@rosegeo Thanks!
@gogogogobruins How do you apply for aggiebound scholarship? I was completely unaware of that.
@Zepodes You can email the Scholarship and Financial Aid department and let them know you are interested. They will put you in touch with the right person, probably by email. Do you have another good offer from a different school? If so, they may ask for a scan of it so that they can see what they may have available to offer. Like @gogogogobruins mentioned, the scholarship is not competitive, so it does not count toward the waiver, but it all adds up!
@rvhappynow I got a $4500 per year for getting into Schreyer Honors in Penn state. So,should I send that offer letter along with the request email for aggiebound scholarships?
And are there any other scholarships in TAMU that we can apply?, I feel that I have very less knowledge about the scholarships and financial aid process.
P.S: I am an international student.
@rosegeo I came across many threads stating that $1000 scholarships can get you an out of state waiver.
One more query, if one doesn’t get the required scholarships to qualify for waiver, can he apply for scholarships as an continuing student and try for a waiver? Is it possible to get one in your sophomore?
Out of state tuition waiver requirement has gone up to $4000 a year. This scholarship must come from competitive scholarships to which Texas residents are also qualified. And it must come from A&M. Aggieland bound is an incentive scholarship offered by the office of admissions, NOT the scholarship office. It is to help one choose A&M over other schools that might have offered scholarships. I sent in 2 letters, one for $10000/year and the other for $28,000/year my son got from different schools. In response A&M gave him $1000/year which is a lot less than others but anything helps!! He already has $4000 is Corps scholarship and OSS waiver so I wasn’t gonna be too greedy :-p
@gogogogobruins Check out this link.
@Zepodes Check this:
https://scholarships.tamu.edu/Non-Resident-Tuition-Waiver
Effective Fall 2017, undergraduate students must be awarded and maintain competitive scholarships of at least $4,000 per academic year in order to qualify for this waiver. All graduate students, all professional students, and current undergraduate students with existing and continuing scholarship awards, may continue to receive this waiver at the “previous $1,000 threshold”.
This is from the link. It was previously 1000$.
The link you have given is obviously outdated and they haven’t cared to fix it yet. It shows the last year of review as 2015. However, this change has been done in 2016.
@Zepodes Unfortunately, this document you posted just hasn’t been updated yet. There are still a few non-updated sites or documents floating around out there that say $1000, but the new requirement is indeed $4000. Believe me that I wish you were right. This change happened last fall. I think it was October. Aside from other scholarships, ApplyTexas covers everything, so if you applied by December 1st through ApplyTexas, you will be considered for all scholarships that might apply to you.
Also, if you are considering paying the full out of state amount freshmen year and taking a chance to get enough scholarships for sophomore year, please just make sure you can afford to continue to pay out of state tuition just to be on the safe side. The cost for non residents went up by $200 per semester credit hour for the 2017-18 school year, which, if I understand correctly, is an additional $6000 per year if you’re taking 15 hours per semester. Just something to be sure you consider.
Let us know if you need anything else!
@gogogogobruins --so wait…does all that stack? If you get $4,000 or more in scholarships then you get in-state tuition? So then you have $10-11K in-state tuition AND the $4,000 off??
@carachel2 Yes, that is correct. If you get the $4000 (and anything else you might get like Aggieland Bound, etc.), that amount is taken off of the in state tuition amount. At least, that is what I heard from SFAID last fall when we were applying.
Edit: Sorry if I’m not supposed to answer a question directed at someone else. I just know we all see these at different times, so I am trying to help. 
@carachel2 from what I’ve been told, yes they all stack up. in our case, we got the Corps 21 scholarship for $4000/year so that gave us $20,542 in “non resident competitive scholarship tuition waiver.” then we got $1000 for Aggieland bound. We also have $3670 in Pell Grant. so in the financial aid portal, it shows up as $29212 in “Accepted Award” which will all apply to tuition which will still show up as being charged “out of state.” The portal still says we should take out $19000 in loans, so we are continuing to look for outside scholarships!!!
@gogogogobruins Same here for outside scholarships. To be honest, my son is not the strongest essay writer, and it seems most scholarships require more essays. Or videos, etc. We have lots of friends who are finishing junior year, and I’m telling them to start right now and not delay. Senior year is already so ridiculously busy, and then when you add applications and essays into the mix, it’s absolutely chaotic.
Yes, you are correct - they do all stack BUT if you have need based scholarships/grants they are SOMETIMES reduced by your other awarded scholarships – check with the financial aid office to make sure if you are eligible for need based. The new law (yes, it is a Texas law, not a TAMU policy-- it is in effect for ALL state schools) now requires $4000 in competitive scholarships for the instate waiver - that amount (and additional amounts) are deducted from instate tuition rate. I personally was shocked, thinking it would go towards the OOS waiver amount but it does NOT, it is taken away from the instate rate as well.
@rvhappynow I hear you! I’m telling our 2nd child who is a freshman to start now! she’s self-motivated (she found a study abroad program that will give her college credit from Tulane this summer, wrote 3 essays, got $6300 scholarship and will be spending 4 weeks in France! and she’s only 14! wish my 17 year old was that way!!!) but you never know what life throw at you later. our poor oldest had to not only study AP courses and dual enrollment classes at community college, he had to deal with the passing of his grandmother who lived with us, moving 250 miles and repairing and painting the house and taking care of the yard! not to mention cutting himself with a hedgetrimmer… yikes. oh and his teacher/counselor/mom had to go ahead and give birth to his youngest brother in September! so yeah, senior year can be very busy… @-)
This email arrived today. DD is still in school, so not sure what may or may not have shown up on her portal as I do not have access to that.
Scholarships & Financial Aid is pleased to offer you financial aid for the 2017-2018 Academic Year.
Your 2017-2018 Scholarships & Financial Aid offer letter and other pertinent information can be accessed through the Financial Aid Portal.
- Log into the Howdy Portal at https://howdy.tamu.edu using your NetID and password.
- Click the My Finances tab and enter the Financial Aid Portal
- Select Awards to view your financial aid offer.
- Accept, reduce, or decline your offer(s).
- Check the Status page to ensure your file is complete.
We advise all students to keep a copy of their award letter for their records. You may print a copy from the Awards page of the Financial Aid Portal.
In addition, should you be entitled to a financial aid refund, you must sign up for direct deposit.
Texas A&M University requires direct deposit for all student refunds. To sign up for direct deposit, select the Set Up My Direct Deposit Information link from the My Finances tab in the Howdy Portal and follow the instructions on the Heartland ECSI website
@ColoFatherOf3 Best of luck and fingers crossed for y’all! We just got an email as well, but the portal hasn’t changed at all. It might be delayed. But, I appreciate the update! Maybe things will roll out as they decide? Wishing the best for all!!
@rvhappynow Best of luck to you as well! We checked the portal and nothing new is there, just the old parent/student loan stuff that has always been there. You would think that if they send an email saying “we are pleased to offer you financial aid”, that something new would be on the portal. I’m guessing this means that no scholarships were awarded from the Engineering Department (which I’m pretty sure made their decisions today) for us. Hoping others have better luck.
@ColoFatherOf3 Do you think that’s what it means? When I called SFAID, they said that you normally don’t get that email unless something changes in your portal. She said there could be a delay in the portal itself updating. Maybe I’m just being too optimistic, but I say wait until morning before getting too discouraged. It might just take a little time. At least that’s what I’m hoping. I just don’t think they would send out an email to every engineering student.
Does anyone else have experience with this? Maybe some of you veteran parents?
Did any of you other out of state hopefuls get an email today as well?