From what our recruiter has told us, first week of Feb. Anyone seen it yet?

Most likely those decisions have been delayed. Not all, but some of the scholarships are not 100% merit and depend on student need. With the delay of the FAFSA, this may have impacted TAMU's typical notification date, which in the past, has always been Feb. 1.

As of today, I haven't read or seen formal communication about the rolling out their award decisions.

Have to keep checking Howdy Portal. My son got a notice for a scholarship earlier this week (Freshman Fall of 2024). There is a Facebook group for Aggie Parents of Class of 2028 and someone else posted there that their child had gotten one, that's how I knew to look. I think all the ones I've seen are merit, not need based, thus far. I'm guessing with FAFSA being later, the needs based ones will be later than previous years.

TexasAggie98 said:

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Have to keep checking Howdy Portal. My son got a notice for a scholarship earlier this week (Freshman Fall of 2024). There is a Facebook group for Aggie Parents of Class of 2028 and someone else posted there that their child had gotten one, that's how I knew to look. I think all the ones I've seen are merit, not need based, thus far. I'm guessing with FAFSA being later, the needs based ones will be later than previous years.

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Congrats to your son! May I ask what he got and what his academic stats are? My son hasn't downloaded the app yet so we are in the dark. Senioritis problems!

Sure, he's a National Merit Semifinalist, and he received the Presidents Endowed Scholarship, which is guaranteed to all semifinalists I believe. Waiting for finalist status to go out next week. Good luck with this whole process, it's crazy for sure. This scholarship had to be accepted by 5/1 or it would have magically just gone away.

We are in same boat. Just awaiting finalist status.

TexasAggie98 said:

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Sure, he's a National Merit Semifinalist, and he received the Presidents Endowed Scholarship, which is guaranteed to all semifinalists I believe. Waiting for finalist status to go out next week. Good luck with this whole process, it's crazy for sure. This scholarship had to be accepted by 5/1 or it would have magically just gone away.

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I saw a pdf that notices were mailed to the high schools on Feb 5 and that notices will be mailed to your house on Feb 12. Just an FYI.

TexasAggie98 said:

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Sure, he's a National Merit Semifinalist, and he received the Presidents Endowed Scholarship, which is guaranteed to all semifinalists I believe. Waiting for finalist status to go out next week. Good luck with this whole process, it's crazy for sure. This scholarship had to be accepted by 5/1 or it would have magically just gone away.

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We were able to see his endowed scholarship. Do you think there will be more or do you think that's it?

Should be more after finalist status comes out, and then again after the NM Foundation does their contribution. Here is the website I've been following. Are y'all going to one of the invitationals this spring?

https://aggie.tamu.edu/financial-aid/types-of-aid/scholarships/undergraduate-scholarships/national-scholars

ETA: Pretty sure total for finalists (over 4 years) is $42K with a $1k study abroad stipend

TexasAggie98 said:

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Should be more after finalist status comes out, and then again after the NM Foundation does their contribution. Here is the website I've been following. Are y'all going to one of the invitationals this spring?

https://aggie.tamu.edu/financial-aid/types-of-aid/scholarships/undergraduate-scholarships/national-scholars

ETA: Pretty sure total for finalists (over 4 years) is $42K with a $1k study abroad stipend

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I'm aware of the kick to $10k for finalist plus the valedictorian bump too. I was hoping for other scholarships. Mine was a finalist for Brown Scholar, but didn't get selected. I'm holding out hope that A&M takes elite candidates seriously, but my hope is waning.

Invitational: We went to one this past Summer. Are the Spring ones any different?

Bonfire.1996 said:

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TexasAggie98 said:

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Should be more after finalist status comes out, and then again after the NM Foundation does their contribution. Here is the website I've been following. Are y'all going to one of the invitationals this spring?

https://aggie.tamu.edu/financial-aid/types-of-aid/scholarships/undergraduate-scholarships/national-scholars

ETA: Pretty sure total for finalists (over 4 years) is $42K with a $1k study abroad stipend

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I'm aware of the kick to $10k for finalist plus the valedictorian bump too. I was hoping for other scholarships. Mine was a finalist for Brown Scholar, but didn't get selected. I'm holding out hope that A&M takes elite candidates seriously, but my hope is waning.

Invitational: We went to one this past Summer. Are the Spring ones any different?

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We were at a NMS dinner in the fall for local kids and they said that the ones in the spring were different, but we just got the itinerary and it looks pretty similar, except for a 'mock lecture'.

If you get the valedictorian + NMF, that's almost $60K which a lot by A&M standards. Brown would be the only thing that beats that, I believe. It's been a source of frustration for many that these kids could get full rides elsewhere, but on the other hand, they don't really get much just for NMF + valedictorian at any of the mini-ivies or other elite academic private schools.

Bonfire.1996 said:

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TexasAggie98 said:

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Should be more after finalist status comes out, and then again after the NM Foundation does their contribution. Here is the website I've been following. Are y'all going to one of the invitationals this spring?

https://aggie.tamu.edu/financial-aid/types-of-aid/scholarships/undergraduate-scholarships/national-scholars

ETA: Pretty sure total for finalists (over 4 years) is $42K with a $1k study abroad stipend

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I'm aware of the kick to $10k for finalist plus the valedictorian bump too. I was hoping for other scholarships. Mine was a finalist for Brown Scholar, but didn't get selected. I'm holding out hope that A&M takes elite candidates seriously, but my hope is waning.

Invitational: We went to one this past Summer. Are the Spring ones any different?

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I was at the one in the summer. I'm curious what you thought about the overall presentation for the whole day. I felt it was a little underwhelming, and if I had no association to A&M, it wouldn't be hard to drop it in the rankings after taking some more visits in the coming weeks.

It was just ok. I was hoping for more one on one time for the recruiters to try and get to know the kids. Most of us parents are taking a measured, serious approach to picking schools, so the basic tour albeit in smaller numbers, is a waste of time. Use that time to get to know the kids and identify kids who might stand out.

My son was a Brown finalist, didn't get it, and the drop off from Brown to Endowed is a chasm. It's not right. It pissed him off. If he wasn't an Aggie since birth, he'd have shot them the middle finger. They should be trying to build relationships and finding ways to increase the money for talent.

They also could have focused on the corporate recruiting more. These students are goal oriented. Talk about the companies that recruit and what they pay and how many they hire. Differentiate yourself from the schools that DO pay like OU, Tulsa, Tech, UTD, Arky, etc.

National merit notices are in your kids OSA portal

Unfortunately, A&M doesn't need to cater to HS kids with the enrollment figures they have every year. My daughter is class of 2012, while not a NMF, she was number one in her HS. the only scholarship that she got from A&M was a $1000 a semester.

Now she did end up having two majors and only made one B at A&M. She did get a free ride for both her masters and PhD program. So, her A&M degree did mean something.

Texas A&M: "We don't care, because we don't have to."

NomadicAggie said:

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Texas A&M: "We don't care, because we don't have to."

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I sounded the alarm 12 years ago that our merit-based scholarships process needed attention and that we were not competitive with other schools around the nation. It has only gotten worse since then with the rising inflation cost of college.

Unless your student is among the top 1-2% of applicants, I wouldn't expect a significant amount of merit-based dollars from them and be ready to pay the full cost of attendance.