This happened to my D20. I emailed the TE liaison at the school and reminded them of the official policy, as determined by the TE org (that all recipients have until May 1 to respond) and they extended it.
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That is good information.
Definitely doesnât seem right them trying to do that (I get why they are but still âŠ)
We had this happen with S21. Is this a smaller school? This school wanted our decision very shortly after awarding TE, but it was a small school with a limited amount of spots to award. They were clear that they would honor the May 1 deadline, but they encouraged him to make a decision ASAP.
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We had a similar experience last year. My D23 was awarded TE in late March or early April after coming off a waitlist for it. They did not give us an official early deadline but reached out regularly and frequently to ask if we had made a decision. They were transparent with us that they wanted to be able to offer it to someone else before May 1st if my D chose not to attend, so they really wanted her to decide before then.
It is a smaller school. And I understand wanting to be able to pass it along to another prospective student sooner than later. It just seems wrong and pushy to force her to decide so quickly, especially with FAFSA being so late.
The TE website says âMost schools allow the student until May 1st to accept the award.â
I guess they are the exceptionâŠ
If we put a deposit down to secure it, my worry is it will âvoidâ the other offers.
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That is definitely a tough spot. I donât think it can void other offers as I am not sure how they would know. I would just email and say âHey you are one of our top choices but we need a little more time to think about it and do another visit.â Perhaps say âI know you wanted 3 weeks but can you give us until April 1st at least.â Sort of a compromise between the 3 weeks and May 1st.
Like you said, we havenât even received FAFSA info yet.
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Right⊠you could use it as an excuse to follow-up with other top choice schools to assess where she stands. Then, a little closer to the 3-week mark, let the school know you are still waiting to hear from a few others and/or plan to do a follow-up visit on a particular date and ask for an extension.
I certainly wouldnât like the pressure you are under. The whole process is somewhat broken this year so I hope they would be understanding.
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The process is so broken this year with the new (and now delayed) FAFSA. So much chaos. Many of the schools my twins have applied to have rolled back their decision dates to May 15; one even rolled theirs back to June 1. Itâs a little crazy that you are being given such a short deadline when many other schools are extending theirs
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Does anyone have any updates on Pitt?
havenât heard anything yet
We havenât heard either. And havenât heard about the Honors college either. It seems like everything is on the new FAFSA timeline!
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You could be right. Although they donât specifically list financial need as a criterion on their website. But you never know:
âWe evaluate students based on their weighted grade point average, the rigor of curriculum (AP/IB/Honors courses), and class rank (if applicable). In addition, various non-numerical, holistic factors, as presented in the personal statement or Common Application essay, that describe the candidateâs background are also a part of the review process. These holistic factors allow for a diverse and multi-talented student body. Holistic criteria may include exceptional and unique talents; commitment to community service and leadership; significant family, job, or community responsibility; and contributions to cultural, economic, or racial diversity. Please note, SAT/ACT results are not used in the scholarship review process.â
We will notify Tuition Exchange Scholarship recipients of their award by the end of February 2024.
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My son heard today that he got TE at Austin College.
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Congrats!!
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I meant more that FAFSA has slowed down the timeline for everything at many larger universities. Some schools stopped processing applications etc and were waiting on a decision about what to do with the FAFSA situation. Whether to make offers based on CSS profiles. Whether to extend the May deadline. I know this happened at my our TE home institution. I also know a bunch of kids are still waiting on decisions from Pitt at my daughterâs school. They seem behind in many decision processes. I did not mean to imply the FAFSA was being used for TE decisions.
You could be right. I know some schools are in a âholding patternâ waiting for FAFSA. You would think that if financials were not a deciding factor for TE and other scholarships, they would move ahead with those so that they were at least done with those for when the FAFSA onslaught comes.
As for Pitt, from my experience, the earlier you apply, the quicker you get in. In previous years, students who applied in December did not hear until February. And those deferred - Feb/march and a few in April. The number of apps at schools like Pitt increases each year, delaying some decisions in general.
Pitt is our home institution and I canât believe how popular it has become over the years. Financial plan has always been to send the kids there hoping they didnât grow up and push back wanting to go somewhere else (figured if they could pay the difference if that happened). I didnât realize though until a couple years ago that the kids actually had to get in first and what a challenge that may be. D24 applied in late October after her Q1 grades were available (she had a very challenging jr year due to some personal circumstances). She was deferred until January so they could see mid-year grades. Mid-year grades were submitted ~1/20 and we received feedback last week that she is on the waitlist.
So the real point of my post was to say that it took 3.5wks for feedback (a week longer than AO had hoped). And I do think Pitt has been inundated with applications. This was just for regular admission so Iâm not surprised some of the other decisions are taking longer.
Anyway, for my daughter this is going to be a bumpier path than I hoped. She will have to make some Plan B decisions - we plan to lean into TE award schools and a Pitt regional campus with future transfer to main option. I am framing this for myself as she has really good options even if it isnât how we planned for things to go 
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Syracuseâs ED guidelines say:
Syracuseâs ED agreement says:
Perhaps you should ask Syracuseâs FA if applying tuition exchange is considered âseeking financial aidâ. If yes, then you may apply ED to Syracuse and if TE is not awarded you should be able to decline to enroll. Just an idea.
I think that ship has sailed but I think our expected contribution or whatever it is called would have been the full amount (despite of course not being able to remotely pay it). We would have gotten loans I am sure as part of the financial aid plan which we couldnât/wouldnât do. But thank you.
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Pitt has definitely become way more competitive over the last 4 years. Penn State also. Our high school is one of the very top in PA and many students this year with excellent grades were accepted only to the regional Penn State campuses (especially in the sciences) and many are still waiting to hear from Pitt. There were 300 applicants for TE in 22 my daughter got it. I think I read last year there were 500 applicants? Thatâs an incredible growth in applicants in one year. I hope your daughter finds a TE award school she loves. Who knows, one of those schools may even be a better fit!
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