Class of 2024!!!

[TiggerTrigger]

Whew...we've made it to late January! DD17's graduation is exactly 4 months from today! While I'm probably going to have to bring the big camera lens, I'm thankful it's going to be at a huge venue where tickets are very unlikely to be an issue.

- I ordered her cap and gown package a couple of weeks ago...and cried a little With all of the local drama over cords of late, they've decided to eliminate them altogether.
- She's up to 12 acceptances. Waiting on the last two. Her #1 is supposed to let us know before 2/1...so we should know soon where she's going to decide to go to college. Which means we'll also be able to do her senior photoshoot.
- We're going prom dress shopping this weekend! We're prepping by watching a few prom dress 2024 runway shows.
- We just finalized the venue for the year-end choir banquet. Senior parents get to go, so it's exciting to know the "where."

It needs to slow down!!!

 

[VandVsmama]

ODD applied to 7 colleges, has been accepted to all of them with merit scholarships. We've submitted FAFSA applications and are awaiting financial aid packages. We have 3 short (3-day, 2 night fly in, visit, fly out) trips to colleges in the next 3 months. I have my mom-hunch on what the top 2 schools will be in terms of where ODD wants to attend.

She's starting a senior project in 2 weeks. Senior trip happens at the end of next week!

Our school's prom is in mid-May, so it'll be awhile before there's any shopping for a dress. However, I am going to ask ODD to start a wish list on Amazon for dorm stuff that she wants since friends & relatives are going to start asking soon about what does she want for graduation.

ODD's summer is going to busy with a lot of travel. There's a 5-day choir trip to NYC a couple of days after Memorial Day (after end of the school year). Then 2 days after that trip ends, my sister is taking her on a big 10-day graduation trip (just the 2 of them) to Norway, Sweden, and Belgium. And then for a week in July, we're doing a family (me, DH, ODD, YDD) trip to Hawaii (in Waikiki & Aulani!).

 

[mjkacmom]

ODD applied to 7 colleges, has been accepted to all of them with merit scholarships. We've submitted FAFSA applications and are awaiting financial aid packages. We have 3 short (3-day, 2 night fly in, visit, fly out) trips to colleges in the next 3 months. I have my mom-hunch on what the top 2 schools will be in terms of where ODD wants to attend.

She's starting a senior project in 2 weeks. Senior trip happens at the end of next week!

Our school's prom is in mid-May, so it'll be awhile before there's any shopping for a dress. However, I am going to ask ODD to start a wish list on Amazon for dorm stuff that she wants since friends & relatives are going to start asking soon about what does she want for graduation.

ODD's summer is going to busy with a lot of travel. There's a 5-day choir trip to NYC a couple of days after Memorial Day (after end of the school year). Then 2 days after that trip ends, my sister is taking her on a big 10-day graduation trip (just the 2 of them) to Norway, Sweden, and Belgium. And then for a week in July, we're doing a family (me, DH, ODD, YDD) trip to Hawaii (in Waikiki & Aulani!).

I have 3 daughters, our HS prom is in June, girls started shopping end of December/January here. I’d hold off on dorm stuff until she knows where she is dorming and with who (its hard to wait because it’s fun).

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

The very last semester is underway! My son got accepted to his top choice with a merit scholarship and we paid the deposit to hold his spot. I made him apply to the local college as well just in case we can't get things to work out. I've tried to get him to apply to one of our state schools (his top choice is out of state), but he's ambivalent. The branch of engineering he has zeroed in on is very specialized and none of our state schools offer it so he feels like it's a waste of time, energy, and money to apply to a school that doesn't offer what he wants to major in. I guess I can't fault him; I did the same thing. I also majored in a specialized engineering field that had limited availability 30+ years ago and only applied to 2 schools and went to my top choice, which was cheaper, closer to home, and offered me more scholarship money, so win/win/win. Anyway, now he's looking towards the auditions for the marching band (and it's a BIG football school with a BIG band so he's dying to play). We have a list of his favored on-campus dorm/apartment options and just waiting for that to open up to try to secure his top choice.

