I am in College Station as I type this. I cannot sleep due to my disappointment and sadness from the scholarship representative I met with after my campus tour today. My high school counselor and TAMU website talk about in state tuition is offered to out of state students if they earn $4000 (it used to be $1000) in academic scholarships. Well, the rep today said only 5% of Freshmen receive any type of merit based scholarships and I should not expect one. She also added that all Aggies are highly accomplished and I was nothing special. Yes, she said that. My question to all of you is - Have you received any merit based scholarships if you are an out of state student? I find it hard to believe that Alabama offered me full tuition but TAMU thinks I am ‘nothing special’. 32 ACT, 3.6 GPA all Honors/AP classes.
I am so sorry you are feeling discouraged. I am having a hard time believing the 5% statistic as I have two engineering daughters (one currently there as a junior) and there seem to be a lot more students with some merit aid, Both kids got some sort of merit aid — one being larger than the other. Working hard to keep the merit aid seems to much more of a topic of discussion with their friends than whether or not they get any aid As far as not being special, you ARE special as evidenced by a 32 ACT which is statistically achieved by a small percentage of those taking the ACT. However, they may be making the point (although it doesn’t sound like in a good way) is that, when you enter campus, a lot of students will have similar statistics and truthfully, that was sometimes a challenge. In high school, my kids were at the upper end of their class but in college so were most all of their classmates. There were many times at A&M, my girls didn’t feel “special” but I don’t think they would have traded the peer group and the educational exposure they have/had at A&M. Of course, that is not necessarily the case at all other engineering schools and a 32 ACT, at other universities, might garner greater attention and, therefore, more merit scholarship money. Both are good choices and it is an example of the “big fish in the small pond vs. the smaller fish in a big pond” theory. From our experience, as far as merit scholarships go, also look outside of A&M as well for scholarships as they can help you achieve the cut-off you are looking for as well. Good luck
with 9700 students and 5 percent win merit based awards then that means 485 freshman can win awards right? With 180 NMF auto awards, 200 athletes, and say 20 ( BCE idk real count fo that )valedictorian awards, then that leaves 85 awards left…
I’m pretty confused end about that number. Corps scholarships are merit based and they give out about 400 of those. And Each department already has dozens of merit awards and that before you even consider honors awards. Remember the scholarship pool changes each year with donors and sponsors and their is no way for the predicted number to be that low. However she / he was likely referring to the general university scholarships becuase things like the foundation of excellence award choose chose to give out say 200 awards this year. Don’t lose hope if A&M is anything, it’s unpredictable.
I mean this in the nicest way possible but don’t leave high school thinking you are special.
- If you attend a good university there will be many students very similar to you.
- Other people thinking you are special or not shouldn't affect you.
Maybe you get a scholarship maybe you don’t but don’t expect college decisions (about scholarship, admission, honors, or anything) with the mindset that they owe you something for being special. If you score in the top 1% of test takers on the ACT for example, you’re only in the top 18,000 scores. Again, I don’t mean this to be disrespectful, you have good scores, just practical.
Thanks so much. I am aware of that. I thoroughly enjoyed the graduation well known video of the college professor telling high school students the same thing. My issue is with scholarships and EARNING one based on merits and achievements. Clearly not every student is in the same boat with that award process. If TAMU website and information presented to other college sites were more honest regarding their scholarship awards, I wouldn’t have thought it was a possibility for our family to afford such a stellar education. As they have it posted, $1000 or more scholarship (which will be $4000 effective fall of 2017) gets instate tuition. The obvious question of “how do I earn those scholarships?” should be something that is easily and clearly answered and not met with condescension By their rep.
I know in-state kids at A&M with ACT 34 and up scores and top 5% of the class with 3.8 + GPAs and they were offered zero in merit. A&M is NOT known for their merit.
I’m thinking they are required to be honest with their merit awards and it can most likely be found on the Common Data Set (although admittedly I have not looked). Only a super small percent get merit. It sounds like you saw that merit was possible and kind of ran with the idea. Just because they post it, doesn’t mean they give it out readily–which is a harsh reality I know and I’m not trying to be mean.
Your scores ARE good–I don’t want you to think they aren’t. Clearly you have worked hard. But at A&M (and a lot of schools, honestly) you will literally be one of thousands and thousands.
They have IN state kids duking it out for rank and lining up to go there and do not need to dangle the proverbial carrot in order to attract students. They don’t seem to care to add any geographical diversity to the school so they don’t go out of their way to pull them in.
I wish you luck but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
This may shift with the 4000 requirement, but for a baseline… TAMU 2015 student profile report showed for college of engineering: students non-resident tuition 3.3%; and students non-resident with tuition waiver 4.3%.
So, over half OOS full-time students in the CoE had at least 1000 in scholarships.
My son is planning to apply this fall. Please let us know what merit awards you are offered.
The Financial Aid tab on the Howdy Portal was just now updated with 2017-2018 Scholarship and Financial Aid decisions!! Good luck to all!!
