Rochester Renaissance Scholarship

SuperMom_I_Aint · 01-30-2008, 04:34 PM

My D received a letter today about the Rochester Renaissance Scholarship. I haven't seen the letter yet, but was trying to find some info about it on the site.

It appears Rochester has recently updated their site to remove lots of the detail about their scholarships. I could only find one Q & A on the topic.

Does anyone know more about hte Renaissance Scholars? Like how many are given each year, and whether one can still receive other institution-based merit aid -- like National Merit/National Achievement/National Hispanic along with it?

Chedva · 01-30-2008, 04:46 PM

I don't know how many are given. I do know that it's a full tuition scholarship, and the scholarship adjusts to meet tuition increases. And, at least for last year's awards, there is no minimum GPA required to keep the Renaissance Scholarship; it's only "satisfactory progress" (which is basically staying off academic probation).

From the FA website:

Quote:

You can only receive one merit award sponsored or partnered by the University. In situations where you qualify for multiple awards, you will be awarded whichever is most beneficial to your aid package.

University of Rochester : Money : Financial Facts

And here's a post about it from the Rochester site:
University of Rochester : Posts

Insane_Membrane · 01-30-2008, 06:47 PM

i believe there are 10 full scholarships and the rest ~30ish range from 10k to half tuition. About 100 applicants are selected and they interview like the top 50ish.

SuperMom_I_Aint · 01-31-2008, 03:23 PM

Thanks all, Pretty exciting/scary stuff! This will be her first (only?) scholarship interview, so she's pretty nervous. URochester is an awesome school!

dancinggirl · 01-31-2008, 04:38 PM

Congrats!
When did your D apply? Was it ED or regular? And when approximately did she applied if it was RD? (I am just afraid that I'll miss scholarships because my app was in pieces in unsorted mail for too long)

shennie · 01-31-2008, 05:38 PM

My son was interviewed for this scholarship 2 years ago. They interviewed around 60 kids that year and awarded 10 full tuition scholarships. Son was awarded a 1/2 tuition scholarship and was also granted NM to the tune of $2000 / year for 4 years. He chose to attend a different school, however.

He was given some reimbursement for flying to Rochester, provided transportation to and from the airport, stayed overnight in the dorms. I think he had 2 different interviews. Overall, it was a very positive experience and we were quite suprised that he was chosen for this honor.

SuperMom_I_Aint · 01-31-2008, 10:10 PM

Thanks Shennie, that's great info. Did your S make the trip alone, or did a family member accompany him?

Dancinggirl, her app was complete by 11/1, but she chose to go RD rather than ED because merit/financial aid is a real concern for us.

shennie · 02-01-2008, 01:16 PM

He went by himself. He has visited there with us several times as his older brother attended Eastman at the time. He actually flew in the day before he was due and took a cab to his brother's apartment. The school picked him up the next day at the apartment and took him to the main campus for his visits and interviews. They then took him back to the airport when it was time for him to leave. I think your daughter will be fine going by herself if she is comfortable doing so. They seemed to take good care of my son while he was there and there weren't any problems.

We, too, couldn't do ED for any schools. The son who was interviewed for the scholarship is #3. Son #1 at Eastman graduated from college the same year as #3 graduated from high school, but there is still #2 right smack in the middle. No way we could afford all 3 at private schools without FA.

dancinggirl · 02-01-2008, 11:35 PM

Thanks SuperMom. I appleod almost two months later. I'll just try to relax and wait!

JohnC613 · 02-17-2008, 10:11 PM

dancinggirl, I applied RD mid-november but still have not received anything.
maybe I didn't get it? I am currently a finalist for REMS, so I thought I'd be competitive enough to be a Rennaisance finalist...?

JohnC613 · 02-17-2008, 10:43 PM

ok I did some digging around and found out this: if you had an admissions interview, that will fulfill scholarship requirements, so that you will not need any additional interviews for scholarships.

I have sent an email to the university to confirm this. I will post when it is confirmed.

therefore, if you feel you are competitive enough for the renaissance, did you already have an admissions interview? if so, then you may still be in the running, as they would have no need to contact you at this point. If you didn't already have an admissions interview, then you probably didn't won't get it if you haven't been offered a scholarship interview.

Chedva · 02-18-2008, 09:01 AM

JohnC, that's generally true. However, for Renaissance Scholarships, attendance at scholarship weekend is required. During this weekend, the applicant has an interview with the scholarship committee. This is different than an admissions interview. If you don't receive a timely invitation to the Renaissance weekend, regardless of the admissions interview, you are not being considered for it.

You are, however, in the running for all other merit scholarships simply by having an admissions interview.

JohnC613 · 02-18-2008, 09:37 AM

e-mail response:

"Your interview will fulfill most scholarship requirements. If you have been chosen as a Renaissance, etc candidate you should be notified in the near future, in which case an additional interview would be set up. If you don’t hear from us, it does not necessarily mean you did not get a scholarship. "

so Chedva, you are right. thanks for the correction.

who knows what "near future" means? does that mean not all notificiations have been sent out, or am I just keeping my hopes too high? I will call today to see if all notification for rennaissance have been delivered.

JohnC613 · 02-18-2008, 10:06 AM

I called:
Renaissance reviews are done in 2-3 rounds. so notification is sent out in 2 or 3 rounds. looks like the first round of interview notification came out 1/30. they will keep sending out notification all the way up until April, is what I was told. I asked why it's in rounds, and whether there's any difference between the rounds. i was wondering whether they separated due to ED/RD or applicant quality. I was not given a reason; I was told there is no real reason -- breaking it up in rounds is just how they do it. not sure if this was a straightforward answer or not.
so not everyone has been notified yet. I guess i will have to wait some more.

JohnC613 · 02-18-2008, 10:09 AM

I'm also wondering how REMS affects scholarships. I know that at Case Western, if you get into the PPSP med program, they generally won't give you full tuition no matter what, hoping that PPSP itself will make you enroll.