental scholarship. So what are we doing? Filing and forgetting. BTW, the scholarship that UMD did offer was rather modest, and only for two years. That school just does not have a lot of money to spread around. If we (collectively) want full rides for our kids, there are schools to look at. But in the real world (where kids have preferences!), that often does not work out. Best wishes for your daughter.</p>
<p>"If we (collectively) want full rides for our kids, there are schools to look at. But in the real world (where kids have preferences!), that often does not work out."</p>
<p>College Board statistics indicate that prep courses do not grarantee an improved score. However, because your D did do well on the PSAT it seems it seems that a prep course may have helpded in her case.</p>
<p>Many colleges have scholarships which are awarded to high performing upperclassmen. Have your D check these out and if available, inquire about those she qualifies for in the finaid department. Also, she should let the person or committee in charge of these scholarships know about her interest and particular situation. Our son did that in HS and was named as its recipient for the Rensselaer Medal and the $60k scholarship which went with it. Without that initiative it is likely that another student would have been named and the scholarship money gone to waste.</p>
<p>I didn't see in your post whether or not you are a Maryland resident. If you are your daughter is already getting a good deal with education costs, though a few extra thousand bucks a year are always nice.</p>
<p>Finally, your daughter is very happy at UMsCP and ultimately that is the most important thing and you are rightfully pleased as punch about that. A friend of my son is attending UMD as a music major and is struggling a bit both academically and socially.</p>
<p>I concur with the posters. There are so many "what ifs" in life, and there will be more if you dwell on them instead of working on other things that are in your present and future. Like CLdad, my friend has a daughter who turned down some generous awards at the flagship U to accept an offer to a private school. At the 11th hours things got a bit nasty as that college reneged on some assurances and cut back on aid and took away a scholarship when the girl reported some other outside awards. The combined hit made her rethink her decision and she then decided to go to Flagship U that she had turned down. Well, they took her but she did not get a dime of the money that had been offered to her and she lost her state scholarships as well. Just the way things work. </p>
<p>I have seen some really situations that really hurt. Parents with low incomes who salted away every bit of their savings in their kids' names getting hit 35% on that money when those more savvy avoided that plight. Families without pension accounts that are assessed their money. Home businesses assessed on unfavorable valuations. Many of these things could have been averted if the parties involved had known the situation and changed it a couple of years ago. But the "what if" is a waste of time to contemplate. The next step to take is a worthwhile venture to consider.</p>
<p>What I've noticed about scholarships from watching how it works at my D's high school--</p>
<p>Many merit scholarships from schools seem to be based mostly on GPA and/or SAT scores. Always a good idea to do the best you can in both departments if this is what you are interested in.</p>
<p>Many private scholarships seem to be based on the "story" a candidate can tell (overcoming adversity, poor, minority, etc.) and/or a community service that really adds to the community (whether national or local). Best to have one community project and run deep with it (leadership positions, making your own service project rather than just being a pair of hands) if this is what you are interested in.</p>
<p>The best candidate for scholarships? One that incorporates both!</p>
<p>There are a lot of "what ifs" here. We would all go nuts if we spent our lives second-guessing ourselves! Your daughter felt that she did as well as she could on the SAT. And you certainly did the best job you could advising her. There is no assurance at all that an SAT prep course would have raised her scores. There is also no assurance that higher scores would have translated into significant scholarship money. I'm not familiar with your daughter's school, or what specific scholarship you are referring to. But as a general rule, in order to get significant merit money from a college, an applicant has to be significantly above the students who normally attend that particular school. So far above, that many students who are offered a school-based merit scholarship do not want to go to that school, even with the money, because they are accepted to other schools which are a better match. If your daughter is perfectly happy because she feels there are lots of people like her, and that the work is sufficiently challenging to be interesting, then the school she is in is a good match for her. But that also means that she may not have been enough of an outlyer to attract a lot of merit money anyway. </p>
