In the category of "I'm not surprised but still a little disappointed", my incoming freshman has not received any merit scholarship money directly from TAMU. He was top 3% in a graduating class of >1000 kids at a decent high school with a boatload of AP classes and good extra-curriculars (band and service org leadership). He had good test scores but was not National Merit and did not play sports. He also did not cure cancer in his spare time. 
This was pretty much expected based on reading over and over here and on other college admissions platforms that A&M gives very little merit-based scholarships outside of National Merit. However, I've been getting the feeling he thinks he has let us down by not getting some sort of recognition from A&M. I've read anecdotally that some amount of scholarship money could show up in his account as late as the week before school starts. I'm holding out the smallest bit of hope that, with the delayed FAFSA process this year, that might still happen which would be a pretty cool boost of confidence as the semester is getting started.
All that said, my understanding is that current students can reapply for scholarships each year but it looks like applications open October 15 and close February 1st. Sooo...with that wide of a date range, is there any benefit to applying earlier vs. later? It seems strange to me to apply as early as October when, as a freshman, he won't have any college grades to report. I suppose the new application will have his AP scores from senior year but I'd like to think those are already factoring into final decisions for the 24/25 scholarship pool.
I also suppose the reality is that he'll be too busy to even consider applying in Oct/Nov and will wait at least until Christmas break to even start the application...
TLDR: Is there any benefit to completing the TAMU continuing student scholarship application in October instead of January?
Edited to add: the 'disappointment' is in the lack of merit-based scholarships from A&M, not my kid. He rocks!
This was pretty much expected based on reading over and over here and on other college admissions platforms that A&M gives very little merit-based scholarships outside of National Merit. However, I've been getting the feeling he thinks he has let us down by not getting some sort of recognition from A&M. I've read anecdotally that some amount of scholarship money could show up in his account as late as the week before school starts. I'm holding out the smallest bit of hope that, with the delayed FAFSA process this year, that might still happen which would be a pretty cool boost of confidence as the semester is getting started.
All that said, my understanding is that current students can reapply for scholarships each year but it looks like applications open October 15 and close February 1st. Sooo...with that wide of a date range, is there any benefit to applying earlier vs. later? It seems strange to me to apply as early as October when, as a freshman, he won't have any college grades to report. I suppose the new application will have his AP scores from senior year but I'd like to think those are already factoring into final decisions for the 24/25 scholarship pool.
I also suppose the reality is that he'll be too busy to even consider applying in Oct/Nov and will wait at least until Christmas break to even start the application...
TLDR: Is there any benefit to completing the TAMU continuing student scholarship application in October instead of January?
Edited to add: the 'disappointment' is in the lack of merit-based scholarships from A&M, not my kid. He rocks!