Scholarship Discussion: discuss the nitty-gritty here and ask questions

[katilac]

Please use this thread to get into the nitty-gritty of scholarships, post information, and ask questions. All the stuff too off-topic or impolite for other threads! 

 

 

My ds also got the same scholarship at Spring Hill.  He called admissions last week to check if they had everything and the woman told him his acceptance and scholarship info was in the mail.  She told him he would be invited to compete for the full ride scholarship but there was no information about that in the acceptance- just the automatic scholarship.  Did your dd get any info about the Spring Hill scholarship competition?

 

And congratulations!  Those are great acceptances and scholarships!

 

ETA:  I think we are just supposed to be keeping a list on this thread. Sorry for the commentary!

 

I'm pretty sure she just got the acceptance and the automatic scholarship; I will double-check in a minute. She has very high stats for them, and they called us several times to say they got her scores, to make sure she was going to apply, and so on, so I would think they would invite her.  

 

However, her academics are much stronger than her service record, which I think counts a lot at SHC. I'm not sure how far "very strong academics, average service" is going to get her at that particular school. 

 

SHC does the 'quick answer' thing, which I think translates into a quick admissions answer, and then additional information coming later. 

[katilac]

Okay, in this post, I am going to translate what dd's scholarships so far mean in actual money, simply because there is so much variance and I think it can be very helpful information. If it's not, just ignore! I will also put whether there are opportunities for further scholarships, and whatever else I can think of. 

 

University of Alabama, scholarship for full tuition - this leaves about $14,000 in room and board; there are additional opportunities for various competitive scholarships. We visited this school last spring, dd went to their honors camp, and we may return in January for Capstone Scholars Day (I include this in case anyone has questions or wants us to check on something or take a photo on a future visit). 

 

University of Alabama in Huntsville, scholarship for full tuition and housing - this leaves less than $4,000 per year for a full dining plan; there are additional opportunities for various competitive scholarships. They also told us that there are an abundance of campus jobs and you can get one if you want one, and that either all or most pay more than minimum wage. They are also well-known for having many off-campus jobs and internships. All UAH bedrooms are private. We have visited this school twice, dd has sat in on two classes, and we will be back on November 7 for the honors dinner.

 

Spring Hill College, scholarship for 85% of tuition - this leaves $18,000 in tuition, room, and board. Any student can do service work and earn $3,000 per year towards cost. I know they have a full ride award but can't remember if they have stuff in between; will update when I check. 

 

Loyola University of New Orleans, scholarship for 50% of tuition - this leaves $30,000 in tuition, room, and board. They have some other scholarships, including full rides, but they trend more towards service and music than academics. I believe the music scholarships are by far the biggest of the departmental scholarships (and they are essentially like having a job, you have to be in so many groups and so many performances). I don't know what else dd might get, with academics being very much her strength. We have visited this school twice, dd has sat in on a class, and they are quite local so we can easily return even if she doesn't hit the fall open house again. 

[teachermom2834]

I think the scholarship competition invitations must still be coming from Spring Hill. I am sure I read and was told that anyone over a 27 ACT is invited so your daughter surely would be.  I am just anxious for a date so we can plan some other things we have going.  A couple other schools he has applied to also have scholarship weekends for the top awards.  I think he'll have to make some choices about which ones he attends and I am anxious to get dates and info for all of it.

[FaithManor]

Boy I don't know. I mean I have to say that we have found scholarship competitiveness to be a kind of russian roulette. You can be the "perfect" candidate and get nothing, and be a much, much less stellar candidate and hit the jack pot. I think that these schools have a range, and within that range is the possibility of winning it. But in any given year the school has a set of criteria they are looking for and some of it can be bizarre, a particular state, set of zip codes, someone who fits a particular niche in a particular department, the quirky kid with the good grade but not the top notch grades who got his poetry published, or the girl that saved horses, or the rocket team members that won TARC but weren't the top 10% of their classes, or ......

 

It has been my experience that you just don't know. Last year I would not have pegged C for a top winner at Alma, he got the half ride and then another $4000 at the Scholars Summit, and another $2000.00 for his art portfolio though he was not majoring in art! He was the top 15% of the graduating class, statistically speaking, around here, and due to his head injury only pulled a 27 on his ACT which upset him very much because the previous year he'd had a 30. They did say they would take into account his previous year's score due to the accident, and not ding him for dropping so much. But again, when you look at who the big winners are, his stats didn't add up to that, and while he had a 10th and 14th place finish at TARC with the rocket team, and some Science Fair wins, he didn't have a big volunteer thing and only marginally demonstrated any leadership qualities.

 

So, it's just hard to know. If I had to make a guess, I'd say that a male who demonstrated his level of writing ability majoring in creative writing might have been the catch. That department is heavy in females at Alma so literally, that major and gender combo might have been the hook, LOL!

