@BingeWatcher Just a joke. It was not a fit for her, other than the nice merit.
@NoelleCf
If your son is looking for a large public in a cityâŠ
My D19 is a freshman at Ohio State and is very happy. OSU is a large public (40k UG) in Columbus OH, which is a really nice mid-size city. In-state tuition+R&B is <$25k. OOS $45k. They have various merit scholarships, based on stats, including the National Buckeye Scholarship, which offsets the OOS tuition.
http://undergrad.osu.edu/cost-and-aid/merit-based-scholarships
I will say, though, that the merit scholarships are not guaranteed. You need the stats to qualify, but not all who qualify get them.
@sidpuri said
We have some sense of how good D20âs teacher recs will be because at our HS, teachers give written assessments for each student twice a year.
What a great feeling! DS20 has American on his list as well. We toured last spring.
@bgbg4us S only applied to one school that is unaffordable for us. he applied EA for a chance of getting the uber selective full ride scholarship, which would be the only way he could go. He is aware that he will likely not be able to go, but still wanted to try for the scholarship.
All the other schools he is applying to, if he gets in are affordable for us.
ED app submitted - lots of jitters and re-re-re-reading. More supplements/honors essays to write, but at least all the common app stuff is done and all the recommendations/transcripts etc are all turned in!
@darcy123 We are feeling the jitters here too. Sometimes I think December canât come soon enough and other times I just want time to stand still! Good luck with the rest of the supplements and honors essays.
@bgbg4us All I can say is how we personally handled it in our house; we advised our DD20 not apply to schools we couldnât afford. She has the scores, grades and resume for the top private research schools, but living a debt free lifestyle is just as important of a lesson in our house. We canât cash flow a designer name, and we donât qualify for aid. She applied to in-state public research universities and OOS research universities that offer recruiting merit scholarships based on student stats. In all she applied to 5 schools; her counselors didnât consider any of them âreachâ schools and sheâs o.k. with that. Weâve been very open about finances, and we gave her the amount she had to work with before she started her college tours. Her degree often takes 4 1/2 - 5 years to complete, so that had to be part of the equation as well. She plans on continuing on for her masters, so the more she saves now, the more she has to put towards grad school. This whole process has been a good lesson in the âreal world.â She considered applying to a couple schools for fun to see if she would get in, but in the end she decided it wasnât a question she needed answered.
D20 received an acceptance from Michigan State (Go Green) today. Also not unexpected, but they have a Nurse Scholars program that requires a supplemental application and acts basically as a direct admit program. She is working on that now and has about a week to complete. It will be close!
I have two DD20s applied to UTD and already been offered admission, but we donât know what scholarship will be offered if any to them.
Younger one is National Merit Finalist) and older one is hoping for AES (Both have ACT: 35, GPA: about 4.255 weighted, adjacent in school ranks as well; 
not top 10% in their school though).
@3scoutsmom (and others)
What are chances for older securing AES with good stipend?
What still needs to be submitted for them to be considered for AES by Dec 1?
They both applied in Natural Sciences (with Biology major in pre-med track; however younger one is thinking to switch to Computer Science major. Do you know that can be done and can they still have good prospects for honors school in UTD with their
@3scoutsmom
What major your sons are pursuing and how easy itâs to get into good ECs with above stats?
Elder has applied to UTD, TTU, TAMU and working on UF, UCF, UMich, Emory.
Younger one has applied to UTD, UT, UCF, UF, Georgia Tech and working on Rice (ED), Duke, UCLA and USC. She is undecided between pre-med and computer science career as of now. Should she add any other college that has good CS program and covers 100% COA for a national merit ?
Good luck to all.
O. received 1st acceptance yesterday! It was to the school we were pretty sure was a sure thing, and came with a very nice merit scholarship that covers more than half the COA. She was so happy and can now say with 100% assurance that she is definitely going away to college next year, lol.
Still waiting to hear from the other two schools she applied to, but so nice to start the decision process with an acceptance to a very good school that O. really likes a lot.
