Tuition Exchange for Fall 2022 Freshman applicants (Class of 2026)

Parents Forum
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I didn’t see another thread dedicated to the topic of those with kids applying for tuition exchange for Fall 2022 (Class of 2026) so I thought I’d start one.

I have to say that all the schools my current HS senior daughter is applying to are TE schools. When my DD(17) was thinking about what she was looking for in a school, we started researching schools that were on the TE primarily. While we know that these scholarships are increasingly harder to get, we definitely wanted to focus on those that it would be a possibility. She would love to go to a school outside of Florida, although she has already been admitted to my alma mater and employer university. Plus, she is also applying to Stetson University in Deland, FL, about an hour and a 1/2 from us and also on the TE.

Her stats are 3.92 unweighted/4.32 weighted with a 1270 SAT. Not the highest SAT score, but she had taken the tests before she was diagnosed with ADHD which severely impacts her reading and timed test taking ability. Until her psychologist finalized the diagnosis in late May, she was unable to have any accommodations on her tests, but since she is not applying to any Ivys, we aren’t stressing her SAT score and see won’t be taking it another time.

She is a varsity athlete, vice-president of her STEM academy at her high school, Is in NJROTC, NHS, Spanish NHS, co-founder of her schools new Skateboarding club and has volunteered extensively throughout school, so she has a well rounded resume.

While I can hope and pray that she is lucky enough to get a TE scholarship, when we were ultimately deciding on schools, we ran the Net Price Calculator to determine what Merit Aid would be and what our bottom line would be if we had no TE scholarship. Talk about sticker shock! College is freakin’ expensive!!!

She has applied to:

  • Susquehanna University (Selinsgrove, PA) Honestly, such a great school known for great merit aid too!

  • Mercer University (Macon, GA)

  • Stetson University (Deland, FL)

  • Belmont University (Nashville, TN)

  • Center College (Danville, KY)

  • Univ. of the South: Sewanee (Sewanee, TN)

  • Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, FL (already admitted for Fall 2022)

I know there are other parents who are going through this process as well, so please chime in and offer support, ask questions and share your school choices, etc…We’re all in this together!

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Doesn’t FL Tech give TE to everyone who is eligible? Also a number of other great merit scholarships.

Although she doesn’t want to take the SAT again, she might qualify for the higher Bright Futures amount with an increase. At the time my daughter took it, the difference between the lower level and the highest one was only $700 so I too said “eh, don’t worry about it.” Well, in 2016 they raised it by about $3500/yr, so it was more like $7000. If she’s getting 100% on TE exchange it may not matter but some schools might let her keep the BF money (Florida Tech does not, it must be used for tuition, and same with Resident grant; check with Stetson as it might allow BF to be used for other things.)

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Florida Tech is actually my employer (and Alma Mater), so she would be covered by my tuition remission benefit if she wanted to go to school there, so a TE scholarship would not be needed in that situation. Her tuition would be 90% covered and the other Florida grants would cover the difference. And to answer your question, no, Florida Tech does not give out Tuition Exchange Scholarships to any eligible person who applies.

If she were to go to Stetson, they have a set TE amount, so I believe that the Bright Futures and EASE Grant could be added to the TE to lower the remaining out of pocket, but Stetson only offers around 3-5 TE scholarships each year and with 40 to 50 TE Scholarship applications each year, they are pretty selective.

Yeah, I am not going to make her take the exam again. For the Bright Futures at 100% you get roughly $6100 a year, and the 75% is $4200 a year. Since Bright Futures is only for Florida schools and she would prefer to go out of state anyway, taking the test yet again just isn’t a major concern.

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Do we really not have any Tuition Exchange parents for Fall 2022 applicants, or is there another thread that I am missing?

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My son is a hs junior this year so I’m still a year away. However, I have been watching threads for info.

My son refuses to go to my home institution (it doesn’t offer his degree interests) but he doesn’t have a competitive GPA either. So we will be crossing our fingers and looking at mostly “unpopular” TE (and fachex) schools.

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We are eligible for TE through my wife. Pitt, Temple, Case Western and WPI are on S22’s list.

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Also eligible.

D22 is applying to a wide array of TE schools: Puget Sound, Lewis and Clark, Oxy, Case Western, Lawrence, Pitzer, Conn Coll, Dickinson, and American. Surely one of those schools would like to offer a TE scholarship!

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Good to know there are otger Fall 22 parents going through the TE process this fall. I’ve submitted my application through my home school, but since the export approval certifier is the head of Financial Aid, I’m sure he has tons of stuff to deal with when it comes to our returning students for the next few weeks before it gets approved and my daughters TE application is sent to the schools she applied to.

Then it just becomes a waiting game with all fingers crossed and a lot of prayer that she gets an award.