 

I wouldn't count her out at SHC because there is likely no way in any given year to know exactly what the "ideal" candidate is, but then given that financial plans may need to be made before the big announcements are made, probably don't count on it either. I'm suuuuuuuuch a big help!  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

 

 

[katilac]

Boy I don't know. I mean I have to say that we have found scholarship competitiveness to be a kind of russian roulette.  

 

<gigantic snip>

 

I wouldn't count her out at SHC because there is likely no way in any given year to know exactly what the "ideal" candidate is, but then given that financial plans may need to be made before the big announcements are made, probably don't count on it either. I'm suuuuuuuuch a big help!  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

 

I think you are absolutely correct; it is very much a crapshoot and a student might lose out this year simply because a very similar student won out last year, etc. 

 

dd will definitely not have the patience to wait on awards decisions that come out in March or April. Because Huntsville has always been on her short list and has made her such a good offer, the pricier schools would definitely have to come forward with at least some additional money by January or so to stay on her list, enough to  make her say, yes, I would prefer to pay less but I am willing to pay this amount. 

 

She is the plan ahead type who is wanting to make her housing deposit and buy her swag NOW, lol.  

[FaithManor]

I understand completely, Katilac. Middle ds, P, has a school really wooing him and they are third on his list. If his favorite puts up enough money before the rest of the award letters come out, he'll jump. I know he will. I think the third school has some really important uniqueness and opportunities so he should wait. But, it's his life, and his decision. 

 

Mostly, this is just a crazy maker for me until May. Then it will be "3 down, 1 to go" LOL! At least I get a year off before that last man of mine goes through this.

[katilac]

Teachermom, she got an email today saying she is one of the students invited to interview for the scholar award. It gave a date in January for the interview, and said that the formal invitation and registration will follow. 

[teachermom2834]

Katilac- that is great.  My ds hasn't received an email or anything in the mail regarding the competition but he was told on the phone when he called to follow up on test scores that took awhile to arrive.  I am not sure ds will still be considering SHC by late January.  He has other options and SHC is a little far away for him.  I will probably encourage him to go if invited, though, as I have enjoyed these college trips with him :)

[Teacher Mom]

After getting some messages, I decided that my post didn't reflect what people were asking so I deleted it.  I now think people are asking how to apply for scholarships. The answer is: apply for everything. Look especially at the Honor College site within the college website. Some scholarships are attached to the Honor College, some are selected by the university. If there is a scholarship you can self-select for or self-nominate --- do it.  For the competitive scholarships, she literally found out she was eligible two weeks before the deadline. She got it in but it wasn't pretty, and I don't know if she will get them or not. The point is, she is applying for everything that comes her way. The first three scholarships are due to ACT scores but you still have to fill out the scholarship forms. 

 

University of Alabama -- Presidential Scholarship and Engineering Scholarship --- takes care of tuition and board but not books

Colorado State -- Presidential Scholarship --- really low  $40,000 but still eligible for departmental scholarships

University of Auburn  --- Presidential Scholarship --full tuition---possible departmental scholarship

Texas A&M --- not sent out merit awards yet

North Carolina State (not admitted) --- Parks Scholarship competition ----$175,000 (very competitive---had lots of questions we just could not answer -- not sure why she was picked)

University of Georgia (not admitted) ---Foundation Scholarship competition  ---$19,000 per year plus Regents waver of out-of-state tuition

 

Hope this helps, I'll check back in case someone has a question.

 

And folks, I was really trying to describe the fact that my dd was not the average high profile candidate to give hope out there for the people who decide to go their own way. If you don't know someone's intent, please give them grace.

[katilac]

Katilac- that is great.  My ds hasn't received an email or anything in the mail regarding the competition but he was told on the phone when he called to follow up on test scores that took awhile to arrive.  I am not sure ds will still be considering SHC by late January.  He has other options and SHC is a little far away for him.  I will probably encourage him to go if invited, though, as I have enjoyed these college trips with him :)

 

It's quite close to us, just a couple of hours, which is probably what will keep them on her list for a longer time even though they lack a major she is really interested in, lol. She loves the size and atmosphere, and I think she's hoping they will suddenly announce they have added a French major. 

 

I'm going to see if their site says how quickly they select after the January 29 interviews. 

[katilac]

And folks, I was really trying to describe the fact that my dd was not the average high profile candidate to give hope out there for the people who decide to go their own way. If you don't know someone's intent, please give them grace.

 

I'm sorry if my thread led someone to send you a fussy PM!

 

The whole point was to be able to post anything and everything about scholarships, because I find that the basics of "$25,000 scholarship" etc really don't mean much without context. 

 

This is the "don't worry about etiquette" scholarship thread, so please post whatever you like. 

 

I have been helped by other people who were willing to be open, and I'm hoping to do the same for others.