Hello,
Could anybody who got into or have any experience with UT Dallas’ AES scholarships share with me their profiles? I’m really interested in getting the Honors level of it but would like to see what’s the competition like. Also what about the McDermott and Collegium V scholars? How good are they? Also, should I even consider Truman State University and South Dakota State University for finance major? Are they good? I’m looking for the cheapest and best value. Thank you.
Here is our experience: DD16 had SAT 1480 and earned AES Distinction. She is in JSOM and is part of CV. CV offers some classes and priority registration but she will not be continuing as the courses available for Junior/Senior year dont fit with her Finance major. She also is in DMHP (business honors) and love sthat program. It has been great. DD18 is not attending but she qualified for AES Honors. 33 ACT 1460 SAT 103.xx+ GPA.
McDermott is VERY competitve and absolutely top tier for a competitive scholarship program. DD16 did not make it to finalist and DD18 was pursuing different schools. We have been very happy with UTD and would happily send any of our kids there.
@txsparty :thank you for your experience story. That was great to hear from you. I’m a high school senior from India looking to attend college in fall 2019. I’m very interested in UT Dallas and it’s JSOM as I want to major in Finance and hopefully the honors program and other higher level courses. I’m really nervous whether I would get the AES Distinction/Honor level award as that would break or make my hopes to attend UT Dallas. I have a 4.0 GPA and 1600 SAT, National Spell Bee finalist and International level chess, among many other qualifications. I’m a US Citizen from India.
As a curious person, I’d like to ask how was the internship or placement opportunity for your daughter? Is she planning to go to grad school for finance too? What does she think of the program, is it possible she’ll end up on Wall Street? Is the networking good?
Also, how many credits a year will the AES award cover? Will it also cover the cost if we plan to double/triple major?
DS18 was offered AES Honors but this was replaced by National Merit Scholarship. He is also a McDermott finalist but haven’t heard back so I don’t think he made the cut after finalist weekend. McDermott is VERY competitive and generous but it’s also a HUGE obligation. DS still thinks he would accept if offered but I’m not so sure it’s worth the restrictions. Collegium V gives some nice perks like priority registration but there’s no $$ attached to it.
DS18 Stats:
SAT 1590
rank 10 of 646 (very competitive high school)
National AP Scholar (15 APs)
5 DE classes
GPA weighted 113.00, unweighted 98.98 on 100 point scale
ECs: fencing (unranked), Model UN (multiple awards), Chinese Culture club (secreteray), Boy Scouts, Mu Alpha Theta, NHS,
@3scoutsmom, what does the huge obligation and not worth the restrictions exactly mean? As a prospective student, I’d like to know what are their Terms and Conditions.
You must live on campus year round, rooming with other McDermott scholars, only leaving campus for pre approved activites, (except Thanksgiving, Chrismas, spring break and 3 weeks in the summer) you can not work, you must hold a leadership position in a campus club or start and lead a campus club, you are “discourged” from attending local churches instead you are incouraged to find or start a faith based group on campus. You are required to keep detailed logs of your volunteer and campus activites and submit monthly reports this will be compared to the high school activites you submitted in your application and to make sure your are doing as much or more campus activites than you did in high school and that you aren’t “slacking off”. You are required to attend the symphony or oprea every month, there are many required social commitments. You must defend your semester abroad. One of the alumi mentioned how she had been studying French and and wanted to do her study abroad in Paris studing neuro science but she was told no she already knew French and that he should learn Spanish and do something else in South America. The program has many perks but they pretty much have total control of your life. You are also required to participate as an alumni and we were told that it is a life long commitment.
McDermott Scholars are treated like rockstars, and the program is very generous and the requirements aren’t that unreasonable but I’d rather my son have more freedom in college. DS says he plans to be active in campus life and he’d fulfill those obligations with or with out the McDermott Scholarship so why don’t go for the extra perks? My feeling is that he already has a full ride to UTD with their National Merit Scholarship and zero restrictions and when you figure in taxes the McDermott Scholarship isn’t really that much more $$
@3scoutsmom, seems to be a long list of requirements but aren’t unreasonable.
