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Even at the Presidential level ($26k per year), it’s still $25k per year to attend Bama from OOS. The lowest level OOS scholarship ($6k per year) lowers the cost of attendance down to a whopping $45k per year.
Even at the Presidential level ($26k per year), it’s still $25k per year to attend Bama from OOS. The lowest level OOS scholarship ($6k per year) lowers the cost of attendance down to a whopping $45k per year.
I’ll shoot straight with you. Your kid has ZERO chance of getting a full academic ride from Baylor, Rice, A&M, or UT. He may not even get into Rice at all. All he has is grades. It’s not difficult to be in the top 1% of a good suburban high school if all you do is study. What impresses major universities is when you’re at the top ademically while ALSO managing a significant leadership role, playing on a demanding athletic team, giving back to the community through regular volunteer work, working part-time, etc.
Our friend’s older kid is on a full ride to UT. She was Valedictorian of a top 25 Texas high school, NMSF, Editor in Chief of the newspaper, founded a charity for sex-trafficking victims and managed to expand the charity’s reach to other high schools in her area, varsity athletic team, founded her own business (more than a lemonade stand ), numerous academic & citizenship awards. All around amazing kid who is thriving as a double Plan II/ Business Honors double major. Her younger sibling who was a nationally ranked debated and got admitted to numerous Ivy & Top 20 schools did NOT make the final cut for a full ride at UT. If you think the competition is any less stiff at A&M or Baylor (or SMU or TCU, etc) you are kidding yourself.
I’m not sure why your kid “would be happy with free tuition” since your family does not show financial need- whether it’s to save college funds for med school or for another reason. But your kid needs to get real. The schools that might offer him a full academic ride are going to be more along the lines of *maybe* a Hardin-Simmons or A&M-Kingsville type school. Even then I don’t know if academics and one club is enough.
I mean, even the McDermott scholarship at UTD is a total long shot for your kid (at least based on what you’ve shared about the resume): “Selection is based on exceptional academic performance; community volunteerism and leadership in school; broad and eclectic interests in science, literature, and the arts; and social skills. Applicants must have a 1490 or higher on the SAT or a 33 or higher on the ACT. Most students are also in the top 5% of their high school classes.” Over 1,300 kids apply each year for the McDermott. 62 finalists are brought in for interviews and from that the 27 are selected.
Here are the bios for 2 kids from Collin County with McDermott scholarships. Do their resumes in any way resembled your kid’s??
Kid 1 (from Plano, graduated from TAMS)
National Merit commended student
AP Scholar with distinction
Competed at the international level for scientific research
Won awards from the National Society of Professional Engineers, United States Air Force, MIT and Raytheon
Volunteers at local schools, bikeshares and community gardens
He was an executive leader of RESOLV, an entrepreneurship and innovation club; Naturally, an environmental sustainability club; and MineCraft Programming Workshops, a program dedicated to teaching computer science to local students.
In the TAMS Robotics Club and competed with his team at the FRC 2015 World Championships.
He is an avid audiophile, animator and composer.
Languages: Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese and the Teochew dialect.
Kid 2 (from Frisco, graduated Liberty HS)- PRE-MED / BIO MAJOR
National Merit commended student
National AP Scholar
Spent two years mentoring under the pediatric neurosurgical team at Children’s, where she completed a statistical analysis on the current incidences of hydrocephalus
Taught elementary-age children at Prestonwood Baptist Church
Volunteered unteered at Children's Medical Center, where she was the volunteer committee chair on the Junior Leadership board.
President of her school's Health Occupation Students of America chapter
Member of the Frisco Mayor's Youth Council
Founder of Empower International, a woman's leadership camp in Cambodia.
Has authored a children's book.
Languages: conversational in Malayalam.
And remember, these kids have the full ride scholarship to the local school your kid turned his/ her nose up at....
I don’t write this to be mean-spirited, but you can’t just say “my kid wants a full ride” and expect to get one just for having good grades. Hopefully there is time to build on to the resume and recommendation letters. For a rising senior, it’s very hard beef up the resume by the time applications are due this fall/winter.
On what basis do you deduce that I EXPECT my child to get a "full ride" (tuition plus some stipend) to anywhere else but to UTD. Sorry, but your post does come across as mean-spirited, rather than just answering my question. I have always made sure my children know in a kind way that there will always be a step above them in the academic world.
