Will i get a full ride?

gadad
Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:11:01 +0000

Here’s text from the Scholarships section of the UT website. It doesn’t sound as if there are many big scholarships there:

Q1: What types of scholarships are offered at UT Austin? General scholarships, departmental, local, national?
A: Scholarships at UT Austin are awarded largely from two main sources: (1) your academic college or department and (2) the Office of Student Financial Services. In both cases, scholarship funds are limited and the selection process is highly competitive. Though there are other scholarship programs at UT Austin, the following two areas offer the majority of awards at the University:

College and Departmental Scholarships
Scholarships generally are awarded on the basis of merit.
The majority of colleges or departments that award scholarships have their own application procedures and deadlines.
Award amounts vary in annual amount ($500 to $10,000+) and in length (from one to four-year).

Office of Student Financial Services Scholarships
Awards scholarships based on both merit and financial need (submission of FAFSA is required to be considered for need-based awards).
Uses its own scholarship applications (one for entering freshmen and one for continuing and transfer students).
Award amounts vary in annual amount ($500 to $10,000+) and in length (from one to four-year).

Bear in mind that big scholarships aren’t rewards for good students, they’re strategic investments by institutions. The schools which give full rides are coveting the type of student they’d rarely otherwise get. In other words, they’re looking for students who are otherwise over-qualified compared to their typical student profile. That becomes less likely as the selectivity of institutions increase, and that’s why you’ll find more aggressive scholarship programs at a school like Oklahoma than at UT-Austin.