In the meantime, he tried out for the Spring musical that the drama department is putting on and got one of the lead roles, so he's very excited about that. Between drama practice, band practice and church actitivites, I barely see him. I guess it's good practice for him going away in just over 6 months. He'll be 18 in a couple of weeks and I think "he's so young to be leaving home!" and then I remember that I was only 17 when I graduated high school and went away to college, so I'll try to do as they did and let him fly.

 

[NotUrsula]

A lot of skin, racy positions, setting like she's lying in bed, gown and clothes staged to look like they're coming off, and the facial expressions are on par with what you'd see in men's magazines and gentleman's club billboards. She's 18, so I think they can get away with it without any legal concerns, but why would you want this as your high school senior photo shoot? I understand wanting to be different, but that's not the right kind of different.

Thank heavens that fad hasn't caught on around here. I've never seen anything like that at all; most of the kids do use a private photographer, and sometimes pair up with a friend or two for the photographer's schedule to save money if the venue has to be rented (such as a rink for ice sports photos), but almost all are taken somewhere outdoors and everyone's fully dressed.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

How's everyone doing?

DD17 made her college choice a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't her first choice Her first choice gave her a conditional option. She could attend one of their satellite campuses as a freshman and be guaranteed onto their main campus as a sophomore. The catch...she'd have to shift to a different degree field/major, which was a hard no. So, we crossed that off the list of 14. We then spent hours whittling down the list based on everything from costs and merit awards to school/program ratings and feelings about the campuses. We even flew out of state a couple of weeks ago to see two schools on her list of acceptances (the we hadn't seen in person) to help her finalize her decision. I guess at least now we know and we've paid her deposit so that she's got a spot in line for housing preferences. We're still trying to manage through the rest of everything she has to complete so that we can finalize her orientation date and travel/move-in dates...since they have several days of freshman camp before classes begin.

Beyond that, we bought her prom dress at the end of January and the alterations should be ready at some point next week. Prom is about a month away, so I'm starting to get antsy. Of course, I know some people who haven't even bought anything yet. Meanwhile, I was informed that we were late to the dress shopping game. I guess all of the prom looks came out in November and anyone shopping in January...like us...was playing a game of luck. Either you find something you like on the rack that fits or pray that the designer has what you like in stock in your size for quick delivery. After a disastrous shopping experience at one store, we went into another with our short list of dresses and got lucky that they had one of the tops on the rack in her size.

We're also hoping to get in her senior photo shoot. A little late to the game, but she wanted to know where she was going before we did it. We also wanted her cap and gown for some of the pics. Orders are supposed to be in later this month. So, hopefully we can get that all done soon. We're doing the pics at the zoo, but I will probably save the cap and gown for a few closer to home...maybe with the dog...since I don't think I want her actual gown crammed into a bag at the zoo. Her official senior pic is in cap and gown, but it's awful. Oh well...at least I should be able to use my gear for something much better.

Hope everyone else is doing well

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

How's everyone doing?

DD17 made her college choice a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't her first choice Her first choice gave her a conditional option. She could attend one of their satellite campuses as a freshman and be guaranteed onto their main campus as a sophomore. The catch...she'd have to shift to a different degree field/major, which was a hard no. So, we crossed that off the list of 14. We then spent hours whittling down the list based on everything from costs and merit awards to school/program ratings and feelings about the campuses. We even flew out of state a couple of weeks ago to see two schools on her list of acceptances (the we hadn't seen in person) to help her finalize her decision. I guess at least now we know and we've paid her deposit so that she's got a spot in line for housing preferences. We're still trying to manage through the rest of everything she has to complete so that we can finalize her orientation date and travel/move-in dates...since they have several days of freshman camp before classes begin.

