Hello! We applied to the tuition exchange program and we were wondering if anyone else has past experience with it. She is also available for the FACHEX program, but she is more interested in the TE schools. I’d say that she is a pretty competitive student. 28 ACT (she’s a bad tester), 4.0 at selective private school with mostly APs and honors when AP was unavailable, works a part time job, and involved in many EC’s including leadership positions. Also, she is latina. My husband has been working at the home school for 25 years. She applied to Samford, TCU, and University of St. Thomas for exchange. They’re slightly more selective for TE.We submitted the TE application in October. Do you think she has a chance at a scholarship? She is mainly looking at Samford.
It’s hard to tell with TE. Have you checked the TE web site to see what % of students receive TE scholarships? Even that is a bit deceptive as you don’t know how many students apply each year and what the pool of students you’re competing against looks like. Some schools give TE to just about everyone, others award just a few offers each year. I do know one student currently at TCU on TE, and his standardized test scores were probably close to your D, his grades lower (also from a competitive private school).
What’s been worst for us is the wait. This is kid #2 applying for TE, Kid #1 got it, but didn’t hear from her top choice school until March! All her friends had already put down deposits and some even had roommates before she knew where she would be going, as we could only afford her top choice if she received TE.
Good luck!
We’ve found the TE program to be very useful. DS didn’t do a wide search because he wanted to stay in state and go to a LAC, but we found generally that colleges where he would qualify for merit aid (i.e. top 25 -10% of applicants) he was offered TE scholarships. I’ve read elsewhere in CC that Tulane is particularly generous with TE scholarships, so take a look at them on the TE website since your daughter is looking at some southern schools anyway. Best of luck!
I emailed all my son’s TE schools and asked the same series of questions. How many students apply for the TE, how many are accepted, how many attend, could he be an R.A., etc. The answers I got indicated that most accept more than the % shown in the TE website. Make sure you check to see the amount of the TE. I did not do this early on, and the school that is #1 on my son’s list does not have a great exchange rate on the tuition.
@SammyU123 Have you heard back from your schools yet? @GraphIt offers very sound advice.
I’ve gone through the TE process with two kids - both got their top choice! If you have any specific questions, feel free to send me a message.