Departmental scholarships?

[cintinative]

If anyone has experience, how do these work? Do you usually get notified at the same time as other merit-based scholarships, or is it later, or does it vary? 

TIA!

[kirstenhill]

I'm sure this varies tremendously, but at the school where DD attends, each college releases college/departmental scholarships at different times...AND, sometimes more are added to award offers as time goes on in the spring.  I am assuming this is because they award a scholarship to an incoming student, who then decides not to attend.   We knew all of DD's going into her freshman year by May 1, but I know other families found out about additional scholarships after May 1.   Then for returning students, they can find out about departmental/college scholarships anytime from May 1-August 1.   DD found out in mid-May last year that she got a much bigger departmental scholarship for her sophomore year than the one she got her freshman year!

[ScoutTN]

Dd got one that she did not do an extra application or anything for. It just showed up on her financial page in the school portal along with other merit aid and our state’s lottery scholarship. A small amount more was added in the summer, presumably from offers to other students who did not enroll. 

[Zoo Keeper]

Our experience agrees with both of the previous posts above^. 

 

[cintinative]

3 hours ago, kirstenhill said:

I'm sure this varies tremendously, but at the school where DD attends, each college releases college/departmental scholarships at different times...AND, sometimes more are added to award offers as time goes on in the spring.  I am assuming this is because they award a scholarship to an incoming student, who then decides not to attend.   We knew all of DD's going into her freshman year by May 1, but I know other families found out about additional scholarships after May 1.   Then for returning students, they can find out about departmental/college scholarships anytime from May 1-August 1.   DD found out in mid-May last year that she got a much bigger departmental scholarship for her sophomore year than the one she got her freshman year!

So it sounds like this is something we should not account for in our calculations, and just look at it as a pleasant surprise if we get it? Because I assume we will have to submit a decision by May.

[teachermom2834]

At the colleges my kids attended it seemed that departmental scholarships were almost entirely for non-freshman. I'm sure there were some given to freshman from some departments but according to all the published info available the departmental scholarships were mostly for returning students. I have certainly known students to get them at other schools as freshman but it is one of those things that is all over the place, as is the notification. 

[regentrude]

It varies. If the scholarship offer comes directly from the department, it may be a different time than the scholarship offered by the college.

Our department used to base first-year scholarships on ACT score and now, since the school is test optional, does a holistic review of the application. 
For returning students, it is based on the GPA and won't be announced until the final grades for the spring semester are in and the scholarship review finished.

[skimomma]

15 hours ago, cintinative said:

So it sounds like this is something we should not account for in our calculations, and just look at it as a pleasant surprise if we get it? Because I assume we will have to submit a decision by May.

This is how I would approach it.  As others report, dd ended up with an additional scholarships that were added later.  In fact, a substantial departmental one just appeared for her junior year.  She did not apply nor was she even notified.  It just showed up on her billing statement.  She had to go to the department office and ask about it.

[MagistraKennedy]

On 12/19/2023 at 5:55 PM, cintinative said:

So it sounds like this is something we should not account for in our calculations, and just look at it as a pleasant surprise if we get it? Because I assume we will have to submit a decision by May.

This is exactly what I would do. Consider it a bonus. 

I've read a lot of folks suggesting to be patient and submit closer to decision day (5/1) because some schools will increase their offers. I don't think it's the case with state schools, but maybe some privates. 

[cintinative]

2 hours ago, MagistraKennedy said:

This is exactly what I would do. Consider it a bonus. 

I've read a lot of folks suggesting to be patient and submit closer to decision day (5/1) because some schools will increase their offers. I don't think it's the case with state schools, but maybe some privates. 

All of ours are state schools. But I am tempted to wait for that reason. But the stress of waiting! Oy.

[MagistraKennedy]

On 12/23/2023 at 10:43 AM, cintinative said:

All of ours are state schools. But I am tempted to wait for that reason. But the stress of waiting! Oy.

AGREED --- there's part of me that just wants to go with her top state school choice and close the book. This process seems so long and drawn out. 

 

[Frances]

At my son’s school, the only departmental scholarships available to incoming students required that the student qualify for financial aid, so my son wasn’t allowed to apply. In some ways it made sense because in addition to $, the students got extra advising and help with getting research positions. In general, I think they were really targeting first generation college students and they used qualifying for FA as a proxy. Later, much smaller ones were available to upperclassmen.