Beyond that, we bought her prom dress at the end of January and the alterations should be ready at some point next week. Prom is about a month away, so I'm starting to get antsy. Of course, I know some people who haven't even bought anything yet. Meanwhile, I was informed that we were late to the dress shopping game. I guess all of the prom looks came out in November and anyone shopping in January...like us...was playing a game of luck. Either you find something you like on the rack that fits or pray that the designer has what you like in stock in your size for quick delivery. After a disastrous shopping experience at one store, we went into another with our short list of dresses and got lucky that they had one of the tops on the rack in her size.

We're also hoping to get in her senior photo shoot. A little late to the game, but she wanted to know where she was going before we did it. We also wanted her cap and gown for some of the pics. Orders are supposed to be in later this month. So, hopefully we can get that all done soon. We're doing the pics at the zoo, but I will probably save the cap and gown for a few closer to home...maybe with the dog...since I don't think I want her actual gown crammed into a bag at the zoo. Her official senior pic is in cap and gown, but it's awful. Oh well...at least I should be able to use my gear for something much better.

Hope everyone else is doing well

It sounds like you guys have made the right decision for her. Hopefully she will love it there once she gets there and gets involved.

I think I said up-thread that my son only applied to our local state college (community college) and his top choice. He was accepted and was awarded the automatic merit scholarship that was tied to his scores/GPA, but last month he was awarded a competitive merit scholarship worth almost 3 times what the automatic one was worth! It was a fantastic 18th birthday present! Then a couple of weeks ago, he was notified that he was also awarded a smaller engineering scholarship, and between the two they will cover about 95% of the out of state tuition, which is phenomenal. I'm over the moon excited for him. He is working on his band audition materials, looking at dorm rooms, and I'm starting to buy little things here and there for his dorm/apartment. We registed for one of the orientation sessions in June.

The end of the 3rd quarter is Friday, with Spring Break next week, then he only has 8 more weeks of high school (the seniors take their exams a week before graduation so their final grades can be tabulated). We have a packed calendar from now until then, but I'm going to try to enjoy the last few events. I know the summer will fly by, too.

Disney just dropped a Florida resident ticket deal yesterday, good through Sept 28, and I asked my husband if he's going to take me to Disney to cheer me up after our nest is empty. He said maybe, which translates to "whatever you want, honey," so at least I'll have that to look forward to!

 

[AlohaNow]

Thank you for your update Tigger! I was just thinking of this thread this week. DS17 decided last week to apply to our local 4-year commuter school and go for a bachelor’s. His original plan was to just work, and attend school later, but he knows how much more he can make in his chosen field with a degree. We were having a discussion about getting started on a degree so that he can be finished with it earlier and that must have resonated with him. So we’ve been researching the few scholarships that are still open for application and he’s made some nice progress there. Our ‘late’ FAFSA doesn’t really matter because that whole process is so screwed up this year that we’re not really late!

I’ll be ordering his grad announcements soon. I used Simply to Impress for my oldest and I was happy with them, so I will use them again. His best friend did his senior photo shoot last fall and we have some really nice photos to choose from. We were talking about prom last night and his whole friend group will be going. We said if they want a limo they had better book one soon. Spring break is next week and we are headed to warmer climates!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

It sounds like you guys have made the right decision for her. Hopefully she will love it there once she gets there and gets involved.

I think I said up-thread that my son only applied to our local state college (community college) and his top choice. He was accepted and was awarded the automatic merit scholarship that was tied to his scores/GPA, but last month he was awarded a competitive merit scholarship worth almost 3 times what the automatic one was worth! It was a fantastic 18th birthday present! Then a couple of weeks ago, he was notified that he was also awarded a smaller engineering scholarship, and between the two they will cover about 95% of the out of state tuition, which is phenomenal. I'm over the moon excited for him. He is working on his band audition materials, looking at dorm rooms, and I'm starting to buy little things here and there for his dorm/apartment. We registed for one of the orientation sessions in June.

