Hobbd, I am not sure he is losing much by not gettingBrowm . Isnt NMSF gets him similar amount of money as Brown?
@Aafat did your student apply to Brown?
Itâs easily one of the best, most prestigious scholarships around-equivalent to UT Turing.
The money is FANTASTIC, but the opportunities afforded even better.
Unfortunately, you lose quite a lot if you donât get Brown, both financially and in opportunities. Brown covers everything that the National Merit package doesnât, so what is lacking in tuition and then room and board on top of that. Itâs a true full ride. And you get a free study abroad opportunity. Then there is the recognition, networking, connections, etc that are invaluable.
1 Like
This whole process with Texas A&M has been kind of frustrating. We were told that Being a National Merit Semi Finalists ( now he is a finalist ) he was automatically in the running for the Brown scholarship. That filling out that scholarship portion on the app was all that needed to be done 
. He was admitted to TAMU college of Engineering about 10 days after he applied . We have heard nothing about Brown at this point . No idea what they are looking for ⊠but stats are
1580 SAT ( 800 m 780 w
4.0 unweighted 4.88 weighted
22 APs all 5 ( including Physics 1 and 2 and Calc ab and bc )
Best and Brightest award for Language Arts for county
4 year varsity athlete for xc and track
Eagle Scout
300 + volunteer hours outside of school related things
Peer tutor for College Board
We assume he is out at this point but would have loved to know for sure because honestly he has similar to Brown offers from two other schools so not sure how far TAMU is up on his list without Brown.
I definitely have. Not been over impressed with the whole admissions and notification process at TAMU â just seems somewhat disorganized
1 Like
@Asherpuppy when did your son apply to A&M?
For the record, my S22 had a similar experience. He applied in August 2022. Was quickly admitted. But never heard anything from or about Brown. Once we heard that all scholarship interviews had occurred he pivoted to another school. At that point, the experience with applying to A&M, coupled with ETAM, just turned him off. I write it off to a big school where things slip through, but the school says one thing and does another. It is likely losing qualified candidates and students because of its perceived âattitudeâ regarding admissions. I will never forget touring A&M. We were the only out of state family and were effectively treated by admissions like âwhy are you even hereâ.
@Peruna1998 hate to hear this. If it helps, my (now graduated) Aggie is 3rd gen Aggie. Her Aggie father went with us on the official tour. Hands down, it was THE WORST tour, of the 10+ schools we toured (all large schools, half were SEC, BIg12 and out of state-for us).
A&M is ginormous and competitive. Infrastructure canât keep up, not enough advisors or dorms, parking is a constant issue, sports passes sell out quickly for the year, on & on. It is for sure a âsnooze you loseâ environment.
I do think it would be worth it, for people to reach out directly to the Brown Foundation, and express concerns and frustration over A&M Admissions.
Definitely sounds like the ball is being dropped somewhere, and what is stated on AggieOneStop-for the Brown-isnât being upheld. Itâs a shame some really great students seemingly arenât even given a chance.
Early Nov â so well before the deadline for the Brown Scholarship of Dec 1st . After he applied they reached out and had us attend some big NMSF night via zoom and talked all about the Brown Scholarship. We are out of state so TAMU was a maybe apply to u til we learned of the Brown scholar opportunity which is why he waiting until Nov to apply
@Asherpuppy like I mentioned above, Iâd reach out to the Brown Foundation and express concern and displeasure. They need to know someone, somewhere is apparently dropping the ball.
Yeah that is kind of how we are feeling â they just want him as a number to say we have this many National Merit Finalists attending .
Our two older attend big Sec schools so we understand that aspect but many even UF seems to give a more personal feel then TAMU has for sure
Thanks â maybe but not sure how to reach out to them. It seems that donât really reply to contact email they have.
nope
Based on the criteria they say they are looking for on the Brown Foundation website, I cannot understand why he would not at least have been sent over to the Brown Foundation for consideration. When my son wrote to ask about the discrepancy of being told that his application had been sent over and then being told by the Foundation that it had not, he was partly told the following: âIf youâd like to discuss further why your application wasnât chosen by scholarships, scholarships@tamu.edu is the best email to contact with those questions as they transmit applications to Brown.â
He emailed them, and they wrote back saying that all of the items in his application were not in until around the first week of December and the deadline is December 1st for Brown consideration. They said they sent the final batch over to Brown the first week of December, but since all of his items were not complete, he was not sent over. A few things there. I canât remember if there were any lagging items beyond his application, but I thought he did have everything in by December 1st. However, all it says on their website is that applications need to be in by December 1st, and his was. Further, in the application portal, it states that all items have to be in by December 15th for scholarship consideration. There is no language about exceptions for Brown. They need to clean up their messaging around the Brown scholarship because your average applicant reading that is going to assume if their application is in by December 1st and any other items by December 15th, they will be fully considered for all scholarships for which they are eligible.
Anyway, it appears your sonâs application and items were in well before the first week of December, so I would email the scholarship address above and ask why he was not sent over.
I also donât like the filtering process that Brown has A&M do for them. I know that probably saves them a lot of money, but they could hire seasonal readers like colleges do and have their own clear deadlines. It would make everything much more clear. And the scholarship committee is already overwhelmed with their own in-house scholarships, so I doubt they really read the applications with care.
As my son said, despite its size, after his visit, he did not think he would be just a number at A&M, but now he feels treated that way. At smaller colleges or even larger ones that are in a higher tier, they are much more accommodating to individual circumstances, and I cannot imagine them interpreting their deadlines in such an unbending, Javert-like way. It is very disappointing. Maybe if he does end up attending, he will find more hospitality in Engineering Honors and the Engineering College.
