<p>I understand that the Hope plays into the overall final cost. But Bama’s and others offer for National Merit makes UT’s offer look pretty weak. In reality it isn’t just the money (although it plays in the decision). We have had some fairly active recruiting from other schools including personal calls from University Presidents (even a Public) and paid interview weekends. From UT my impression has been kind of “you can come here if you want to”.</p>
<p>For what my S said about the Haslam interview, the interviewer was concerned with UT being a first choice for the students and not just a fall back school. Interviewer was also aware of Bama scholarships for top students .So far UTKnox is first choice for my S because of Oak Ridge Laboratories beside, of course, the scholarship. </p>
<p>MemhisGuy- Did your son interview for the Haslam?</p>
<p>No. That is kind of what surprised us, applied but wasn’t selected for interviews. I would have expected that most of the state kids who were NMSF’s who applied to at least be interviewed. Kind of gave us the message that they really didn’t care to see if he was truly interested in UT. Honest truth is that he was interested, not at the top of his list but was in the top 4 or so. UT has steadily fallen down the list in the last month.</p>
<p>MemphisGuy- I am also surprised about your son not being chosen. Perhaps they had several applicants from the Memphis metro area and they had to narrow down the pool somehow. The letter that my S received stated that there are 60 semifinalist and they will announce the 30 finalists for the 15 scholarships next week. The teacher that nominated my S is a UTKnox alumnus and maybe that made a difference. I am sure that your S will have great opportunities and success.</p>
<p>Amcm, Good luck to your son, hope thing go well for you and I trust they will.</p>
<p>Son already has many other opportunities so I am not the least bit worried about him. Was just more lamenting the UT situation. Probably more than I should have but I remember hearing the same thing on here from another TN parent one or two years ago.</p>
<p>Just seems like the TN State schools could/should spend a bit more time trying to keep more of the top kids in state. Even if we aren’t talking scholarships, calls and messages can show that they are interested too.</p>
<p>No biggie…probably more the need to defend my kid. Even if he isn’t so little any more. :-)</p>
<p>I really only know about Morrill (which is a really fun dorm; everyone’s honors so it’s a similar intelligence level. there is a degree of partying, but it very much depends on the group), Clement (regarded as one of the worst dorms you can get - lotsss of Jersey Shore type people), and Hess (people tend to like living here a lot, it’s one of the main dorms freshmen will try to get if they aren’t honors).
I just texted my best friend in Morrill and all he said was “Clement is awful. All the other ones are pretty good.” haha, so like I said… Just avoid that dorm.
Also, his roommate, other one of my good friends from high school til now, is a Haslam scholar. If you have any questions for a current Scholar, I can ask him.</p>
<p>Random thing to add - The HOPE / Aspire / GAMS scholarship amounts posted on the tn.gov website aren’t correct, I don’t think.
On the tn.gov website, it says the HOPE is now $6,000, GAMS is $1,500, and Aspire is now $2,250, as opposed to the $4,000, $1,000, and $1,500 they were back pre-2009. I don’t think this is correct, though. We’ve always been told the latter ones in school, and in my TN Student Assistance Corp account, it’s credited me $5.5k for the Hope/Aspire (as the previous amounts would have indicated I receive). Friends who received the award last year concur that they received 4k with either 1k from GAMS or 1.5k from Aspire. Just a heads up to some of the parents.
Also, if you look at their pdf file from March of 2011, it still says the “old” amounts. ( <a href=“http://www.tn.gov/CollegePays/mon_college/sch_app_pdfs/2011_lsaag/lsaag.pdf[/url]”>http://www.tn.gov/CollegePays/mon_college/sch_app_pdfs/2011_lsaag/lsaag.pdf</a> ) So I have no idea where they came up with the “new” award amounts post-2009.</p>
<p>Also, about the Haslam - you can’t forget how competitive it is. Being a NMF doesn’t equal being a semifinalist, by any means, when there are so many qualified people applying.
Example of this: 4 kids at my school were chosen as semifinalists - two I know have a 35 on the ACT (one is our val); another had a 32 last time I talked to her (dunno if that changed) and placed in the National Poetry Out Loud Competition; and the other is equally qualified score-wise, ranked 6th of 530, and is president of Mu Alpha Theta and First Robotics, which placed in the national competition (he is also a semi for GT’s Presidential Scholarship).
