<p>My son is a sophomore Hofstra engineering major, commuter.</p>
<p>Went to Hofstra based on the scholarship he was awarded.</p>
<p>Fell below the 3.0 GPA required to keep the scholarship, with a 2.87 GPA.</p>
<p>Appealed, and was awarded the scholarship for Fall, and for Spring pending grade review.</p>
<p>Now, he has a 2.94 GPA, and we sent the appeal for Spring.</p>
<p>Has not gotten the scholarship back yet, and now we have a late fee of 100.00 for not paying on time.</p>
<p>I cannot pay until I know for sure he has the scholarship. If he doesn't get the scholarship, he cannot afford to go to Hofstra.</p>
<p>So, what do you think? Am I out line being annoyed about this late fee? If the scholarship was posted in time, I would have paid on time. </p>
<p>I did call Hofstra, prior to the bill being due, and was told to pay the full amount, 19000.00 and ask for a refund if he gets the scholarship back.</p>
<p>I told them I don't have 19000.00 to pay the tuition, and hope to get it back.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t pay the $19,000 until I knew whether the scholarship was reinstated. I would also challenge the $100 late fee. Did you notify them in writing? I would send a certified letter in addition to phone calls stating the situation. Perhaps you need to go higher up in the ranks to get an answer since the semester starts soon. What would you son do this semester if you can’t pay the tuition? You’ll need to look at other colleges perhaps Stony Brook?</p>
<p>I agree, and that’s what we are doing, waiting.</p>
<p>If he doesn’t get the scholarship back, he is not going back.</p>
<p>At his point, I don’t know what he would do this semester, being it is so late now.</p>
<p>This is not the first time this has happened to him at Hofstra. The same thing happened in June, when he appealed originally.</p>
<p>He has said he does not want to go through this with Hofstra every semester, sending the appeal, and waiting to hear from them.</p>
<p>It is not a good system, I don’t know, it seems there should be a better way.</p>
<p>If we knew he was getting the scholarship, he could be getting his books and getting ready for the semester.</p>
<p>If he knew he wasn’t getting the scholarship, he could be applying elsewhere.
And yes, I have copies of emails we have exchanged with financial aid dept.</p>
<p>“Am I out of line being annoyed about this late fee?”</p>
<p>Sorry but I think you are and it surprises me that you seem to be placing the blame for the situation on Hofstra.</p>
<p>Engineering is tough and I really feel for you and your S but it’s pretty clear that he failed to meet the requirements to keep his scholarship. IMO he got lucky with his appeal but when he failed to bring his GPA over 3.0 again this past semester that should have been the clue that it was time to start considering other options. Instead, you chose to appeal again. Fine. He’s clearly doing better and you haven’t shared the circumstances with us so perhaps they have every reason to want to give your S another chance and award him the $. But now, because of the time it apparently takes to process an appeal and award the scholarship IF he wins, you are complaining about a late fee and the process? I don’t get it.</p>
<p>I really do feel for you both and I’m sorry if I sound unsympathetic. I don’t mean to. My S was awarded a scholarship for Class of 2018 and I am definitely worried about him being able maintain a 3.0 in order to keep it. I’m actually glad to know there is an appeals process!</p>
<p>I think your S should gladly pay the late fee if he wins the appeal…note: your S should pay, not you! If he doesn’t end up back at Hofstra, then having the semester off would give him time to consider other schools and perhaps other majors as well. And if he doesn’t want to take a semester off, why not register at Nassau while he figures it all out?</p>
<p>I really hope this all works out for your S. Good luck and let us know how he’s doing!</p>
<p>I actually wasn’t going to post on this at first and I probably shouldn’t have bc being direct can sometimes read harshly even if that is not the intent. </p>
<p>You are clearly both upset by the uncertainty right now and I’m sorry for that. I imagine it is quite hard to be up in the air like this and I hope it is all resolved soon and your S can get focused on what’s next for him this semester. Good luck! :)</p>
<p>He is mostly done with his gen Ed’s, so I don’t think Nassau would be an option for him. </p>
<p>And yes, we both know, had he achieved the 3.0 he wouldn’t be in this situation! </p>
<p>He is an AP kid from HS, 30 ACT, 1350 SAT’s. There are no circumstances, except for a smart kid needing some time to get what is expected of them.</p>
<p>The reason I post this, is to let other’s know what might happen to them.</p>
