Come to the conclusion that grades and hard work don't mean a thing

Colleges & Universities The University of Texas at Austin
1

<p>Our son received the top 10% scholarship and that was it. According to our EFC we’re supposed to be able to shell out $19K a year. I don’t even pay that much on my mortgage! He’s pretty bummed as he’s worked awfully hard the last 4 years. Went between two campuses (home and science specialty), all AP classes and dual credit (he’ll have 20+ hours of college credit at graduation), scored 34 on his ACT and a 2070 on his SAT, 3.94 GPA, ranked 26th out of 500 at his home campus, volunteered here there and everywhere, interns for free 6-8 hours a week at a software programming company (part of his grad. req’s), worked 12-15 hours a week programming on top of that and the only thing we’ve rec’d so far is the above and loans. We must have filled out 100 applications so far outside of UT. His comment was he could have worked 1/3 as hard and got the same deal! </p>

<p>Bad part is, up until last year we didn’t make enough to put any away for college as we were barely getting by, then I got a good promotion last year. We’ve been able to put a little away, but not even remotely enough.</p>

<p>We’ve come to the conclusion that if he goes to UT, we’ll be paying for it till we die.</p>

2

<p>Are you out of state, I assume?</p>

3

<p>Nope. Been here 8 years.</p>

4

<p>Right, should have seen that from the %10 thing. It is terrible how financial aid distribution can work out sometimes, but it’s surprising that with his credentials he didn’t receive more scholarship money from other private companies, institutions, etc.
I have heard, though, that getting scholarships as a continuing student is often easier than applying as a freshman. Your son sounds like if he were to attend UT he would do well and thus be eligible for additional, more readily available, aid.</p>

5

<p>That’s what we are hoping. It makes sense for him to go to the CS dept. at UT. That’s what he’s passionate about as well as gifted in. Not only will the better education serve him well, but the ability to make exceptional contacts at UT will benefit him in the future as well. None of the local colleges, WTAMU or AC community college, as well as TT or Baylor, would offer him anywhere close to the education/contacts that UT will. We believe that the money will be well spent in the long run, it’s just very disappointing to stress hard work and good grades and have it not really make a difference on the back end.</p>

6

<p>Blooze, I understand your frustration. I still don’t know what my D will get from UT, but I am beginning to worry when I see stories like yours.</p>

<p>I went through a divorce recently and received a one-time payout of my ex’s retirement. It wasn’t even enough to pay for a year of UT tuition, and once some debt was paid off, even less. But, I had to count it as income, which raised our EFC. </p>

<p>UT is my daughter’s dream school. She, too, has worked so hard, and it has paid of in her acceptance in the BHP. But, still no word of any scholarships, although she has had full-ride offers from four other colleges, three of them out-of-state. I hope UT will come through. Otherwise, she’s off to Arizona. </p>

<p>I don’t have all her stats, but she is ranked 2/477, National Merit Commended Scholar, National Hispanic Scholar, AP Scholar, with four years of drill team, VP of NHS, participation in various clubs and volunteerism and until a couple of weeks ago, held a part-time job. (She quit because with graduation and other senior commitments, she just didn’t have the time, but will go back this summer.) She has done everything in her power to get where she wants to go, and I will feel horrible if she doesn’t get there.</p>

<p>I’m staying hopeful until mid-April, but it’s hard. </p>

<p>Have you thought about any other schools? With so many credit hours, does that not help the cost?</p>

7

<p>I’m in the same boat. TX resident, submitted my FAFSA fairly early, on February 3rd, I am in the top 5% of my class, have a 100.39 GPA, have participated in various extra-curricular activities, have held a job for the past two years, and was named a National Merit Finalist. </p>

<p>With the National Merit status alone, I’ve been offered full rides to schools I didn’t even apply to. I knew UT wouldn’t offer nearly as much, but I’m still shocked by their offer. I received the top ten percent scholarship ($2000), and one $2,295 grant for the first year. The other $20k is supposed to be paid for by loans I was offered. </p>

<p>My mom makes 40k a year. With the package I was offered, that’s half her income every year going towards either tuition or loan payments. Insane. As of right now, I hold two jobs just so my family can get by. I at least wanted a work study…</p>

<p>Meanwhile I see classmates who are barely top 25% with incomes triple my own, and they’re receiving $9,000 each semester. I just don’t understand. So much for hard work paying off.</p>

8

<p>ali, don’t get me wrong. My daughter and YOU, I’m sure, will benefit from the hard work, no matter what. You have both proven yourself to be bright, responsible and involved, and that will take you far, no matter where you end up.</p>