“when you figure in taxes the McDermott Scholarship isn’t really that much more $$”
Didn’t know scholarships have taxes on them. This is entirely new stuff to me. Guess I got more homework to do now on the taxes on scholarship subject. Hence, didn’t understand your last statement. How does this thing work? We got to pay taxes on it? File a tax return? If we aren’t working? :-/
P.S.: Is this something I need to know before getting into college or can it just be started once I’m all set and started off in college?
My DD is not planning on grad school at this point.She is currently interviewing and working to nail down an internship for this summer. Not sure how that is going to look at this point. Ditto for the networking deal as she is not out in the market yet. I would guess she will be more looking at analyst or office positions and I doubt she will pursue Wall Street. The DFW area is booming and there are so many opportunities here but time will tell. She only just changed to Finance from General Business and it was a toss up between that and Human Resources. The AES will generally cover up to 18 credits butmay cover more if there is a compelling reason and you can get it approved. With her AP credits she is at least a semester early and would have been two semesters early but she has taken some fun classes (choir, film studies) that she had interest in.
@GuessME5 scholarship money not used toward tutition, books and ceratin fees is taxable and considered unearned income for tax purposes so scholarship money or stipends used for room and board and travel are taxable. They have recently changed the tax law so some scholarship money could be taxed up to a rate of 37% still better to than no scholarship but something you do need to be prepared for.
And this requirement to participate as an alumni is encouraged or enforced after graduation in what way?
@BelknapPoint To quote an alumni “you will be hounded ruthlessly” yes, these were his exact words to me! I believe that students accepting the scholarship must sign a contract agreeing to the terms of the scholarship, I believe alumni participation is in there. The parents were also told it would be required. I don’t know how they enforce it, there were several alumni present for the scholars finalist weekend so they must have some pull. There were some other things I thought were a little odd like the students can not marry or have children for the for the four years they are in school and they can not graduate early, they must stay on campus for four years, and students must live with same sex roommates even in college apartments where different sex roommates are allowed. I really don’t have a problem with this just thought it was odd for them require it.
That sounds almost cultish. Waayyy too much control over a personal life for me. Not even close to being worth it for the money or whatever “prestige” it comes with. But that’s just me. As long as you go into it with eyes wide open, it’s a personal decision.
@BelknapPoint I agree with you 100% it was also a little weird when the alumni were asked in a pannel discussion what was the down side of accepting this scholarship and they all said going to all the alumni weddings! Since DS hasn’t heard anything yet I don’t think he’ll get it anyway, one of his interviews didn’t go well.
I’ve expressed my concerns to DS and he still says if offered he’d take it and in the end it’s his choice. I could see how it would be worth it for some people especially people that live internationally (the scholarship pays for two trips home a year in the US or one trip home a year for international students) but when you live four hours away and already have a full ride I don’t think extra perks and prestige are worth it.
To me, the full ride is all that matters or maybe the full tuition and $6000/yr. The terms & conditions are ludicrous.
@txsparty : The AES will generally cover up to 18 credits butmay cover more if there is a compelling reason and you can get it approved.
Will it cover upto 18 each semester or each year?
The AES award levels that cover full tuition and fees will cover that for 8 semesters. You can take up to 18 hours per semester w/o any additional approvals. Above 18 hours, you do need additional approvals but many kids do it.
@BelknapPoint just fyi, DS got the “No” email from McDermott today as expected and I am so relieved!
@3scoutsmom, @GTAustin, @BelknapPoint : When do you think if it all, is the best time to apply for admission to UT Dallas (JSOM) if I want to attend college in fall 2019? I heard people applying in July a year earlier will have a greater chance of receiving good AES award, which I’m really in need of - the AES honors level. But I’ll also be applying to other schools like UChicago and Vanderbilt and many other flagship state universities which give out decisions in first quarter of 2019. Is there any strategy in timing of applying admission into UT Dallas if one is in hunt for the AES honors? Also, if I don’t accept their offer immediately if they take me in, will it hamper my AES chances?
Also, I see there is a priority application date for UT Dallas - is it some sort of early decision or early action? Or is it just namesake priority?