Tuition Exchange - Fall 2019 Apps for Fall 2020 Frosh

Yes, Syracuse guarantees TE if the student is accepted to the university. I don’t think they will stack money though. Most of the schools will not.

S20 seeking mechanical engineering dropped his apps last week and has zeroed in on only two TE schools, WPI and Lafayette; also applied to my home institution, Northeastern and UConn. Should be ok with outgoing TE approval, but all else is a crap shoot. Good luck to all the families out there going through the process!

@alogan My younger daughter attends Syracuse on TE. They don’t stack merit scholarships with the TE. With the TE scholarship it’s about $33,000 to attend.

@wallyworldjb Good luck! WPI was on the short list for my older daughter (engineering also). She loved it there. I just looked and she received her letter saying she had gotten the TE scholarship on 3/31. She may have been on the B list for all we know but thought that may be helpful info. She loved Northeastern also and they were very generous with merit.

If it’s at all helpful to anyone else, she received Pitt’s TE letter on 1/26 and University of Delaware’s on 2/21. She received TE at both. My younger daughter received her TE rejection from Loyola on 2/13. I can’t find any other letters right now.

Good luck to everyone!

My D20 will not be using the TE and will attend Northeastern. Hoping to go 2 for 3 and my D22 will pick a TE school. She’s interested in nursing and there are many that offer it. S19 is happy at his TE school.

My S20 has applied to a number of TE schools including Syracuse, Providence, Fordham, Loyola and Villanova. I’ll let you know how it all plays out!

@gurteen great list! What is her projected major? Good luck!

Thanks. He wants to go to Law School so he is looking at Political Science, Economics and History.

@gurteen did you inquire with the TE rep at Villanova to make certain they will have slots for incoming freshman? I didn’t do this unfortunately and they are a school that gives priority to returning students. My son was admitted but there were no offers for freshman last year.

We didn’t. I know some years they don’ t give any to Freshman but we will take our chances and see what happens. He knows that he is going to either Mom’s home school or a school that comes close to free tuition.

Finally got confirmation today that my home institution has certified D20 for TE. Based on seniority, I should’ve been almost automatic, but they were slow-walking the approval process and had me worried that they were changing things this year…

One hurdle down.

D20 received a confirmation letter in the mail from Villanova today, verifying receipt of her TE eligibility from my home institution. The letter states that “approximately ten new scholarships per year” are offered on average, out of approximately 100 students that were admitted to Villanova and applied for TE. But then there is an asterisk with a note stating: “For 2020-2021 we will be experiencing less available spots to incoming freshmen then prior years.” (Side rant: Yes, it says “then” instead of “than” in the letter. Can someone edit outgoing correspondence? UGH) I guess that’s better than a statement that they are not offering any TE awards to incoming first year students, but still not great odds.

Last week we decided to allow D20 to apply ED to a non-TE college. Given the low chances for the award at most of the schools on her TE list anyway, we figured she should go ahead and apply to her high reach/dream school. If that doesn’t work out then we will see what comes in (if anything) from the other colleges and universities in the spring and evaluate then.

@ProfSD I’m glad they are being more transparent (even with the then/than faux pas) as they didn’t do that last year if I recall.

Isn’t there a minimum number they need to offer to even remain in the program (I’m thinking 3 or 5)? Can a school just not offer any in a given year?

The lack of proofreading on outgoing material makes me nuts (I’ll add that they should have said “fewer available spots”). My D20’s acceptance letter from a school (to remain unnamed) referenced depositing for the 2019/2020 academic year. Doh!

When I read that Villanova gives preference to upperclass students last year I didn’t think too much about it, but I guess TE eligible students do enroll even without the benefit hoping for it in future years. My son received a bit of merit but engineering there was just not strong enough to justify the cost.

https://telo.tuitionexchange.org/memlist.cfm?schid=369

Cant help but wonder how Villanova’s exports fare in this process…

I’m guessing rather well as demand is there. I believe the schools with lower demand (i.e. accept TE 60-90%) might struggle with attracting students and some resort to additional incentives such as R&B. My hubby’s workplace seems to be pretty attractive (it’s physical attractive and on the water) but I guess there’s a bumper crop of 2020s. My S19 was already re-certified at his school.

I understand the demand is there for Imports but how does that work with Exports. If Villanova seems to have very few spots for Imports does that limit the # of spots for Exports? One would think they should balance out.

This is my first post, but as someone who went through this with S18 and is now going through with D20, I thought I’d share some of our experiences. S18 had very high SAT 1570 and GPA around 3.6 UW. We cast a wide net, as is well advised by others. He was awarded TE at Syracuse (as is nearly all) and eventually, around 4/25 at University of Hartford. He was denied for Pitt, U of Scranton, and U Delaware, and the school he eventually went to Elon. Elon only offered 3 TE’s and the admissions director told me he was number 4. We sat on pins and needles hoping that one of the ones above him would choose somewhere else, but on May 1, we had to choose without the TE in hand. Here are some of my lessons learned:

  • Apply early. I thought of this as financial aid, and so we didn't get all our TE processed till January which is too late for many schools (like University of Scranton on both S18 and D20's list). So early action/ TE application in before November 30 is the way to go for many schools (sorry that I didn't post this two weeks ago!)

*This really comes down to a math game. Syracuse offered TE, and is a great school, but their TE is only partial. Net tuition after TE at Syracuse was still $14,000. Since Elon’s tuition was only $35,300, the $20,000 in merit aid S18 received brought that down to $15,300 and their room and board is $3,000 a year cheaper than Syracuse. So, moral of the story, do the math. If your child has chances as merit it can look pretty similar to a partial TE

*Play them off each other. I have had D20 apply to schools where she is in the top so that we can bargain with the school she wants saying she got TE there… might not get TE, but from my experience might boost merit aid.

*Follow everyone’s advice and contact TE liaisons who make the decision (not always the one listed on the TE website). TE’s are usually admissions decisions like any scholarship, so the “management” of the TE is not the same school contact as the “awarder” of the TE. Try to find the TE liaisons at admissions events (though it can be hard) and find out: how many, when they decide, how they decide, do they wait list TE, etc.

*Like any scholarship, it’s going to come down to desirability-- is your student fitting the profile of what they are looking to attract. Any “hook” could help.

*Don’t trust the TE site for up to date information. D20 applied to Mt. Saint Mary’s in Maryland and we found out they offer 3 TE each year WITH room and board. That may be hard to pass up, even if another school is ranked higher and/or a slightly better fit.

These are my thoughts for now. I’ll keep you all posted on our 10 TE applications. Now for my question does anyone know anything about tuition exchange with the Council of Independent Colleges? We have that too and wondering how that compares. I’m told it’s easier, but I’m not sure.

PS. I forgot to mention that University of Hartford came in April after an initial denial. If denied at your first school, be sure to see if they “wait list” and offer later or not. If TE is a deciding factor, unfortunately, you may be waiting until late April or the dreaded May 1 before you know…

Welcome, @maleitag! I had never heard of any places offering room and board with TE. That sounds like a great deal.