However, my best friend has a 32 ACT, 4.4 GPA in 9 APs, ranked 9th of 530, tennis captain, interviewed during summertime, etc, and wasn’t chosen. So, eh.</p>
<p>And Haslam isn’t everything, anyways. My friend mentioned above that received it last year really doesn’t like the program at all; there are a ton of extra things you have to do for it, and he says it’s not easy to juggle.</p>
<p>I agree with you regarding UT’s apparent passive nature. They seem to be indifferent regarding their recruitment of high achieving students versus other schools in the southeast.</p>
<p>lizziedoll456- Thanks for the input on the dorms, the HOPE and the Haslam. I will definitively tell S to stay away from Clement. Son is somewhat an intellectual and self proclaimed geek, so he would like an environment with similar students. If you know more about the Haslam program, like what is expected of the students, please post it. I just know what is on the website. How much time does your friend spend doing Haslam activities?</p>
<p>About the HOPE and GAMS, perhaps those are new amounts for the Fall of 2012. If anyone knows more about the HOPE please share the information.</p>
<p>I also agree that UTKnox does not actively pursue instate talent. I am in West TN and we have not received calls from UTknox recruiting. However, we have received calls from Georgia Tech, UI at Urbana-Champaign, Case Western, several Memphis area universities, and more.</p>
<p>lizziedoll, I really hope you are right about the Hope being $6000. But I noticed that while we were filling out son’s Dual Enrollment lottery scholarship that they only had him eligible for $2000 each semester (a total of $4000), so we are going to check with the guidance counselor to see which is the correct amount. However, I agree with you that the wording on the website seems to imply that the current amount is $6000.</p>
<p>I also agree that UTK could do a better job recruiting top TN students. It seems that they think the Hope alone will keep those students here. And in our case, it worked. We had some nice offers from other schools, but by the time we factored in housing, UTK was still the better deal. It’s hard to pass up the Hope, GAMS, Volunteer Scholarship, and in our case, state employee discount. However, a phone call or personalized email would have been nice.</p>
<p>I got my Honors Program letter today! So be expecting that in the following days. :)</p>
<p>With the HOPE, it made it sound like it’s been 6k since 2009, which I know isn’t true. hmm.</p>
<p>I just asked my Haslam friend what all he’s expected to do, so I’ll edit this when he replies.</p>
<p>I learned that both the HOPE and the GAMS are split equally between Fall, Spring and Summer semesters. So if a student plans to attend only in Fall and Spring the award will be $2000 for the HOPE and $500 for the GAMS per semester. </p>
<p>lizziedoll456- Can you describe the dorm rooms in Morrill? Since you have friends that attend there already, are there any items for the dorms that your friends would recommend a new student to definitively bring in the Fall? THANKS!</p>
<p>Son’s Honors Letter came today!!! Yay!</p>
<p>Same here!</p>
<p>My Haslam friend’s response: “You’re required to take a Haslam-specific class for your first four semesters, attend a few speeches, and do cheesy get togethers. The classes require a whole bunch of reading and they’re typically a GPA killer (if one considers a B a GPA killer). The additional work isn’t too bad, but I find myself going at great lengths to not tell people I’m a Haslam because it’s a little awkward around people who applied and didn’t get it and people who know the selectivity of the program.”</p>
<p>Morrill is a big plus sign with 14 floors - there’s a main lobby in the middle of each floor and 4 hallways shooting out of it… hence the plus sign. Like all dorms, bring the minimum you can - there is not much space. The rooms are veryyy small suite-style dorms with concrete floors and stacked beds with desks underneath (though you can change this to your liking). Comes with a mini fridge and microwave. Bring a rug or something if you’d like to offset the concrete, though you can actually buy carpet to put down over it. I suggest bringing lawn chairs, because they’re easy to store and work perfectly fine when your friends are over.
If at all possible, only bring essentials for the first week of so - clothes, toiletries, laptop, etc.; then once the commotion dies down, it’s fine to bring in all the big stuff - like futons. DON’T be the family to bring a futon with you the first day haha, I specifically remember that when I helped my friends move in. The elevators are SO crowded (and aren’t very big), so if you have a ton of suit cases and stuff, it can be a hassle. There is a big parking garage almost right next door because the fancy aquatic center is across the street, so if your student wants to bring their car to campus, they do have the ability to do that when living in Morrill.</p>
<p>Son’s honor letter arrived yesterday.</p>
<p>Lizziedoll456- thanks for the info. Unfortunately we are about 8 hours away from Knocville, so look for us to be one of those families with lots of luggage!</p>
<p>Good Morning All,
My son’s letter also came yesterday - also trying to decide between Knox and Bama. There seems to be a distinct difference between participating the their Honor’s programs. At Bama, it’s my impression that students would be offered special classes only available to Honors students, in a conference style settting and smaller honor level core courses. At Knox, the honors courses are within the subject area - there’s no physical Honor’s College. As far as Morrill hall - we did view a model room. During the bus tour a room from Reese Hall was shown. Morill rooms seem to be much smaller 17.8 x 9.6 for two people. Maybe I was just so wowed by Bama’s dorms (pricey though) and this wouldn’t be a big deal for a student. For those who have chosen Knox or Bama what was the deciding factor - Thanks so much!</p>
<p>S is still undecided pending offer of scholarship from UTKnox.</p>
<p>Does anyone know what GPA a student must keep to continue receiving the Chancellor or Haslam scholarship? I know that for HOPE and GAMS is 2.75 or 3.0 and for Volunteer is 3.0.</p>
<p>Any Haslam finalists?</p>
<p>^My school’s val! That’s all I know (so far) of the 4 from my school who were semis.</p>
<p>By the way, a friend of mine called UTK and they’ll be releasing 4 year scholarships March 1.</p>