<p>To begin I'll start with a brief background of my situation. I am currently freshman studying engineering at one top 10 public schools (for Engr) in the country. I am currently wrapping up my second semester. The first semester went decent, I finished about a 2.9 which wasn't what I expected but considering the "weed 'em out" mentality, tough engineering curriculum and the fact that I went to a very small academic deficient high school I wasn't to distraught. </p>
<p>I started my second semester with an even tougher schedule but was managing fine until I tore up my ankle playing sports. I still attempted to attend classes on crutches for a week or so until my surgery which took a few days of recovery but after that I still continued to attend all the classes I could on crutches and keep up as best I could in my classes. However, the impact of the ordeal put me in a hole I could not dig myself out of. I noticed I couldn't do a normal day of hectic daily routine as I did before; I got behind and was never able to catch back up. All said, I just finished my last final and waiting on final grades to be posted. I know however that my GPA will fall sightly sub 2.0 due to failing a hard 4 hr physics course. I am on multiple scholarships including federal Pell grant, need based scholarships from my university, and a few local organization scholarships. All of which have various GPA requirements that I was unable to keep. I am wondering what will happen to scholarships? I feel the local ones will be OK as I can probably send a well written letter detailing my story but it is the Pell grant and the need based money from my university I am concerned about. I know I will be put on academic probation for a sub 2.0 but how will that effect my Pell grant and University scholarships? I am not concerned about the whole "probation" part because I know I can pull well over a 3.0 next semester but I will not have a chance if my funding gets pulled (I'm independent, no money, no credit to even be considered for a loan).</p>
<p>Sorry for the long post but if anyone has any insight or has faced a similar situation any input is greatly appreciated as I am greatly stressing about if I will get another shot at this. </p>
<p>Thank you</p>
<p>If your overall GPA is ok and you met your school’s SAP (satisfactory academic progress) requirements, you will keep the pell.</p>
<p>do you know the fine print associated with your scholarship?</p>
<p>“fine print” associated with merit money and not be afraid to ask follow up questions concerning your scholarships/merit $</p>
<p>Is it automatically renewable for the next 4 years</p>
<p>Is it renewable for the same amount of money?</p>
<p>Is scholarship adjusted to take into consideration tuition increases (about 5% per year)</p>
<p>Is there a gpa requirement needed to keep getting the money?</p>
<p>When does the gpa requirement start (by the end of fall term or the end of spring term)?</p>
<p>Is there a phase in to the gpa requirement?</p>
<p>What happens if you do not meet gpa requirement, does money leave immediately or is there a grace period?</p>
<p>If you lose scholarship and bring your grades back up is money reinstated?</p>
<p>Ask the financial aid office what percent of students lose their merit money in the first year.</p>
<p>Depending on your GPA and your school’s requirement, you may end up losing your other scholarships. You must check to see if there is some kind of appeal process. The F in physics is not going to help your cause and your advisor may gently suggest that you consider another major.</p>
<p>We can’t really tell you the answer to the question about the scholarships. The answer will completely depend on the rules for those particular scholarships. My daughter’s scholarships had 2 different cumulative GPA requirements plus minimum number of credit hours successfully completed requirements that were different. In her case, she had until the end of the summer of the school year to achieve the requirements. In her case, not meeting the requirements by the end of the summer would have meant the scholarships were permanently lost (we knew several people who did lose them after the first year). Your scholarships will have their own rules. You need to talk to the school about them. </p>
<p>Your federal aid, such as Pell and loans if you have them, will depend on if you meet the schools SAP policy. SAP usually includes a minimum GPA and a minimum % of successful completion of all hours attempted. For instance, a school may have a GPA requirement of 2.0 and a minimum 75% successful completion. But this will vary by school and you need to ask your school. If you do not meet SAP, there is usually an appeals process and you might be able to get aid back on a probationary basis. Also aid eligibility can be earned back by continuing to successfully take classes until you meet SAP.</p>
<p>You eed to talk to your school.</p>
<p>Make a list of each of your awards, and find out exactly what the requirements are to keep them, and what you have to do, if you dipped below the requirements for a renewal of them. For some scholarships, YOU, the student have to make sure sure they are renewed by sending out transcripts and going through some process each year, even if you are fine. I know kids who got a nasty surprise in that their award did not show up the next year, because they did not do what they were supposed to do for the renewal. If you did not make the requirements for renewal, you need to know if there is an appeal process and follow it to a tee. If there is none, you can try appealing anyways on your own.</p>
<p>My son lost his scholarship which had a cumulative GPA requirement, but actually kept the first year even though his second term grades dipped below the minimum because it was a cumulative requirement for his award. But for some scholarship, any dip for any term can cause a student to lose the scholarship, so you need to be aware of each of the specific requirements. </p>
<p>What happens to the scholarship money? More for future students. A certain amount of attrition is assumed, so you likely would just fall into those stats.</p>
<p>And an important take away from this…if you have a medical emergency, you need to IMMEDIATELY speak with both your advisor and the Dean of Students at your school. In most cases, if you verify your medical emergency, they will work with you to either complete the coursework and/or identify courses to be dropped for that era so you can complete the rest.</p>
<p>I’m speaking from experience…one of our kids misses almost three weeks of classes due to a medical issue. BUT she communicated quickly with her professors, and visor and Dean of Students. She did withdraw from one course, but her advisor and professors helped her worth the missed work to complete the others satisfactorily (she was also an engineering major).</p>
<p>So for others reading this…you gotta be proactive!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the reply, I have been looking around today and it seems that the gpa to maintain satisfactory academic progress is a 2.0. However, it does say that </p>
<p>"After one semester of not meeting the SAP standards, students will be issued a warning and will be permitted to receive financial aid for the next semester. However, after the one semester of warning, students who fail to meet any one or a combination of the SAP components will be ineligible for financial assistance. "</p>
<p>So from what I understand I will still be able to get federal aid next semester and from then on as long as I turn this around.</p>