The end of the 3rd quarter is Friday, with Spring Break next week, then he only has 8 more weeks of high school (the seniors take their exams a week before graduation so their final grades can be tabulated). We have a packed calendar from now until then, but I'm going to try to enjoy the last few events. I know the summer will fly by, too.

Disney just dropped a Florida resident ticket deal yesterday, good through Sept 28, and I asked my husband if he's going to take me to Disney to cheer me up after our nest is empty. He said maybe, which translates to "whatever you want, honey," so at least I'll have that to look forward to!

Gosh, I hope so. I think that's what's causing me stress dreams. I had a dream last night that we moved her into the dorms, but when I came back from a little walk, the school store in the lobby area had merch for a different school.

That's great news about the new merit offer. 95% out of state coverage is really great! DD17 got that from a couple she applied to, but she fell out of love with those schools for various reasons. She went with one that's a little over 60%. The timing of your offer is around when we got a few bonus merit increases. We think it's tied to schools with different admissions deadlines. Either way, that's so exciting for your son! We put in her preference list for dorms, but we are still working through everything to get to orientation dates. I need to try and time it up with the younger one's summer travel ball schedule. She may have a tournament in June that puts us about 30 minutes out from the older one's college, so that would be ideal. Your band comment also reminded me that DD wanted to look into college choir. I have no idea when they open up auditions to non-music majors. Then again, she doesn't want too many distractions. We already had a big back and forth about Greek life and related concerns.

Our quarter ended last Friday and we're on spring break right now. We have 10 weeks left in our school year after that. I feel like we have so much going on that we'll never get a break until maybe September.

Our younger one will be a sophomore, so we won't be empty nest. Still, I'm going to be sad. I'm hoping we can work in some fun things for the older one during the younger one's travel ball schedule. She's currently scheduled to play in the Anaheim area in July, so I booked lodging that's walking distance from Disneyland. Hope you get your Disney trip!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Thank you for your update Tigger! I was just thinking of this thread this week. DS17 decided last week to apply to our local 4-year commuter school and go for a bachelor’s. His original plan was to just work, and attend school later, but he knows how much more he can make in his chosen field with a degree. We were having a discussion about getting started on a degree so that he can be finished with it earlier and that must have resonated with him. So we’ve been researching the few scholarships that are still open for application and he’s made some nice progress there. Our ‘late’ FAFSA doesn’t really matter because that whole process is so screwed up this year that we’re not really late!

I’ll be ordering his grad announcements soon. I used Simply to Impress for my oldest and I was happy with them, so I will use them again. His best friend did his senior photo shoot last fall and we have some really nice photos to choose from. We were talking about prom last night and his whole friend group will be going. We said if they want a limo they had better book one soon. Spring break is next week and we are headed to warmer climates!

That's great that he picked something close! I know some kids that did the work and hopefully attend later plan and it's good for some, but I think there's a benefit to increasing your earning potential on the front end. One of DD17s options was local and we thought about the savings we'd enjoy with the commuter angle, but the distance and rush hour traffic volumes really cut the benefits. As for finishing early, some schools will let incoming freshman start during one of their summer sessions. Classes each summer also help speed up the process. We were offered a start-early option with the school she accepted, but I don't think it will work out for us.

I'm frustrated with the FAFSA. I really don't know if it's going to make a difference for us, but I finished hers back in early January and it's just sitting there because of the delays. Originally, they were promising it would open on 12/1/2023. I even had an alarm reminder set on my phone. Our state requires all graduating seniors to complete one, so I just wanted it done.

I hate to say it, but I'm not even sure I'm going to do formal announcements. I probably should, but I'm not sure I even have 10 people to mail to...so maybe not. As it stands, we're not even doing a party. About 8-10 of us are going to go out to eat and that's about it. We live in a warmer climate. If anything, I'd like to flee to someplace cold that isn't covered in pollen! Enjoy your spring break!