I wanted to know which schools have GENEROUS academic scholarships. I believe that UT Dallas' academic achievement scholarships (full tuition plus either $6000 or $2000/year stipend) are generous. These scholarships are based SOLELY on grades and SAT or ACT score. I would be quite surprised if my child is not offered one of these options.
Thanks for listing the details for the McDermott Scholarship. I have researched UTD's McDermott Scholarship extensively. I had looked at the profiles of each scholar listed on their website for the past four years. There is absolutely NO expectation my child would qualify for the McDermott Scholarship. Your scolding is not appreciated. The McDermott Scholarship is an entirely different program than their AES program I referenced above.
Further, I stated I know there will be no money coming from UT and my child may not even be admitted to Rice. This is what I said in a previous post:
"They are particularly interested in Baylor, Rice, UT and A&M but are open to any Texas or nearby school where tuition would be waived. I doubt they will get a dime from UT and probably not much from A&M. May not even be admitted to Rice. Baylor would have to offer a chunk of money since their private school tuition is ridiculously high... I've looked into Arkansas. There's a slim possibility my child would qualify for their tippety-top fellowship program, or whatever it's called, but it's highly competitive."
How much more self-deprecating can I be?? You are painting me with the wrong brush, a brush of entitlement.
Let me phrase it differently, I'm looking for Texas (or nearby) schools that have GENEROUS academic scholarships, similar to UTD's, based solely on grades and standardized test scores.
Last edited by TGentry; 06-30-2019 at 07:26 AM..
Reason: Edited to add the bolded section
Right off the page you just linked. Total expected cost to attend (tuition, room, board, books, transportation- because you’ve got to get from TX to AL) for OOS students is $51k per year. I can confirm this number because several friends whose kids are current students at Bama have all thrown out the $50k a year number in conversation.
So while getting a $26k per year Presidential scholarship is lovely, it only covers 85% of OOS tuition and still leaves the family to cover another $25k per year in room, board, books, other living expenses, fees, and the balance of the tuition bill. Even the Presidential Elite scholarship is not a true “full ride” as the family is expected to cover 3 years of room & board.
On what basis do you deduce that I EXPECT my child to get a "full ride" (tuition plus some stipend) to anywhere else but to UTD. Sorry, but your post does come across as mean-spirited, rather than just answering my question. I have always made sure my children know in a kind way that there will always be a step above them in the academic world.
I wanted to know which schools have GENEROUS academic scholarships. I believe that UT Dallas' academic achievement scholarships (full tuition plus either $6000 or $2000/year stipend) are generous. These scholarships are based SOLELY on grades and SAT or ACT score. I would be quite surprised if my child is not offered one of these options.
Thanks for listing the details for the McDermott Scholarship. I have researched UTD's McDermott Scholarship extensively. I had looked at the profiles of each scholar listed on their website for the past four years. There is absolutely NO expectation my child would qualify for the McDermott Scholarship. Your scolding is not appreciated. The McDermott Scholarship is an entirely different program than their AES program I referenced above.
Further, I stated I know there will be no money coming from UT and my child may not even be admitted to Rice. This is what I said in a previous post:
"They are particularly interested in Baylor, Rice, UT and A&M but are open to any Texas or nearby school where tuition would be waived. I doubt they will get a dime from UT and probably not much from A&M. May not even be admitted to Rice. Baylor would have to offer a chunk of money since their private school tuition is ridiculously high... I've looked into Arkansas. There's a slim possibility my child would qualify for their tippety-top fellowship program, or whatever it's called, but it's highly competitive."
How much more self-deprecating can I be?? You are painting me with the wrong brush, a brush of entitlement.
Let me phrase it differently, I'm looking for Texas (or nearby) schools that have GENEROUS academic scholarships, similar to UTD's, based solely on grades and standardized test scores.
I did not think your post came across as entitled but rather naive (or possibly foreign born and not understanding the US university scholarship model). And it’s a conversation on the internet so it’s hard to read all the “cues”.
I was running with the facts you share of near perfect GPA, a great ACT score, and a child who “would be happy with free tuition”. That set the tone that you were expecting more schools offering free tuition in exchange for simply a GPA + ACT combo.