I recommend not using the Contact button on their website. They told me that they did not receive the two messages I sent through that button. However, when I sent an email to the following address, I got a response within a couple/few days: contact@brownfound.org
Donât use the Contact button on their website. They told me that they did not receive the two messages I sent through that button. However, when I sent an email to the following address, I got a response within a couple/few days: contact@brownfound.org
1 Like
@Hobbd where did you see Dec 15 mentioned?
The only answer I can come up with for your son is, perhaps he didnât have a complete Brown application by December 1? Dec 1st is always the hard, firm date for incoming freshman to apply for university scholarships. No exceptions.
One thing about A&M, it is HUGELY competitive. Not just getting in and academics while attending. But sports passes sell out, students camp out for every home football game days in advance (thatâs WITH a sports pass), not enough parking, early class registration is golden, not enough dorms (dorm selection is often referred to as The Hunger Games), getting into many clubs/orgs is like a needle in a haystack, etc.
If Brown Foundation app opened up in October, the committee would certainly review those first, and look favorably on those that applied early.
It never pays to wait for anything at A&M
^thatâs my PSA for the day. If your son ends up an Aggie, he will need to jump on things as soon as they open up. It never ends well for those who waitâŠ
I absolutely feel your frustration about the BrownâŠ
Thanks for your response, and I am familiar with whatâs on the website. You donât submit anything more for Brown than you do for regular scholarships, and DS submitted everything by December 1st. They may have processed it after December 1st, but he absolutely submitted on time. Also, within the application portal, it explicitly states that all items must be in by December 15th for scholarship consideration. I suppose this means any recommendations or test scores that arrive after the application itself is submitted. So they are not following their own policy by not giving him consideration. Even if some item of his was not in by December 1st but was in by December 15th, he should have been given consideration. And as I said, he had everything in by December 1st. If their processing time is not going to get the application items where they need to be quickly enough for consideration, then it is on them to set an earlier deadline. In the meantime, they need to follow their own policies and not blame busy students for not submitting earlier. If you submit by the deadline and are then told you will be considered, as I was and my son was, by an admissions officer, then they owe it to you to do the right thing and consider you. At the very least, they should offer an apology and take feedback and revisit their policies so this doesnât happen to future applicants. Instead, they want to put the blame on 17 and 18 year olds who are navigating an entirely new and confusing world of college applications. The saddest part about this is that my son and I absolutely loved Texas A & M when we visited. He loved the culture, the people, the engineering schoolâeverything. And everyone on our visit was incredibly gracious and hospitable. But our experience with these admissions officers and whoever replied from the scholarship committee has been the opposite. They went into complete CYA mode, denying things that they had told us and that are in their own application portal. Now DS wonders how he will be treated if he gets there and has an issue. It has unfortunately raised doubts for him and me.
@Hobbd i absolutely HATE that yâall have been treated like this. And again, you need to let the Brown Foundation know. Theyâre sinking a TON of $ into A&M, and I guarantee they would NOT be pleased students are being treated like this.
agree they need to be consistent with deadlines. The Dec 15 date is weird. Not sure why they donât stick with Dec 1 campus wide deadline? That way, thereâs NO confusion.
A&M isnât perfectâŠclearly. Iâm not an Engineering parent, but my Aggieâs roomie was CompSci/Engineering HNR. Being in Eng HNR is a deal breakerâŠin a good way! Better classes/professors, and the magical early class registration.
I PROMISE not everyone at A&M is like those in scholarship office. Iâm really disgusted theyâre acting the way they areâŠthey need to be called out. Please, please keep documentation and contact the Brown Foundation.
Brown scholarship will consider all NMSFs. But note that most who received are NMFs, and submitted everything by their preferred date (Oct 10).
Dec 15th is admission material deadline. Admission office and Aggie One Stop (scholarship) are two different groups.
But note that ALL NMSFs will be considered. If all material submitted by Oct 10, complete information will be sent to Brown. If by Dec 1st, it can only be partially submitted. Data nowadays are basically automated. Dec 15th is the admission office document deadline for admission. That date has nothing to do with Aggie One Stop.
In terms of chance, TAMU back in 2018 ranked #1 in Texas having 178 NMF (#7 Nationally and #3 in public college), so not even every NMF gets it (not to mention the many more NMSF). Brown awarded 40-60 scholarships. And Brownâs own review of applicants have been extremely accurate, almost 1 out of 2 (~42%) graduated with 4.0 GPA (your student will know it is not an easy feat through senior because TAMU donât curve and donât do grade inflation) Some majors were known to not having 4.0 graduate in a decade. Brown will pick those with NMSFs and high actual SAT/ACT scores, look deeply into other factors especially personal characters, and select about 100 for interview, the final decision will be delivered either personally or through the secretary, not email or mail. The final contact also makes sure the student chooses to enroll to TAMU because student with such academic capability may have many options. They do not send any letter or information to those who donât get consideration for the scholarship. But NMSFs who donât get an interview should already know that they are not considered.
Thank you for your supportive message. We did let the Brown Foundation know that we were told that DS would be considered, but perhaps another, more detailed email is warranted. I think when discussing these things, the Admission Officers and Scholarship Office folks need to remember how serious this is and choose their words and convey their information much more carefully. We are discussing one of the most important decisions someone can ever make and basically the futures of our kids. I think they are too casual and just say what is easy at the moment.