 

[VandVsmama]

ODD has decided to say no to the 4 public universities she got into. They're all affordable, but after visiting the 3 smaller private colleges in person over the past couple of months, she's now decided that the public U's are too large. Plus, we have learned recently that ALL of them have a fairly significant # of classes where the instruction is either all online or it's a hybrid model. And by "hybrid," that means lectures are all online or (worse) are prerecorded with zero professor interaction with students and you do labs in person and only are in person with everybody in the class for a test or quiz.

ODD decided that's a recipe for disaster for her, so it's a hard no on those places.

She's going to turn down 1 of the 3 private colleges, so it's down to 2 now. We are awaiting financial aid (frickin' FAFSA and the US Dept of Illogical Education) award letters to make a final decision, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be 1 particular school (which is the cheaper of the 2). That college does freshman orientation just before school starts in August, which is nice for us because it means not having to do another trip there before the school year begins.

ODD has started wearing a couple of sweatshirts from that college, so that's a good sign. DH is anxiously awaiting her decision and gets more worked up every few days about it.

I have no idea right now when the prom is. ODD will probably wear a dress she already has. I'm not mailing out graduation announcements because we've already invited the people we want to invite to graduation & the get-together at our house afterwards. 1 aunt & uncle we invited said that there's NO possible way they could come because "it'll be hot then and, you know, Aunt ___ could die in the heat" (we live in AZ). But that relative has been talking for 5 years straight now about all the ways he & Aunt__ are probably going to die. Um ok, maybe you should talk to your psychiatrist about that.

Meanwhile, ODD's only remaining living grandparent won't/can't tell us if he's coming to the graduation or not. We are all to the point where we no longer care if he shows up and if he doesn't come, it'll be less drama because everything that involves him has drama and childish ridiculousness. My 2 teenage children are more emotionally mature than him.

ODD is ready to be done with high school. Ready to move onto the next set of adventures. She's doing a graduation trip for 10 days with my sister to Europe. They're going to have an awesome time. We're doing an immediate family-only 7 day/6 night trip to Hawaii (4 of those nights at the Aulani! YAY!) to unwind.

I've already made a 'just in case' 1-way car reservation for what I think will be ODD's college pick for when we drive the 15-16 hr drive to drop her off at college. DH & I will fly back home.

I've started to squirrel away things in the guest bedroom closet for ODD's dorm. Small things so far, but this way, buying all of it won't break the bank at once. ODD has seen some of the 'dorm room tour' videos on Youtube and rolls her eyes at the ones where girls have floofy fancy headboards, futons, extra furniture, etc. She's a lot more minimalist.

I can only imagine how frustrated every single college's financial aid department is right now.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

One thing I'm very happy about is that the school my son chose doesn't require FAFSA for out of state students. I'm thrilled to not have to worry about that. We wouldn't get any kind of aid anyway. Besides the merit scholarships he was awarded, we also have my husband's post-911 GI bill entitlement assigned to him that would cover the shortage in tuition, plus his room. I think we're going to visit the school again next month and specifically talk to someone in the VA department about it so we can use the funds to the best benefit. He's seriously considering a special program that would give him his undergrad engineering degree plus an MBA in 5 years. If the excess GI bill funds can be held over to pay for that 5th year, that would be ideal.

The dorm that is his #1 pick is a kind of apartment style dorm where you have a private room, share a bathroom with a suitemate, and have a living room and kitchenette. I've been squirreling away items in our guest room, too. A small set of silverware, some plastic glasses, a comforter. He got a small Keurig for his birthday last month and my sister has already bought a small set of Corelle dishes for his grad gift. He actually can cook, so I do think he'll use these things.

He found out yesterday that he's graduating "with distinction" from his high school, which means with a GPA over 4.0 and he was pretty happy about that. He's looking forward to no school next week - even our local state college is on Spring Break so he doesn't have Calculus or his regular school day. Still on the horizon, the drama dept's spring musical where he has a lead role, the concert band going to state assessment, band spring concert, prom. It's going to fly by. He graduates 10 weeks from today.

