Congrats to all the kids and their new acceptances! Such an exciting time!
I just wanted to share the interesting phone call I had with financial aid the other day. I called because so many people have reported already receiving offers of merit aid based on test scores, but we haven't heard a thing... I was starting to get concerned. Finaid of any and every sort is the only way any of this is going to happen, and my son has worked really hard on his end. Now my job, as I see it, is to try and put all the pieces together and get him there.
He is applying for some specific scholarships through the Marine Technology Society, since he's a student member, but the two main scholarships in his sights are private, institutional scholarships. One, the Levy scholarship, offers I believe $10K a year for all 4 years (the school is only about $18K a year with room & board & everything, so we could fill in the gaps a lot easier.) I think there are 4 of those offered.
The other one is the Terry Foundation scholarship. This one you can't even apply for -- the school has to nominate you to the foundation for review. The foundation will then choose X number of finalists and bring them in for interviews, then award 16 scholarships.
Anyways, the guy I got in finaid was super nice, and explained that they start sending that stuff out in January. He said he very much understood my concerns, and asked for my son's ID# so he could pull up his record. He looked at everything and reassured me that right off the bat, his rank and whatnot qualifies him for a couple $K, and that with his test scores there was likely several more possibilities. He asked me about my son's activities, and was apparently very happy with my answer about DS working a good 15-20 hours a week for the past two years, as well as the comittment of marching band, while still keeping his grades up.
He asked if we knew about the Terry Foundation scholarship, and I told him that yes, we were familiar, and definitely filled out that part of the school application in the hopes that maybe DS'll be considered. The guy told me, "As it so happens, I am actually a part of that committee, and your son is exactly the sort of student we're looking for to nominate. I'm pulling his file to the side now, and it will be on the top of my pile."
The scholarship amount varies by circumstance, but depending on the parents' financial situation and the student's other scholarship offers, it provides for all tuition, books, room, board, everything. Full ride. I didn't even realize that. They won't do interviews until April, and then they notify winners by May 1st.
I'm SO sorry this got so long... my whole point in sharing this is because I keep being afraid that I'm being too "helicopter-y" -- but if I hadn't called, not only would I not have grasped the importance of this scholarship, but wouldn't have caused my son's profile to be noticed and pulled aside. Maybe it would have eventually... but maybe not, and I would have never known.
So if that makes me helicopter-y, I think I'm ok with it.

It's not like I'm going to call his RA and ask that someone tuck my son in every night, LOL.
Again, sorry so long! I just wanted to encourage other dependent-on-financial-aid parents like me to explore all the scholarship options your child's chosen school might offer!
-gina-