S2 was recently admitted to VT’s School of Architecture as OOS, and received $6K merit scholarship that letter says is “for your first year only (i.e., non-renewable); although you will find other scholarship opportunities at Virginia Tech depending on your future level of academic achievement and major.” I’m not saying he should have gotten more (I understand OOS students have no claim to any aid from state schools). But this is frustratingly indefinite, and makes it hard to compare FA packages with other schools. Have any VT parents, students, or recent admitees gotten similar grants? Anyone know anything about those unspecified “scholarship opportunities” for upperclassmen at VT and how available they are? Or should we just assume $6K is all he’ll get if he chooses VT?
Worse case scenario he gets nothing beyond this year. I would work with that mindset, because all scholarship opportunities are competitive based and there is no telling where your son will fall in that category in future years.
You can only work with the package you have in front of you. I would evaluate the costs as $x for freshman year and $x + $6k + $y (yearly rate increase) for years 2, 3, and 4. If those costs aren’t affordable, I’d take it off the table.
I had a non-renewable grant my first year (in state). There were additional opportunities for scholarships with many geared toward returning student, but not many as significant as my first year grant. It’s highly dependent on major/department/achievement after your first year, so unfortunately no guarantees.