 

[AlohaNow]

Hurtling towards the end here! We went to the ‘required’ graduation meeting and received all sorts of end of year info specific to seniors, and the physical tickets for graduation. Prom is tomorrow, cap and gown photos are next week at school, then there is a senior field day, and finally senior exit assembly on May 10. Graduation is held off campus two weeks later, so I feel like May 10 will really be his ‘last day’. Savoring every last moment of the high school experience!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Hurtling towards the end here! We went to the ‘required’ graduation meeting and received all sorts of end of year info specific to seniors, and the physical tickets for graduation. Prom is tomorrow, cap and gown photos are next week at school, then there is a senior field day, and finally senior exit assembly on May 10. Graduation is held off campus two weeks later, so I feel like May 10 will really be his ‘last day’. Savoring every last moment of the high school experience!

I’m getting the same feelings. This was senior week at our school. DD had her last formal school concert last night, senior picnic was this past Monday and prom is tomorrow. I believe caps and gowns arrive middle of next week. I’m still trying to figure out May. Graduation is the 25th, but the last day of school is the 30th

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

We're also hurtling towards the end of the year. Crazy how fast it's flying by. My son said yesterday that the 4th nine weeks has flown by. He gets his cap & gown today and they're taking the senior panoramic photo. The advanced program at his school has an awards ceremony tomorrow night, he has an end-of-the-year event with his drama club on Friday night, prom is Saturday night. I think next week is pretty clear, but the week after that is the slide to the end. He has an AP test that next week. Then the senior recognition assembly where all the seniors are recognized for awards and scholarships they've received. After that is over, the kids split up and go to their elementary schools (if they grew up here) and do an honor walk through the school in their caps & gowns. Since my older son graduated in 2020 he didn't get to do any of those things, so I'm excited but also teary thinking about that. The next week the seniors take their exams early and finish on the 16th. After their last exam ends midday, they assemble in their cars in the bus loop and drive around the school one last time and leave for the last time. All the underclassmen gather on the streets around the school to wave them off. Then graduation is a week after that, during which time he does absolutely nothing, lol.

My son asked if we could do a Disney graduation trip right after he graduates, which would be Memorial Day weekend, but my older son can't get that weekend off. So maybe looking at July. I know it'll be hot, but we already live in Florida so we're used to it. We have zero free time in June to go.

It's been a fun year and I can't believe it's already over.

 

[Gizmo74]

Congrats to everyone! It might be two late for us but how did you get merit scholarships? My daughter is top 10% of her class and in Texas it is automatically in at the state school. She just applied to one and got in because of her school rank. I asked the school that her acceptance letter did not include any kind of scholarship and was told that everyone that goes to the school is top 10% (basically nothing special). My husband and I make to much for any kind of FASA but we were always on planning on paying for her Bachelors. Just want to make sure I didn't miss out on everything. Some of her other friends that rank lower is going to a different school in the same state received some scholarship so I am thinking it is because of the school she is going to. I was told that usually, Engineer scholarships from the school come the second year of college when they really dive into their major. Just kind bummed she worked so hard and not to even get a little scholarship money.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Congrats to everyone! It might be two late for us but how did you get merit scholarships? My daughter is top 10% of her class and in Texas it is automatically in at the state school. She just applied to one and got in because of her school rank. I asked the school that her acceptance letter did not include any kind of scholarship and was told that everyone that goes to the school is top 10% (basically nothing special). My husband and I make to much for any kind of FASA but we were always on planning on paying for her Bachelors. Just want to make sure I didn't miss out on everything. Some of her other friends that rank lower is going to a different school in the same state received some scholarship so I am thinking it is because of the school she is going to. I was told that usually, Engineer scholarships from the school come the second year of college when they really dive into their major. Just kind bummed she worked so hard and not to even get a little scholarship money.

