I agree. My son got $20,000 for both Rutgers & Minnesota. Both big 10, & both highly rated in computer science. A UMD $5,000 only
I got zippo, ZERO from Rutgers, and I am in state. I expected $2-5k at least. UMD gave me $2000/year. What can I say?
We got zero from UMD (instate) and Rutgers (OOS). Ohio State was very generous, Pen state was reasonable and our local UMBC was also good since we are instate. My son looked at all options and made a good educational and financial decision
Very pleased with UMD, it’s holistic review of applications and admissions process! UMD stands out compared to other schools to which Daughter applied. Accepted to her first choice LEP back in January. We have no doubt that they read each and every one of her essays. GO TERPS!
@FriarDad - I have always believed that essays are Very Important in the UMD decision process. And the Women’s BBall team took the BIG 10 Title AGAIN!!
New to the discussion. I was rejected. 1440 SAT 3.7 wgpa. I know my gpa is low but I was expecting to get at least spring termed…
Hello, my daughter was accepted. We are trying to login the portal and see if she got any merit/honors but can’t figure out where to login. We activated her ID and then setup her multi-factor authentication but then no idea where to go next. What is the student portal login and where can it be found? Where do you find merit aid? Sorry for so many questions, but I did not find this easy!
@kdmt1998 You should go through your Coalition application, merit and honors would be listed under the checklist
@kdmt1998 Merit aid notifications were also sent by email in February.
Are there other admitted students who have not received the email directing them to check the financial aid portal? We are not expecting any need-based financial aid, but it seems like many received notifications last week.
@SoofDad - Yes, very exciting all around! Looking forward to admitted students day. :D/
@FriarDad - I recommend arriving early. Traffic on the beltway can be pretty heavy
Check your Spam/Junk folders, that’s where son’s was found.
@kdmt1998 My son did not get an email or snail mail for the merit scholarship. We found it in the coalition portal.
@UMDtwins Your kids both received scholarships. What you would consider REAL Financial aid?? Many of us received no scholarships. Confused by your comment or expectations.
@JLeoard813. I was under the impression that there is need based financial aid and then there are merit scholarships. I thought that financial aid was made up of several parts: various loans, work study and just plain aid, which had no expectation of repayment. I guess it could be thought of as a “financial need scholarship”.
The gap between the FAFSA EFC and the actual cost less any merit award is what I considered financial need. And I was hoping that some (most?) would be in the form of non-repayable aid.
My daughter received $2k/yr in Presidential Scholarship. UMD said that her budget was $52k/yr. That means that I have to come up with $50k/yr unless we are burdened with loans, which I am trying to avoid.
My son received $12k/yr in Presidential Scholarship, with the same OOS budget. So for him I need to come up with $40k/yr.
UMD is our first choice for them, but the cost ($90k/yr) seems quite prohibitive.
hi guys, i got into gemstone (my first choice), but now i kinda want to go to university honors in order to graduate early. i know most people want to switch out of university honors, but do you think its possible to call and switch, or not lol
@fanofthemcu - Yes, it is possible.
still haven’t gotten any decision back from them, anyone know when RD comes out? also, is it really hard to get in RD + OOS?
@ibjunior wait when did you apply? because a couple of friends who are in state never got his decision back, you may have to call them and make sure they have anything if you applied by the priority date; if you applied RD, you’ll def get by april 1st. I don’t think its too difficult to get in oos, i would say 35 - 40% acceptance
Rejected EA but went through appeals process and got accepted.
In-State
SAT:1200
GPA: 3.5UW/3.9W
Letters and Sciences (I kind of expected this because applying for an LEP- Biochemistry is competitive)
What I think helped me get my decision:
- I had circumstances that started after sophomore year that made my grades plummet Junior Year.
- My career goals with the Biochemistry major
Good EC’s
Good Leadership Positions