And my financial aid award is… a $5000/year loan. Yep. That’s it. So it will cost $45,000/year is I want to go to TAMU. Or I can pay $9000/year to go to University of Alabama thanks to their generous Presidential Scholarship and female engineering scholarship. Oh what to decide? Sure TAMU is ranked higher but the current president of Alabama is a TAMU grad. Sure TAMU is closer to family but I want to be on my own. Sure TAMU is respected but so is Alabama. My first test… Do I choose to finish college in severe debt or make the decision of being debt free upon graduation (thanks to my parents 529 account for me)?
Hmmmm… Decision made. Deposits paid for Alabama. Roll Tide!!
Congratulations on your decision. I know this has been so hard on you, but you have an amazing offer, and I’m sure you will have a wonderful college experience! Yours was the first CC post I ever read, and you ARE special! Take care, and keep everyone posted as you go on to be a great engineer!! Best of luck to you, honey!
Thanks so much!
@cosmonewman - I have sons currently studying engineering at TAMU, Miami (Ohio), and Iowa State. TAMU is higher rated than Miami or Iowa State, but I am very impressed with both Miami and Iowa State. My sons at Miami and Iowa State are delighted with their choices and seem to be getting great educations. In reality, there is not that much difference between the courses you have to take at any engineering school. To be accredited, they have to meet the required standards. You should be able to get a job no matter where you go to school. If your grades are excellent and you have good research experience, you should be able to go to a top graduate school if you are interested.
With my son who is now at Iowa State, we visited Alabama and were very impressed with their engineering facilities. I also liked their partnerships with the southern automobile plants, particularly with Mercedes, who is located nearby. The campus is beautiful and Tuscaloosa is a great college town. Because of its aggressive merit aid and recruiting, about one-half of Alabama’s students are OOS now. We are in Arizona, and the son of a good friend is a freshman engineering student at Alabama and he loves it so far.
BTW, for grins, it is not too late to apply to Iowa State. The application is short and admissions are rolling and formula based. You would have a decision in less than a week. OOS tuition is relatively low and with your statistics you would expect significant merit aid. ISU’s engineering college is huge, highly rated, and has an enormous fall career fair. My son at TAMU has not had much good to say about the honors program, but my son at ISU has really enjoyed the ISU freshman honors program and living in honors housing. Ames is another great college town.
Good luck to you! I’m sure that you will do well wherever you go.
@Beaudreau Interesting that you mention Iowa State as a family friend has been talking to me about it as well. I will look into it. I really do not want to be cold since I am from Arizona. How has your son acclimated to the snow? We visit Alabama in March. I also applied to UNM (Albuquerque) and NMSU (Las Cruces) and received in-state tuition waivers at them both. I am waiting for the Regent’s Scholarship results for UNM which would make me choose UNM since it will be essentially free. I am hopeful but there are only 20 Regent’s Scholarships awarded so it is very selective. Hopefully my athletics and extra curricular will put me over the edge. I should know 2/15.If I don’t get it, Alabama will be my final decision. Deposits have been paid at Alabama.
Like your sons, I am choosing to go out of state. Just out of curiosity, why did your boys say no to AZ schools?
Congratulations @cosmonewman ! You will have a great time at Alabama and it won’t be long before you completely forget about all of this and love Bama!
sorry you felt discouraged. my son got 33 ACT 3.96 unweighted GPA with all Honors/AP courses + 5 dual enrollment courses at a nearby college. He got full ride from several colleges, public and private, but we’re willing to pay full price to go to TAMU.
@cosmonewman. They all wanted to see other parts of the country. Son number two wanted to go to a smaller school that focused on undergraduate education, hence Miami. Son number three really wanted to get out the shadow of his brothers. He also really considered Michigan State (my alma mater) but I think he didn’t want to be in my shadow either. Anyway, he’s very happy and has started a freshman research project that looks like great fun and a good learning opportunity. Neither seems to be especially bothered by the Midwest weather.
My boys all went to BASIS Scottsdale. Where are you graduating from?
@Beaudreau Very interesting.
I attend Arizona College Prep in Chandler. Basis is a great school. There is one in Chandler and I have friends who go there. ACP, my school is challenging but not as tough as Basis, or so I’ve heard. I think they are both in the top 5 schools in AZ according to US News and World Reports for AP scores. It is a small school with serious students and hardly any drama.
@cosmonewman forgot to congratulate you on your decision! I’m sure you’ll enjoy Alabama! with different school offering to pay full scholarship, room & board AND books, it’s hard to say we’re gonna pay $50,000 year to A&M, but I’m hoping that that’s just for one year, and next year he can find more scholarship money. Corps scholarships haven’t been all awarded yet, so we’re still hoping to get some money. some is better than none! but all we got was about $3000 in scholarship so far. and that doesn’t cover much of $50,000! 8-|
Any news on when various departments are going to release scholarship decisions?
i think that’s up to each department