@3scoutsmom and @traveler98 What amount of AES do you think my S18 might qualify for at UTD? He is not NMSF (just commended). SAT 1550, ACT 34, GPA Uw 4.0. He is not applying for McD and I’m wondering if the AES is going to make UTD more affordable than TTU or Miss.
I think we’d need more info:
Here are the guidelines:
Merit-Based Award Factors
Strength of high school curriculum including level of rigor (Advanced Placement, IB, dual credit)
Grades in all coursework
SAT or ACT scores
Class rank (if applicable)
Preparation for and ability to be successful in intended major
Extracurricular and other leadership activities
National recognitions
He’s got the GPA and SAT/ACT scores, which seem to be the first things they look for. I do know for a fact that they take rigor seriously. I have a friend that homeschooled and had an atypical transcript and initially she wasn’t awarded AES and they told it it was because of lack course rigor, she was then able to send them a transcript with showed the DE classes she had taken at ACC and then awarded AES. Has he taken AP, IB or DE classes? Does he have a class rank? Any awards other than National Merit Commended, maybe AP Scholar? I think the awards and extra cirricular activities have less weight than Scores, GPA and Rank.
My guess, assuming he has ‘rigor’ is he’d certainly make Distinction (full tuition plus $1K a semester) but have a very good shot at Honors (full tuition plus $3K a semester).
When comparing school costs don’t forget to look at the GPA required to keep merit scholarships (UTD is 3.0) and your out of pocket expenses. With AES Honnors if a student lives on campus (dorms with meal plan) OOP cost will be $5112 a year plus books.
@S18D20mom, I’d say at least Distinction (tuition & fees plus $1000 per semester) and more likely Honors (tuition & fees plus $3000 per semester). The attached link shows the award levels and average stats for each, though it’s not just based on stats
@traveler98 and @3scoutsmom Thank you so much. Sounds like he has a chance at some really good merit aid. As for rigor, he will have 5 APs and 24 dual credit hours, as well as 14 honors/Pre-AP. Class rank is 4/455 and decent extracurricular, local awards, leadership, service, and employment.
On another note, DS took SAT2 today (makeup date from Harvey cancellation). He felt really good about the Math 2, but said the Biology-E was really hard!
I’d say he looks really good for AES Honors.
Going back to the physics discussion (sorry to be late), my D16 had an AP Physics teacher who taught this way–nothing ever explained, no idea if you got it right or not etc. it drove her insane. The capper was when she did a bunch of extra research online and with a STEM professor aquaintance and figured something out. Good, right? Took initiative, used her resources, figured out something hard, all the things I want my kid to learn. Nope, she got brutally reprimanded in front of the class and informed she was not allowed to use any outside resources. She dropped the class and has run far away from science. I’m still furious. She’s happy doing economics (so still mathy), but oh man.
As a side note, this teacher finally got fired this year. We refused to allow S18 to take the school class for 2 years while he taught it. He did physics online instead.
DD submitted her first application today, to her top choice school! It is really nice to get the first one completed since she now has most of what she needs for the other applications. This one was a coalition application.
One question, has anyone been in the situation where their teen signed up to take the SAT, then didn’t take it on the assigned day since they did well enough on an earlier test? We have this scenario for DD, but when I went to send her SAT scores it shows the August test date as complete (she didn’t go or take the test that day). Maybe the status will change when scores are reported tomorrow for that testing date, but my worry is that her top choice school requires all test scores and will wonder if there’s a note that her August scores are missing? She took it in January and did really well, and didn’t think she could improve on the August test after several practice runs. The SAT says there will be no record of her registration for the August test since she didn’t arrive to take it, but when I go on the site it shows the date. And, when I sent her SAT scores it says that we sent “most” of her scores to the college. But, we actually sent all scores, since it’s only 1 administration that she took. Ugh!
Re: Physics, D had mentioned that the Australian Stanford PhD student that tutored her a few times said the teaching methodology of the HS Physics teacher was “different.” And incompatible in some way. Forgive my ignorance, but my Physics knowledge at this point of my life is less than minimal. What was both odd and funny, D told me that the HS Physics teacher became angry in class at some point in the semester because my D wasn’t the only student using a Physics tutor for his class.
So I’m a bit curious why some of our kids here seem to have had similar troubling HS Physics experiences.
@vbv8dad My kid’s SAT tutor said that unless the essay score is drastically low, don’t worry about it at all. Cynically, this is because that score doesn’t affect USNWR rankings at all.
@sushiritto - My S18 has loved Physics all the way through high school. His school only has six class periods each day, so they have to be choosy with electives. His sophomore year he took Chemistry as his science and Physics as his elective.
Junior and senior years he took Chemistry HL as his science and Physics HL as his elective. So this is his third year of birth Chemistry and Physics in high school and it has been great!
@liifegarding. Yay, for getting her top choice app in! Sounds like a call will be necssaary for the SAT. DD 2018, missed her January sitting of the SAT because of an cheer competition and retook it it in April/May. The January test does not show up on her account.
@lifegarding I can tell you that I just didnt shoe up to the SAT school day (I had dual enrollment classes). It shows up on my college board account but theres no score with it and I can’t send it anywhere. Since yours is one you signed up for you might be able to cancel it before the test but I don’t know.
Does anyone know if you can send new SAT and/or ACT test results to colleges after you have applied?
D got her acceptance to ASU! Barrett application is in the works. ASU was pretty much a sure admit, but it’s still exciting to get that first one. :D/
McGill app has been submitted. She’s rolling!
@sushiritto You asked, “So I’m a bit curious why some of our kids here seem to have had similar troubling HS Physics experiences.” I wonder if it has to do with the class and the student’s math background? For example, last year my S18 was in Physics 1 (which is algebra based) and was also taking AB Calculus, he would sometimes solve his physics problems using calculus. He would get it wrong and have to redo it using algebra. It could be something like that…
Congratulations @ShrimpBurrito 's daughter!! Wahoo!!! <:-P
@trish02 My D is taking AP physics I and Calc AB right now. She is also finding it easier to solve her Physics using Calc. Her teacher is okay with it, and often explains to them the Calc way to way to solve a problem in addition to the algebra way. I wonder if this will be an issue on the AP Physics test?
I wonder if it’s hard for schools to find teachers that really understand physics well. We had that problem. Kids the previous year supposedly got together to hire a tutor for group sessions. D18 is kind of relentless until she feels like she understands something completely and that served her well with physics.
Congrats @ShrimpBurrito !! <:-P
My daughter is going to ask her calculus teacher about a WebAssign problem where she got the first part right, but the second part is wrong even though she did the sample problems the same way and got both parts right. She says they are doing algebra-based physics, but she is hoping her calculus teacher can see what she’s missing if anything.
The physics teacher’s method of teaching is “teach yourself first, and then ask me questions.” Um, then why are you there if the kids can just Google how to do the problem? :-?
And, I have reached out to the local university for a physics tutor.
Congrats, @ShrimpBurrito !