Daughter got the usual $3,500 subsidized and $2,000 unsubsized loans - accepted the subsidized. Was hoping for a Dean’s scholarship but no such luck - but after seeing Mom213’s post there is no room to complain at all - her child’s stats were identical to my son’s stats for 2015 and he was offered a full Banneker Key. Was also hoping for a little need based grant as I will have two in college and had medical issues for the FAFSA year filed and had a much lower income than usual. The net calculator came back about $4,000 in need based aid but no luck. As Maryversity says, there simply are not a lot of grants from the school. The saving grace is it’s a great deal in-state without any grants. Now I’m just hoping she gets her requested scholar program and roommate assignment. She is turning down South Carolina Honors that would be cheaper with the grant money and now I am a TerpDad.
Wasn’t trying to complain with earlier post but it was very disappointing for my hardworking son to learn that classmates with few aps, much lower gpa’s and test scores were offered merit aid while he was not. Extra curriculars were similar. He’s feeling pretty deflated right now about the seeming randomness.
Hi all, luckily, we logged in earlier today before the crash and got all of our info… It looks like site is up and running again now… Just here to report that the entire decision process at UMD is definitely perplexing, for honors llp placement and merit scholarships… From reviewing all of your posts with listed test scores, grades, etc, I am at a loss to explain our results… . Looks like students with the same high test scores/gpa as our S, received 1st choice on LLP and as much as 20k total merit for in- state, whereas we rec’d 4th choice for the honors llp placement and zero $ for merit… Wanted to share to clarify that in- state students are also impacted by the overwhelming applicant pool.
I am really confused. When I log in it says “you did not submit the FAFSA”. Where is everyone seeing the merit stufF?
D OOS
1550 SAT
3.96 UW
President’s Scholarship $20K yr over 4 yrs
Where do we find out which Scholars program our son was given?
@Mooshie123 I received an email yesterday evening
Ayyye got that nice Presidential Scholarship. So glad that UMD is finally affordable for me! To all that didn’t get merit scholarships, don’t worry, it was really competitive this year and I know that y’all will succeed where ever you go. 
Thanks! Was that for scholars or honors?
stf4717, you can see merit award in the Coalition portal, click checklist, and scroll to the very bottom (at least for my D).
OOS (upper Midwest). Offered 8k/yr. 33 ACT (34ss, I think Maryland does ss the ACT), 3.9+ uw, rigor. Admitted HoHum. Very grateful.
The differences in public flagship policies/resources on merit aid plus the vagaries of how awards get offered to a fraction of the many outstanding applicants is so tough. I feel fortunate to have had the time, along with my D and my partner, to figure out what OOS flagships she may be interested in and then whether the flagships on that list offer any OOS merit at all and then whether it made sense to even roll the dice at that school. Even with websites like this chalk full of helpful and sophisticated advice and info, and the blessing and luxury to have the time to dig in and get the info we needed, I still feel like we still could only make semi-educated guesses about where we might roll the dice.
She’s been offered less merit aid instate, but of course the COA there starts much lower to begin with. Offered no merit at another state flagship, but there is a tuition reciprocity arrangement, so COA there is lower than standard OOS to begin with. A little more merit at Pitt, but that’s a public-affiliated institution with probably a more generous merit aid profile on the whole than UMD (though Pitt’s merit seems to be determined more by stats than UMD, whose determinations seem more holistic).
At all those schools, kids with better stats profiles than her got less in some instances, kids with the same stats profile got more/less, and kids with lower stats profiles got more. I just don’t feel like I have enough information to assess awards at any one institution or to use the award at one school as much of a beacon for what she’d receive at another school. I don’t have transparency on the competitiveness of their applicant pools, the full application of each admitted student (vs. the very limited info/profiles we post here), the relative resources of the institution, and the institution’s relative priorities/decision-making. My instincts tell me that geographic diversity (and other types of diversity) probably play some role in some of these decisions, and UMD might be more inclined on the margins to offer my D something coming from the upper Midwest, and the flagships in the upper Midwest might be more inclined on the margins to offer merit to kids from the NE given they get plenty of upper Midwest kids. Our state probably sends less than 20 kids a year to UMD, maybe even less than 10, so maybe the merit calculus reflects trying to attract kids from our region.
But that does not answer those who post up noting that their kid’s classmates in the very same school with comparable profiles got aid while they did not. That’s tough to understand or swallow, even accounting for the unknowns, and especially given kids talk and compare.
Congrats to all who received awards, and genuine commiseration with those who did not or did not receive enough to keep UMD at least in the running. So many highs and lows in this process, and the roller coaster goes up and down for most of us I suppose.
My child was accepted into honors and received their first choice LLP of ACES. We were a bit surprised with the Presidential Scholarship award of 5K per year/ $20,000 total. A mere drop in the bucket when you look at OOS costs. Based on honors placement and being admitted to first choice of highly selective ACES, we assumed a higher award would have been in our future. 34 SS ACT with over 4.3 W GPA. All classes taken were either honor or AP. It’s so hard to balance and understand the seeming randomness across schools of merit. We are in the process of making a spreadsheet of schools, merit and final cost per year to hash it all out. Waiting on 4 more… Definitely see a trend of less merit across all schools…
does merit $ show up in same summary sheet where financial aid is provided?
finally got into the portal and i got literally 0 aid. the only thing there are the federal loans which isnt even from UMD. i dont get it. no grant, no merit aid, nothing. it just doesnt make sense.
@Annie4321 the spreadsheet is in full use in our househols, lol. Yes, figuring in tuition increases over the years for overall cost for 4 years is the way to go, since some schools lock in costs for 4 years while others do not. Good luck with your decision.
@zzzzzzzzzzzzz same with my kid…but don’t despair. There are other options, and this is just the universe saying UMD is not the right place for you. Personally, I’m happy it made the decision to take one off the list easier, because narrowing down the choices is going to be tough! Hang in there!
Are the scholars and honors program placements available yet or just honors.
@JMS111 So very well said. I am on enough of these boards to see this is a common trend and my student is one of those kids who appeared to be a shoe-in for merit but did not receive it, whereas other students with less competitive stats/course rigor were awarded merit scholarships. There is no exact science in this process but am confident that all of the students ultimately end up where they are supposed to be. Congratulations to all who were accepted, your accomplishments are certainly worth celebrating!
Actually Mom213 I was saying I can’t complain. I think you are entitled to complain whether you do or don’t.
My son got financials today. OOS, 33 ACT and he received work study and loans. Money Mag has UMD #20 and 80% with need get grants. Scholarship $5k per year, math not my strong suit but those numbers not good.
My son got financials today. OOS, 33 ACT and he received work study and loans. Money Mag has UMD #20 and 80% with need get grants. Scholarship $5k per year, math not my strong suit but those numbers not good.
Sorry to re repost. Is an email the only place to see which College park scholars program you are given?