<p>I agree with everyone else - Time to move on. Things have turned out well for your daughter. Have your daughter go to the financial aid office, and you go to fastweb.com, and see if there are any scholarships she might be eligible for as a college student.</p>
<p>Thirty five years ago I was rejected by UNC early decision. At the time it was extremely painful. Back then there was no internet, no CC, I didn't do any research, and college admission wasn't that competitive. The rejection was a blow.</p>
<p>Three weeks into my freshman year at another school, I met my husband. Things always work out. What if what if what if...</p>
<p>Yesterday I found this quote I'd once written in a book: "Everything I've ever let go of has claw marks on it." I have a larger level of acceptance today.</p>
<p>I can't tell you how many kids I know (guessing at least a dozen?)who turned down merit aid from college A to attend college B with no money. Some parents accepted the choice meekly while others offered their kids bribes, ie, offered college A plus merit aid plus new car or college B (Kid stiill chooses college B!) </p>
<p>I guess it is the nature of the game. Kids want to attend a "reach" school, while schools want to bring in the top students.</p>
<p>Still, no matter how much you "let go" you couldn't help wonder as you write that big check each year... "I wonder if my kid would have been just as happy at college A and me writing a much smaller check!!" :)</p>
<p>OTOH, my D turned down the "better" college for a merit aid one. I let her make her own decision (but I was rooting for "better".) She was miserable, and ended up transfering to one which cost more than either of the first two. I was just glad she was happy, and found a place where she fit in (and I think of that first, cheaper, year as a nice bonus.)</p>
<p>Och, sorry to hear it AR. But I agree with Garland about learn, file, forget. The system is not at all transparent and every college has its own rules, guidelines, tweaks. And understanding the true rules of the game is one of the things that kept me on CC long after my initial questions were answered...with any luck, some other parents can learn from your experience. Again, sorry.</p>
<p>I am surprised that no one has said this yet, but maybe you should look for more outside scholarships. There really isn't anything that you can do about not qualifiying for school sponsored scholarships at this point, but a website like <a href="http://www.fastweb.com%5B/url%5D">www.fastweb.com</a> might provide some resources for the future. Good luck!</p>
<p>I started actively researching college info at the beginning of my D's junior year (1 year ago) and just recently told a friend of mine that I wish I had started even earlier and had really understood the importance of the PSATs and SATs in terms of money...I knew, and yet I didn't know, if you know what I mean. I would definitely have done some things differently. But, on the brighter side, as I was talking to my D the other day and going over the financial aspects of the college process, she told me that the way she looks at it, there's not much difference between $20,000 and $200,000...they're both a lot of money! (May the Lord help us all!) :)</p>
<p>Thank you all for your thoughts and for not blasting me for still thinking about it. She was also some sort of merit finalist for both academics and art (but not final enough to get money!)
She did get 5 small scholarships which she worked her fanny off for..so that is nice.
one of them repeats next year and one of them has a strong possiblitiy but is not a for sure.
UNC had waitlisted and then deferred her but said they would have taken her if her SAT was higher..and of course if it was and she had gone there she would not have gotten a dime..SO I look at that too.
She is really happy where she is for sure! Loves it!
Thank you all for allowing me to share these feelings and for your kind and considerate responses..
I do feel better now.</p>
<p>BTW we did ask about scholarships and at UMD you have to be in a department..and she is not at this time. She is undeclared.
She does have straight A's there so hopefully when she does declare there will be something for her.
Thank you again everyone.</p>
<p>I agree with all the posters too, and here's one more reason why: there is no guarantee the scores would have gone up on a retake. </p>
<p>We know a kid who realized that a slightly higher SAT score could increase the possibilty of merit money. She studied, took practice tests that indicated a significant increase, worked with a tutor - the works. But in the end, the composite score went down because one went up a little and the other down a lot. Now her parents are worried about whether schools will really take the highest scores or if she just shot herself in the foot....</p>
<p>Much as I wish it were otherwise, this is a process that we just can't control. So we need to do the best we can and cut ourselves some slack. I am glad your D is happy! Let it go!</p>