<p>And, no, I don’t feel “lucky” if he gets the scholarship back, and gladly pay the 100.00 late fee. Even with the scholarship, we are paying a hefty sum, so I don’t appreciate paying an extra hundred.</p>
<p>And to be clear, he appealed after freshman year, and was awarded the scholarship for Fall, and for Spring, “pending grade review”</p>
<p>If he was told he needed a 3.0 after Fall, then he would know that he wasn’t getting the scholarship back for Spring, and could begin to plan his next step.</p>
<p>Grades for Fall take some time, and he appealed even before he had his final grades, just to be on the safe side.</p>
<p>ddotjon: I know of a very bright student with similar high school grades as your son who had to drop out of the pre-med track because the courses were so hard that he would have also lost his scholarship. He is a sophomore in the Honors program and is now in an easier program. Another bright student withdrew from the entire semester and is retaking the courses next semester in order to preserve his GPA. </p>
<p>It makes me wonder if Hofstra purposely makes the classes (Engineering & Science) so hard that students lose the scholarships and are forced to pay full tuition (just wondering)?</p>
<p>Well, Adamsley, I hope that is not true. Engineering is a hard program anywhere you take it, and he is smart, and I am sure capable of better work, just needs a bit of time to adjust to the level of effort needed.</p>
<p>He will not end up paying full price at Hofstra, cause we cannot pay full price at Hofstra, he will end up taking a semester off, and going elsewhere for Fall 2014. </p>
<p>Still no word on the scholarship, and we are going to start applying to other schools for Fall 2014, it is too late I think to apply for Spring.</p>
<p>He is going to apply to Suny Bing, where he was accepted as a freshman,SUNY Stonybrook, and George Mason in Virginia for transfer for Fall 2014.</p>
<p>Still no reply, yes or no, on the Hofstra spring scholarship appeal. Today is the 16th, classes begin 1/27/2014, don’t know if my son will be back at Hofstra or not?</p>
<p>Still no answer to the scholarship appeal for Spring. He must withdraw by the date classes start 1/27/2014, to be released financially of the Spring 2014 charges.</p>
<p>Starting to fill out applications to transfer for Fall 2014. </p>
<p>Appeal was denied, no scholarship for Spring. Was informed one week before classes begin. He will withdraw from Hofstra. Would have been better to not get the scholarship back for Fall, he would have had time to apply elsewhere. Now, there is no time to apply elsewhere for Spring. Also, if the fall reinstatement was not “pending grade review for Spring” and he was told 3.0 or nothing, he would have also had more time to apply elsewhere.</p>
<p>Not happy with Hofstra at all.
I don’t feel they care about the student at all. C’mon, one week before classes, what a joke.</p>
<p>That is just terrible news. I understand how upset you are having to withdraw the week before the semester. Did you contact the head of the Engineering Department? Perhaps they can do something. I know students at St. John’s who feel below 3.0 and they did not take away from the scholarship but gave them plenty of time to get the GPA up.</p>
<p>Farmingdale doesn’t start classes until 1/24. Perhaps he can look at their Engineering Technology programs and take some classes that will reinforce what he has learned already in Engineering or take some new topics. Give them a call on Tuesday and see if he can attend for the Spring semester.</p>
<p>Thanks you so much Adamsley, so funny because I just finished an email to the transfer admissions office at Farmingdale.</p>
<p>And honestly, I believe Hofstra has the right to withdraw the scholarship, I am amazed by the way it was done, and the timing of it. They seem completely uncaring, and had we known this sooner, we could have made the Farmingdale application date of 1/03. Still gonna try for Farmingdale anyway, but I can’t help but feel that Hofstra does this intentionally, thinking that we would have no choice but to attend and pay full price. Hofstra is certainly not worth full price tuition.</p>
<p>No, we didn’t contact anyone in the engineering department, and I don’t think we will. I honestly think this is for the best, and that fate is somehow in charge, and he will end up in a better situation in the long run.</p>
<p>And his Hofstra GPA overall was a 2.9, 1/10 a point below the 3.0 required, and he is a sophomore. would another semester have been out of line, to get it up to a 3.0? </p>
<p>And the Hofstra classes he was taking, being an HS AP student, were all major classes, Calc 2 and 3, physic 1 and 2, Bio 1and 2, chemistry 1,statics. I don’t think a 2.9 is bad, considering the level of classes, these are not GEN EDS.</p>
<p>Also, I just realized he was notified of the denial Friday 1/17 at 5:00 PM, and this is a three day weekend, and no admissions offices will be open Monday. Coincedence…I don’t think so.</p>