Its optional.
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We submitted all our pre-commitment forms too. Although, its looking more and more like weâre going to commit to UMD and not VT.
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We got admission offer to L&S but does UMD offer any scholarship, generally we have heard that there is some offer along with admission offer. We havenât seen any.
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âFreshman students selected to receive a merit scholarship will be notified by March 1 and all final awards will be made no later than April 1. Transfer students selected to receive a merit scholarship will be notified several weeks after they receive their admission decision in late April. â
https://financialaid.umd.edu/resources-policies/scholarships-faqs
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Sorry, but thatâs incorrect. Very few admitted students will receive a merit scholarship.
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oh ok so students need to apply for some scholarships if they are available
No. All students who applied by the 11/1 EA deadline are automatically considered for merit awards. The highest award, the Banneker/Key, has already gone out. We expect the Presidential Scholarships and Deanâs Scholarships to go out either this Friday or next Friday, probably late afternoon.
It is true that UMD gives out very little merit. Only 20% total are offered anything and if a student chooses not to attend UMD, that money is not given to anyone else. Many, many high scoring talented students (including many chosen for Honors and their LEP) will not get a dime.
(All of the above info applies to university-given merit. Of course any student may seek scholarship money from a multitude of outside sources as wellâŠ)
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I put the stats from last yearâs CDS which doesnât mean it will be true this year. Thereâs a UMD employee who says 20% get offered merit.
If you go by what the school reported last year sans athletes, 869 students of 5693 earned merit scholarships or 15.3%.
Edit, I see a comment b4 mine that I hadnât yet read from @cokemeyer and perhaps thatâs the disparity from 20% - kids getting $$ that donât attend and those $$ arenât reallocated.
Of course, year to year schools change and it sounds like maybe this year will be 20% per the UMD employee participating or perhaps it always has been.
The great thing about finding merit scholarships - you can get school merit and have it add on (my kids each got $$ from my employer) whereas if you have a need scholarship, a school might reduced it when you bring in outside money.
Good luck to you.
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Itâs important to keep in mind that the scholarship amounts arenât significant. So even if 20% are offered money, individual awards arenât all that high (except for B/K).
From the experience of the many kids in our friends circle who applied to UMD, those who received scholarships typically got $2,00-2,500/year. And a few top kids got $12-12.5k/year. I personally donât know any B/K winners.
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Very true and a lot of the scholarships are for only one or two years. Last year one twin got $1500 for one year and the other $2000 a year for two years. Both in-state twins 4.0 UWGPAs, 1500 plus SATs, etc. The one with the lower scholarship is attending and majoring in CS and Math.
Scholarships seem to be declining, twins older brothers with lower GPAs and one with lower test scores both were offerred much larger scholarships.
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Sounds like the Deanâs Scholarship:
The Deanâs Scholarship offers an annual merit scholarship of $1,500 for freshman year or $4,500 per year for both freshman and sophomore years. The Deanâs Scholarship is not renewable, and only in-state applicants are eligible
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Any parents sending their kids to UMD from out of state? If so, how did you get comfortable with the decision. (I have the funds to send my D out-of-state. But I still wrestle with the decision.)
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Get comfortable in what way? Price, distance, something else? We live in PA. My son will be attending UMD in the fall. My daughter is a junior at Pitt and she is further away, in-state, than my son will be out of state! My sonâs other top choice was University of South Carolina so UMD is much closer than that. Even though my daughter is in-state, she is only home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. She travels for spring break and lives there in the summer so we donât get to see her a ton. I think having gone through that already with my oldest, has made this round easier (even when he was deciding between SC and MD). Financially, UMD is out most expensive option. South Carolina gave enough merit that it would be cheaper than in-state! But, alas, UMD has always been his top choice. We knew that if he got in and into his major (Business), he would choose it. For us, knowing what a good fit it is for him, makes it easier. When he walked on campus for a tour last summer, he immediately knew that was the campus for him. He has not felt that anywhere else. Finally, we lived in MD for many years (ironically moved to PA while pregnant with my son) so we know MD and really love it.
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Honestly, Iâm not even sure. Price, VT is in-state and cheaper. Distance, UMD is only an hour versus 4 hours to VT. But hearing how you thought through your decision is actually helpful. My daughter got that same feeling when we toured the campus, we even went twice, once on Maryland Day, and then on an official tour day. I guess because I never really felt that way about a school, and Iâm such a give-me-the-facts person, Iâm probably just trying to wrap my head around how kids just know like that.
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Price is very personal.
For example, I set a $50K limit.
Both my kids chose schools well under.
But had they chose more expensive schools, it would have been ok - if they stayed under the $50K limit - which was just an arbitrary # I set - because I didnât see spending more as worth it.
In my daughterâs case, she got a $25K scholarship after accepting - so I think initially her school would have been $40K a year. Even though others were cheaper $20-30K at the time, we did not question the price as it was in the parameter we set.
But thatâs us.
You may be able to afford UMD but that $20K delta or $80K over four years may mean a lot to you - and your decision factor / comfort may be different (obviously is different).
Distance is the same. Mine had zero concern and we had zero concern although sheâs an 8 hour drive away and we had to fly her home first semester as she was struggling emotionally.
On the other hand, some donât feel comfortable with their kids far away - itâs hard for them to âleaveâ their kids. In other cases, itâs the âkidâ who doesnât want to be far away even though in reality, distance shouldnât matter because they should be living a campus life.
But again - itâs very personal.
I think others can share experiences (and I donât think it matters if the schools are UMD/Va Tech or others) - but with things like cost and distance - those really are things that youâll have to think through and develop comfort on in how it best relates to your situation - individually.
Because in the end, you and your student will live with the decision.
Good luck
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Iâm laughing because I didnât have that feeling either and am a facts driven, very pragmatic person as well! I will say, my daughter had the same feeling when she walked on Pittâs campus, during COVID, with no official tours and she has thrived there. I donât understand the feeling but I get that some just have it! Best of luck to you and your daughter with the decision -itâs certainly not easy. Though one thing weâve told our kids all along - itâs best to have choices. When you have choices, you are in control. So even though itâs not easy to pick, how awesome is it that she has choices to makes!?
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I have an objection to the language used in the above comment that a student âshouldâ be living the campus life. I was a commuter and my UMD son is also a commuter and my daughter plans to commute as well. I graduated at the top of my class, made lot of friends including my husband, was very active in clubs and extracurriculars, and had a wonderful time. Iâm so weary of the anti-commuter sentiment. It is a WAY cheaper option and should not be denigrated.
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I think the post was probably meant for people like me who donât live close enough to have our kids commute. I wish I could move to get the in-state tuition, and live close enough to have my D commute, but after interest rates, amortization, and house costs, thereâs absolutely no cost benefit.
I know about 10 B/K winners each year, all have been Black or Hispanic, although UMD doesnât publicly release ethnicity information for the award as far as I know.
And are they all in state? The kids I personally know are all OOS since I live in NJ, and hence my statement about not knowing any personally. The B/K recipients that they know are all IS.
I had asked way up thread if there are ever any OOS B/K recipients, and the answer was yes, but only 10%. Thatâs a relatively small number, and maybe not as many of them enroll?