Good luck to all if you and your kids! Please be sure to keep us updated as you hear news. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Hi. Just popping in. My D will be a freshman at Skidmore College using TE, so we were in your shoes last year. Happy to share anything about our experience. We applied to schools in New England and upstate NY. My advice would be apply to several TE schools but expect to be a very competitive candidate at that school to get TE. Look at schools that give both merit and TE. Look at schools that give strong merit even if not a TE school. Demonstrated interest is really important. It’s a wild ride as often you aren’t hearing until the weeks before the May 1 deadline. You may be waitlisted for TE and then hear right around May 1 that you got a slot and that may change your decision making. That happened to us! It’s crazy but it does come together! Good luck!

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re: Conn College – they give very few TE slots, 3 I believe. However, to our surprise they did give D 30K in merit but not TE. Ultimately she decided to go elsewhere but Conn College was def a strong contender on her list.

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My son will likely end up with a 3.5 ish GPA. I know he isn’t competitive for TE. I looked at schools who still had open spots this spring for fall admit to see what schools may give him an increased chance.

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My employer just certified my daughters Export Application and I received notification that my daughter’s TE application has been sent to her 6 TE schools she has applied to. So now we just wait 3 to 6 months for a decision (hopefully sooner, as I know one starts their initial processing in November with a December award announcement. Now that would make for a very Merry Christmas

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Good luck to her!

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My dd’s TE schools are likely to be Rhodes, CWRU, and maybe Rochester Institute of Technology. Does anyone have any guidance on the ED/EA process and TE?

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I wish I could help, but I have no info on the TE stats for those 3 schools. What type of guidance are you looking for? Number of applicants vs. scholarships? Average stats for recipients etc… I’m sure there are others who may be able to assist!

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I can’t find where I read it, but I thought I read if one will ED to a school, the chances of TE are higher. Yet, in my mind, we can’t ED unless we know we have TE to help pay for it.

I guess I’m also wondering if anyone applying EA found it was helpful for the TE grant.

Very new at this, so hope it makes sense.

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My daughter will be applying for TE. She is pretty competitive but I know there are stronger applicants. 1420 SAT, 4.7 GPA, 14 AP’s, two sport varsity athlete, NHS and volunteer activities.

She will be playing soccer in college. It looks like division III is the right fit for her, especially with Covid and the lack of spots with many students staying for a 5th year. She will be applying to Drew, Catholic and Goucher. We convinced her to apply to GW in case she decides not to play soccer at the last second because she loved DC. We would really like to add at least a couple more options but we are running out of time with the soccer piece as most offers are out. Also, she will not go to a rural school which cuts out so many good options. We live in the Philadelphia area and she wants to go over an hour away but essentially within three. We have condensed the search at this point between New York and DC. She wants to go to a school with good STEM options.

I think she has a decent chance at getting TE at the three DIII schools but would still like more options. One of the coaches already said she would do what she could to get TE as quickly as possible. (probably before the end of the year) Her pre-reads associated with her soccer recruitment process came back from all three schools and they all offered her the maximum merit scholarship. Drew $27,500, Catholic $25,000 and Goucher $33,000. Drew and Catholic offer full tuition on TE. Goucher is set rate. I think she will start getting pressure from at least two of the schools and may need to commit within the next 60 days. One of the schools which is probably the favorite has not formally offered her a roster spot which confuses things more. She will have to make a commitment and hope TE comes through with the school of her choice. If she does not get TE at her first choice she will have to decommit and circle back to try to get her roster spot back at her ultimate second choice assuming she gets TE there.

Could this get much more confusing? I keep telling myself and my wife that this is a good problem to have but it is exhausting.

This has been a frustrating few years. I am looking forward to it being over but I know the stress is just beginning.

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It really depends on the school. Each will have different policies and you should ask the TE contact at that school. They are usually pretty responsive. Many schools will have info posted about your question on their websites.

However, our experience was that if you applied ED you need to be prepared that there could be a possibility that you get accepted to the school but declined for TE or waitlisted for TE. All of the schools my daughter applied to said do NOT apply ED if you are counting on the TE. It is a bit of a bummer. My daughter probably would have applied ED to her first choice school but b/c of this applied RD. She got in RD but was waitlisted for TE. Eventually she did get the TE and that is where she is attending now!

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Have you considered Case Western? May be more than 3 hours away but they’ve got D3 soccer and a robust club team too. They give TE (set rate)to a higher percentage of students than many other schools and it certainly ticks the STEM and city boxes. My kid applied EA and received TE notification in his acceptance letter.

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RE CWRU, my son applied EA last year and was notified about his TE award in his acceptance letter. If I recall from the 2021 thread, some others heard about their awards shortly after they received their acceptance letters. FWIW, I think Case awards more TE awards more many other schools. I think last year they told me they planned to give out approx 90 but it is worth calling and asking at all schools.

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