First of all, congrats on your daughter being top 10%! That's a big accomplishment. We are also in Texas. I can share our experiences as well as some things I know from others who have had high ranking students.

1. Most of the state schools will not offer you a dime. I have friends whose kids were ranked top 10 overall in their classes (top 1-4%), including two valedictorians and one salutatorian. They got into UT and A&M, but they weren't offered anything in merit, regardless of intended major. University of Houston offered one of them merit proceeds, and I've seen everyone...including my DD, offered merit from schools like Tech, SFA, and TX State. It won't be a ton, but those are some of the schools where you can see some aid...assuming you applied before the priority deadlines.
2. We've been told that Texas requires all students to submit a FAFSA. So, we did ours back when it opened up. It'll probably be more useful if you're going to a private college or going out of state, but it can't hurt. DD17 opted to go out of state, so we're waiting to hear more about things. I have a coworker whose kids are in a local private high school and she'd never heard of FAFSA, but they may not mandate it in the private schools.
3. Most of the merit aid DD17 was awarded came right after she received acceptance notifications from the various schools where she applied; however, some had specific dates where initial merit and secondary merit awards were sent. We applied early action at everything just to boost her odds for merit awards. I know there were a couple where she received her initial merit offer in November and she received a notification of merit increases in January or February.
4. I know that certain degrees are more or less likely to receive aid. Engineering is usually more selective. While UT has that extra selectivity overall and only admits the top 6%, it's my understanding that things like engineering and nursing are more like top 2-4% and pretty much nobody sees any merit aid for undergrad. That's not to say it doesn't happen, but it's just nothing I've seen in my circles.
5. There is some truth to the possibility of merit in year 2. As you know, a lot of potentially unqualified kids are granted admission to UT and A&M because of the top 6%/10% state mandate. These are typically kids that came from lesser schools/districts where their foundational education didn't adequately prepare them for college and were likely less qualified than many of the kids CAP'd, PACE'd, or completely rejected that came from better ranked high schools with better resources. Which means there are a considerable amount of kids that fail out as freshman. This is how there is room in sophomore year for all of those kids that accepted CAP or PACE, as well as the ones doing formal transfers from other 4-years or even ones that started out at a JUCOs like Blinn. Of the ones that were formally accepted to UT's or A&M's main campuses for freshman year, high performers could see aid if they really prove themselves. I've only heard of this happening a couple of times (both were A&M- and I think it was ag. based majors), but it can happen after the system weeds out the ones that had to be admitted that really don't belong. Sounds awful, but it's true.

Please tell her not to be too bummed. It sounds like she's done really well academically and that in itself is awesome.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

My son asked if we could do a Disney graduation trip right after he graduates, which would be Memorial Day weekend, but my older son can't get that weekend off. So maybe looking at July. I know it'll be hot, but we already live in Florida so we're used to it. We have zero free time in June to go.

WDW should be a fun grad trip. I see so many people booking really awesome grad trips (Costa Rica, Europe, etc.), but mine is just going to have to settle for whatever we can tack onto DD15s sports travels. WDW is much more manageable in July if you're from an area that gets "real summer." LOL We've also found it can lead to lower crowds.

 

[Gizmo74]

First of all, congrats on your daughter being top 10%! That's a big accomplishment. We are also in Texas. I can share our experiences as well as some things I know from others who have had high ranking students.

