Departmental Scholarships...

SimpleLife
Wed, 16 Feb 2011 21:14:48 +0000

^^Hi newjersey17! Congratulations to you and your son as well!

My son is still pretty much entirely in the “undecided” phase of the college application process. We knew from the very start that, in his case, scholarships and ultimate “Cost of Attendance” would strongly steer his decision. Therefore, from the start, he’s known that all financial aid packages have to come in before he can start choosing.

He does love SMU. He would love to attend. Much of time since he first started looking at colleges, he has told people that SMU is at (or towards) the very top of his list. However, he has received phenomenal scholarship offers from a handful of other schools … which does alter things a little bit. We’ll see what happens with the second round of President’s (we’re fully NOT expecting one … seems to us they would have picked him in the first round if they wanted him for that) and Hunt’s. Otherwise, it might be off his list. Sadly.

We did go to the engineering reception. It was very nice. It was held in the lobby of one of the beautiful engineering buildings. Dean Orsak spoke for about 15-20 minutes. There was a huge, gorgeous spread of hors d’oeuvres, and iced tea, water, and lemonade. It was kind of classy and very understated at the same time. There was jazz music playing in the background, and nobody knew where it was coming from. Dean Orsak was HILARIOUS in his spontaneous comments about the music that was playing as he spoke. A lot of admissions counselors were there, and current students, and some faculty. And the place was PACKED. A huge turnout. And then, after the dean spoke, we were all free to just roam around the building, chatting with other people, and checking things out. Nothing formal seemed to be planned. No meetings or seminars or anything. Big bonus: Awesome free SMU sweatshirts!! They’re a really nice quality! My son says it’s his favorite sweatshirt ever. We very much enjoyed our time there.

Dorms. My son wants the engineering dorm, too. He has not signed up for housing yet. Hope he doesn’t lose out!

I was just about to post when I saw your other question. I do NOT know with any certainty when they have to pick their majors … I am guessing by the end of their sophomore years? But of course, with engineering tracks the way they are, the delay in choosing can lead to a longer stay and more expense. I’m sorry; I really don’t know.

Good luck to you, newjersey! I think SMU is a really great school. I hope your son loves it there! (Is he definitely going to attend?)