From a quick search, it looks like the following other Texas schools offer automatic scholarships with a certain GPA + ACT combo:
Texas State Presidents: $8k per year
Baylor Presidents Gold: $10-20k per year ($59k cost to attend)
Mary Hardin Baylor $15k per year
Houston Baptist Founders Scholarship $23k per year ($47k cost to attend)
Stephen F Austin: up to $4k per year
UNT Excellence Scholarship: $10k per year
UT - San Antonio: up to $5k per year
Texas Tech: $8500 per year
This thread really highlights an issue with Texas that those relocating don’t always take into account. While DFW and its suburbs provide many great K-12 options in safe communities, the higher education options in Texas have not kept pace with the population growth.
There just are not that many top tier/selective institutions in Texas relative to the population. It means a good, but not exceptional, student must either look at a second level institution that might not give a strong impression on a resume outside of the region (rightly or wrongly) or going to college a long distance from family which may not be ideal either.
It’s true. Rice is the only top tier school in such a big state.
It’s true. Rice is the only top tier school in such a big state.
I mean UT Austin is a top 20 public University and TAMU ranks highly in specific majors, but for overall Universities Rice is the only top 20, full stop. UT comes in at 49th overall.
California's investment at the university level has paid for itself many times over.
This thread really highlights an issue with Texas that those relocating don’t always take into account. While DFW and its suburbs provide many great K-12 options in safe communities, the higher education options in Texas have not kept pace with the population growth.
There just are not that many top tier/selective institutions in Texas relative to the population. It means a good, but not exceptional, student must either look at a second level institution that might not give a strong impression on a resume outside of the region (rightly or wrongly) or going to college a long distance from family which may not be ideal either.
This is an excellent point and we did take this into consideration, since we were moving at the start of high school for our eldest. I can say with near 100% certainty that he will not attend any post-secondary school in Texas because he is looking for a conservatory style school.
It does make me concerned for my daughter though. She will be entering 7th grade and is among the top of her class (we will see if that holds up); it is discouraging to think that top grades, activities and test scores still might not be enough for Texas universities. We are considering moving again as she enters high school and college choices will be one of the factors we plan on taking into account.
I mean UT Austin is a top 20 public University and TAMU ranks highly in specific majors, but for overall Universities Rice is the only top 20, full stop. UT comes in at 49th overall.
California's investment at the university level has paid for itself many times over.
On what basis do you deduce that I EXPECT my child to get a "full ride" (tuition plus some stipend) to anywhere else but to UTD. Sorry, but your post does come across as mean-spirited, rather than just answering my question. I have always made sure my children know in a kind way that there will always be a step above them in the academic world.
I wanted to know which schools have GENEROUS academic scholarships. I believe that UT Dallas' academic achievement scholarships (full tuition plus either $6000 or $2000/year stipend) are generous. These scholarships are based SOLELY on grades and SAT or ACT score. I would be quite surprised if my child is not offered one of these options.
Thanks for listing the details for the McDermott Scholarship. I have researched UTD's McDermott Scholarship extensively. I had looked at the profiles of each scholar listed on their website for the past four years. There is absolutely NO expectation my child would qualify for the McDermott Scholarship. Your scolding is not appreciated. The McDermott Scholarship is an entirely different program than their AES program I referenced above.
Further, I stated I know there will be no money coming from UT and my child may not even be admitted to Rice. This is what I said in a previous post:
"They are particularly interested in Baylor, Rice, UT and A&M but are open to any Texas or nearby school where tuition would be waived. I doubt they will get a dime from UT and probably not much from A&M. May not even be admitted to Rice. Baylor would have to offer a chunk of money since their private school tuition is ridiculously high... I've looked into Arkansas. There's a slim possibility my child would qualify for their tippety-top fellowship program, or whatever it's called, but it's highly competitive."
How much more self-deprecating can I be?? You are painting me with the wrong brush, a brush of entitlement.
Let me phrase it differently, I'm looking for Texas (or nearby) schools that have GENEROUS academic scholarships, similar to UTD's, based solely on grades and standardized test scores.
Your post didn’t come across as entitled to me at all. College admission process is very complex and stressful, specially with no financial aid and high college costs. You have a high performing and hard working child, his future is bright, do whatever you can afford to help so he won’t feel dejected even after getting such good rank and scores.
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), numerous academic & citizenship awards. All around amazing kid who is thriving as a double Plan II/ Business Honors double major. Her younger sibling who was a nationally ranked debated and got admitted to numerous Ivy & Top 20 schools did NOT make the final cut for a full ride at UT. If you think the competition is any less stiff at A&M or Baylor (or SMU or TCU, etc) you are kidding yourself. 