9

<p>We’ve looked at some other schools, but to be quite honest, UT has the best CS program around unless he went to one of the coasts. We’ve been to Austin several times over the last year to visit the campus and city, and our son has really taken a liking to everything. He’s applied to several other schools as backup, but the offers there are no better. The merit based scholarships are few and far between, and go to the elite of the applicants (which I have no problem with) of which our son is not quite there score-wise. The other merit based scholarships seem to always have a need requirement attached. It’s just bad timing I guess for our income increase. I’ve often wondered if I shouldn’t have taken the promotion at work because it would affect his EFC?</p>

<p>The hard work will pay off in the end I’m sure. It is down-heartening that the loan interest rates will be doubling in the summer.</p>

10

<p>^ Absolutely agree with you about the CS program and its benefits. Aside from UTD (which, still, doesn’t really compare) UT has one of the best programs regionally and, combined with the developing industry in Austin, is probably the best place to study/career prospect in the nation other than some california schools.</p>

11

<p>My financial aid at UT was awesome with 28k income. I won’t have to pay tuition. …</p>

<p>But then again… don’t think that I’m the one who has it easy.
My mom is 150k in debt for medical bills, so I’ll be paying for my own college.</p>

12

<p>I didn’t go to college full time till I was 24, married with our first child, so I can relate to paying for it all yourself. My school was paid for, but I taught all the chem labs for my work study, then worked 30 hours a week on top of that. The work paid the rent, but the babysitting bill was higher than the rent and other bills combined every month. That’s where mine and my wife’s student loans came from. You’ll appreciate all the hard work you do when you land that first job in your field after college!</p>

13

<p>I am on a similar boat. 3.9 UW, 4.55 W, top 1.5%, 2240 superscore, a good amount of volunteering. Recieved very little, even though my dad was unemployed for 2 years and just recently was re-employed. We have no savings. My friend who’s barely in the top 10% and has a 1800 SAT score got more scholarships and finaid, even though if you average out our last 3 year’s salaries, his family made far more. Sigh.</p>

14

<p>Sometimes the best option is a private school that offers good merit scholarships. Some, like SMU, offer full rides to students with great scores and grades. Other schools which offer great merit aid: Southwestern, Univ. of Miami, Wash U, U of San Diego, Hendryx… Search for merit aid on college confidential and you’ll find a list of the schools offering the most aid. The lower down the rankings you go, the more merit aid is offering for those with lower stats. </p>

<p>Another option is living at home for 1 or 2 years, going to CC and transfering to UT. No one wants to do this because they miss out of part of the college experience. However, no one wants to spend 15 years in debt from student loans either.
The student will still get the benefit of a UT education and contacts, but will save a lot of money.</p>

15

<p>Have you talked with the school’s financial aid office and presented the positives about your son and explained your financials? They probably reapply want him and may be able to reduce your EFC.</p>

16

<p>We’ve looked at the CC route, and with the hours he’ll have coming out of HS it doesn’t make much sense to go. The classes he would take would mainly be CS classes there, and to be honest, wouldn’t do nearly as much for him as the beginning CS courses at UT would. The CC and local university just don’t have strong CS programs at all. I learned long ago that the saying “all you need is a piece of paper” is a load of BS. It does matter where it comes from, unless you plan on being in a mediocre job the rest of your life. My personal experience only. He has a talent and gift for programming and I would like to see him get the best chance he can get. Sure you can go down to lower ranked schools, but from talking to others that have went to those universities, they just don’t have the program and opportunities that UT has. We’re not concerned, and neither is our son, with the college experience. That is pretty close to the bottom of the requirements on our picking a college. The quality of the education is much more important in our opinion.</p>

<p>We haven’t spoken to the financial aid office yet as we received his aid notification yesterday morning. We may have to give them a call this coming week and see what can or can’t be worked with.</p>

<p>Thank you for all the replies and suggestions.</p>

<p>I’m sure we will try to make it work as best we can, but I felt the need to voice my disappointment about the situation. There may be other scholarships that come in, as it’s still early for decisions on a lot of the ones we’ve applied to.</p>

17

<p>The same thing. I am not sure it will help everyone but you can consider it in the future. [Texas</a> Student Housing](<a href=“http://texasstudenthousing.net/]Texas”>http://texasstudenthousing.net/)</p>

18

<p>Sorry Blooze. I completely understand your frustration and I hope it works out for you and your son. UT is a wonderful school and I hope he is able to attend. :)</p>

19

<p>The sense of entitlement is stunning. My son had a 2300 SAT, top 1% of his class, tons of APs, leadership, extracurricular activities, etc., and he didn’t get much from UT, either. My wife and I both work, and we have to make sacrifices to pay for his school–it is the way it should be. Nobody owes us anything. I am comfortable if the school’s resources are used to help those less fortunate.</p>

20

<p>It always upsetting to read these sentiments. I am sorry about the situation. UT, like a number of state schools, does not give much in the way of merit awards. It does not even meet full need. All of that info is out there and up front. There are schools with generous merit awards, and that is where the attention should go if that is what your student wants. Well is pretty dry at UT for them.</p>