1. Most of the state schools will not offer you a dime. I have friends whose kids were ranked top 10 overall in their classes (top 1-4%), including two valedictorians and one salutatorian. They got into UT and A&M, but they weren't offered anything in merit, regardless of intended major. University of Houston offered one of them merit proceeds, and I've seen everyone...including my DD, offered merit from schools like Tech, SFA, and TX State. It won't be a ton, but those are some of the schools where you can see some aid...assuming you applied before the priority deadlines.
2. We've been told that Texas requires all students to submit a FAFSA. So, we did ours back when it opened up. It'll probably be more useful if you're going to a private college or going out of state, but it can't hurt. DD17 opted to go out of state, so we're waiting to hear more about things. I have a coworker whose kids are in a local private high school and she'd never heard of FAFSA, but they may not mandate it in the private schools.
3. Most of the merit aid DD17 was awarded came right after she received acceptance notifications from the various schools where she applied; however, some had specific dates where initial merit and secondary merit awards were sent. We applied early action at everything just to boost her odds for merit awards. I know there were a couple where she received her initial merit offer in November and she received a notification of merit increases in January or February.
4. I know that certain degrees are more or less likely to receive aid. Engineering is usually more selective. While UT has that extra selectivity overall and only admits the top 6%, it's my understanding that things like engineering and nursing are more like top 2-4% and pretty much nobody sees any merit aid for undergrad. That's not to say it doesn't happen, but it's just nothing I've seen in my circles.
5. There is some truth to the possibility of merit in year 2. As you know, a lot of potentially unqualified kids are granted admission to UT and A&M because of the top 6%/10% state mandate. These are typically kids that came from lesser schools/districts where their foundational education didn't adequately prepare them for college and were likely less qualified than many of the kids CAP'd, PACE'd, or completely rejected that came from better ranked high schools with better resources. Which means there are a considerable amount of kids that fail out as freshman. This is how there is room in sophomore year for all of those kids that accepted CAP or PACE, as well as the ones doing formal transfers from other 4-years or even ones that started out at a JUCOs like Blinn. Of the ones that were formally accepted to UT's or A&M's main campuses for freshman year, high performers could see aid if they really prove themselves. I've only heard of this happening a couple of times (both were A&M- and I think it was ag. based majors), but it can happen after the system weeds out the ones that had to be admitted that really don't belong. Sounds awful, but it's true.

Please tell her not to be too bummed. It sounds like she's done really well academically and that in itself is awesome.

Wow, you nailed it for me! Thank you so much. She is going to Texas A&M. Just wanted to make sure we didn't do anything wrong or missed anything when it comes to Merit scholarships. She goes to a very competitive high school and had to take all AP's just to keep the top 10% rank. She has heard that the number 1 & 2 did not get any kind of scholarship at UT but it might also be because of their major they chose. She has a few friends ranked not top 10% and going to Tech and UH that received some Merit Scholarship. I always thought the #1 in class got a free ride to anywhere they wanted to go but that isn't always the case. The #5 in her class got rejected at UT Computer Science. I heard that is next to impossible to get in.

Thanks again for sharing your experience. Makes me feel better that I didn't leave any money on the table. Hopefully, she can maintain her good grades and get a merit scholarship in year 2.

 

[mjkacmom]

Congrats to everyone! It might be two late for us but how did you get merit scholarships? My daughter is top 10% of her class and in Texas it is automatically in at the state school. She just applied to one and got in because of her school rank. I asked the school that her acceptance letter did not include any kind of scholarship and was told that everyone that goes to the school is top 10% (basically nothing special). My husband and I make to much for any kind of FASA but we were always on planning on paying for her Bachelors. Just want to make sure I didn't miss out on everything. Some of her other friends that rank lower is going to a different school in the same state received some scholarship so I am thinking it is because of the school she is going to. I was told that usually, Engineer scholarships from the school come the second year of college when they really dive into their major. Just kind bummed she worked so hard and not to even get a little scholarship money.

It really depends on school and stats, simply put, to get merit your stats need to be at the very top of the students they accept, our in state flagship gives very little to in state applicants. My daughter who applied at 20 schools and needed merit from oos in order to attend had merit oos ranging from $3000 a year to $25,000+. I think her lowest cost public was about $25,000 all in, the highest $55,000. Merit comes mostly before freshman year, it’s a bribe, not a reward. What real matters of course is final cost.