Don’t worry! It seems like the norm for TE schools to first process applicants for merit aid like they do for everyone, irrespective of the TE application. Then TE awards are a separate thing. Some schools wait until after RD admissions decisions are out. Schools that notify about TE this early are definitely in the minority.
Our kid has been accepted to a handful of TE schools, and has received merit aid notices from nearly all of them, but no TE notices yet. We expect to hear back on TE sometime later. Some of them give explicit dates, others don’t. There is a wide range. Some will stack other merit aid on top of TE, others won’t. Some will waitlist for TE, others won’t.
An AO at one of the schools told our kid that they rank the TE applicants, and then offer it to 3 people and keep going down the list until they get 3 that accept. So no definite dates for that school’s process. Other schools do an initial group of offers, and also notify a waitlist.
He applied to a couple schools RD, who don’t release admissions decisions until March. I am guessing he’ll receive his aid package with or shortly following admission at those schools, and may also hear about TE at the same time. I imagine all his aid offers from everywhere will be in sometime in April.
But there are people on CC who have gotten May notices for TE awards – I expect those come only when other students decline their offers at the last minute.
I did email the TELO at Gustavus to clarify about set rate vs full tuition award. Answers: Most of their full tuition scholarships have been accepted but they said if any remain they would keep him on “the list.” In relation to “stacking,” I understood that the previous 34k in merit would be erased with the set rate TE offer. However, they said even the music scholarships (which typically are only a few thousand a year) would be “honorary only” but they would add free music lessons.
We’re also waiting to hear back from Xavier. My S18 got one from there, but decided to attend John Carroll University instead. My understanding is that Xavier gives out more TE/FACHEX than some other schools.
If our child requested TE and later decided not to apply to the school at all, is it helpful to let the school know that?
One school wrote today to ask if 23 was applying. I wrote back to let them know. That led me to wonder if schools need us to tell them that 23 won’t be applying.
I had assumed there would be no chance of awarding TE to a student who didn’t apply and that our TE request would merely evaporate.
My daughter ended up not applying to one of the TE schools she had initially requested. Assumed it was obvious to the school she was out of the running for TE when the application deadline passed without applying.
It is always good to let them know and let your sending institution also know. There are limited TE awards and they want clarity on the applicant pool competing for the awards. Obviously, too, it is good to let them know when your student has been offered an award and the student makes the decision to attend another school. My S21 got a TE offer fairly early but as soon as he decided not to attend that school he let them know, which gives the school plenty of time to offer it to someone else. Ultimately, the school he chose also awarded him TE and he is loving the experience and is grateful for the opportunity to attend his dream program.
My son had initially indicated in the TE system that he was applying for a TE grant at Villanova. After finding out how few they gave freshman and getting burned out writing essays, he decided not to apply. We just let my school know and they changed the status in the TE system to “withdrawn,” so that is another option also.
Hi All, First time posting on this forum, but I have followed the tuition exchange forums the last couple of years and found it very useful. Thanks to all for sharing information about your journey! My son is going through the admission/tuition exchange process this year. He applied to 12 schools and 8 of those are on the TE list. He was accepted to 3 schools so far and was deferred at one (Case Western). No news on TE yet. He has a 4.6 wGPA/1460 SAT and interested in CS.
Welcome! We too have not heard anything about the TE awards. Applied to 6 TE schools. accepted to 3, waiting on 3 and the process/decision making behind the TE awards is clear as mud!
Just read that TE awards generally do not transfer to study abroad programs. May be a moot point since we are in unsure if any TE awards will come thru, but curious if anyone has any insight in how schools might handle this.
I’m pretty sure whether it can be used to cover study abroad (which my D23 wants) is on the tuition exchange website for the school. If you go to the TE for a particular school, look for where it says “FULL/SET” and then under that it will say Study Abroad (or not). If it says it, my assumption is that TE can be used to cover SA. Or at least that’s how I’ve read it!