Another newbie question with background info:
DS20 is feverishly working on his essays to meet the EA deadline of Nov 1st. He is targeting 4 apps by then - each with supplemental essays. There is a chance, he will miss the deadline for at least couple colleges. For all 4 colleges, the HS-reports/test-scores/recommendations are all already sent. If he misses the EA deadline, he will submit the app later in Nov/Dec - we are assuming that this is OK (i.e. the college will keep his file open with all the info already submitted and just add his app in whatever admission cycle he applies). Is our assumption correct ?
TIA
Thanks - we contacted the college about this and waiting for their response. Their website is not clear on this aspect and also on whether FAFSA is needed for any merit award.
But decided to seek the FA in the first year anyway; even though we may not get any aid in the first year, thought itâs safer/better approach (this maybe true for everyone but especially in our case, our incomes vary a bit wildly).
Yes, that is my assumption too.
The college opens a file for a student when the docs start arriving - scores, Recs, Transcripts etc., but until the actual application is submitted (with fee), they will not start their review.
If you miss EA deadline, and apply RD, they will review the app in RD cycle.
@sibpuri
Are you okay to pay for Rice ED if your DD gets in ? ED is binding
Your post gives an impression that you are looking for merit (NMF free schools), thatâs why.
@sibpuri Are both your kids graduating high school in the class of 2020? AES is only for first time college freshmen coming directly from high school (no gap year).
The National Merit scholarship is guaranteed to all NMS that list UTD as their first choice. Our COA for the entire first year was less than $500, this year DS is in a 4x4 unfurnished on campus apartment and does not have a meal plan and his COA is $0. This summer he was able to use the $6K for study abroad for program in Korea. which covered the entire cost of the program including transportation. Because AES is announced before NM your NM kiddo may be offered AES as well donât worry they will still get the NM scholarship - UTD always gives the highest of the scholarships offered.
AES is based on GPA, test scores and high school class rigor. When looking at AES they consider the ALL those factors and weigh them against each other. If I had to guess Iâd say they give the most weight to test scores, followed by rigor, then GPA and lastly rank. AES awards will be announced on 12/15 You donât have to send anything that wasnât part of the application to be considered for AES. If you have new and better test scores, rank. grades and you can get them to UTD before 12/1 is certainly wouldnât hurt. They are not as transparent about about AES awards as they have been in the past. In the past the highest AES award covered full tuition and fees and enough stipend for about half the cost of room and board leaving an out of pocket cost of about $5K for students that lived in the dorms, the next level covered tuition and fees and a stipend that cover about a quarter of the R&B. UTD no longer publishes their levels of AES awards so nothing is for certain. I would guess your student looking for AES would get tuition and fees for 8 semesters, and some stipend to help with R&B and board.
Your National Merit kiddo will be autocratically be admitted to the honors college but your other student will need to apply. Their application must be in by 12/1 but I would think they should will also get in to the honors college with out a problem. Itâs pretty easy to switch majors at UTD but the early the better, if your child knows they want to do comp sci make sure they get that changed during the initial advising session so they get registered for the required intro classes. Both my sons are/will be comp sci majors.
Been hearing through the grapevine that some people are beginning to hear back from Penn State. Anyone anecdotally know of kids who have been accepted there yet? Iâm wondering if these are acceptances for mostly Commonwealth (branch) campuses, which communicate earlier or if University Park is beginning to roll out some admissions.
@hs2020dad yes, the colleges will just hold all materials submitted until file is complete.
@hs2020dad Each school sent an email to O. when they had received all materials making her applications complete letting her know they had everything they needed. Those emails also included directions to create a portal (if she hadnât already) as well as a reminder as to the timeline the school anticipated reviewing her application and making a decision.
She sent application material as it was completed, not all at once.
We will only be able to afford if Rice offers good aid. Our situation is complex and NPC, I feel, is not that reliable. So as my DS20#2 is started considering 4 year degree recently, we will definitely consider Rice if admitted + aid numbers are favorable. And my assumption is that we can back out from ED application from Rice COA is not affordable for us. Am I right on this, BTW?
NMF free schools will be next stop and my preferred choice.