Did my freshman f-up their merit aid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please write to the college and ask them to reconsider based on mental health or other issues (COVID or flu). They give you grace for one semester of you can demonstrate that you are on the e right track

OP didn’t mention any of that being issues. Why would you lie?

No, not suggesting they lie. But, if the kid was doing poorly and also had these issues that contributed, school usually will give grace. Sorry that was not made clear but two kids I know had the same issue and the college gave some grace period. Colleges are not there to screw your kid.

[Anonymous]

The terms of the scholarship are really important here. Does the college review their information after each semester or after the end of the academic year? Does the scholarship stipulate that they enroll in or earn at least 12 credits per semester? I’ve worked in financial aid at two colleges, and for most of the merit scholarships, students just had to enroll in at least 12 credits per semester (as well as meet renewal requirements). I’ve also worked with a state scholarship that stipulated that students must earn 12 credits per semester. Also, it’s important to find out if your student dropped or withdrew from a course. If a student drops a course and goes below FT enrollment, I would contact them to find out what’s going on/encourage them to enroll FT before the add/drop deadline. If they weren’t enrolled FT by the deadline, their scholarship would be cancelled. If they withdrew from a course, that would be fine as long as the scholarship agreement doesnt state otherwise. I can’t speak for all schools, but at the two I’ve worked at, we would try to contact students in danger of losing their scholarship, when possible.

With that being said, your student should just contact the financial aid/scholarship office to find out.

[Anonymous]

Losing merit aid is common because the school is betting against you. They -not you- have all the data. You do not. That allows them to make this bet.

Just my cynical view

[Anonymous]

OP: my kid was in this situation. Went into a math class that was a level above where he should have been. By the time he figured it out, he was able to Withdraw as passing, but not add/drop. So, he underload Ed by a credit without permission. He got academic probation because of this (with a 3.6), but kept merit. He had to have a Dean sign off on his classes, and meet with the Dean again at midterms and that was that.

Oberlin, of that matters. But, they have a lot of policies in place that encourage kids to take classes that stretch them, so it turns out they don’t pull merit aid for one academic screwup.

I panicked when I realized what happened and called financial aid. They assured me all was well (whew!).

I’d like to think a school wouldn’t pull merit aid over something like this. But, the only way to know for your specific school is to call. They aren’t going to just not notice an unapproved underload. It will show up. So quit worrying and find out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, and there is no negociation.

OP they put those things in bec they don't want to give you those monies all four years.

If you could not afford it you should have not sent your kid there. Your kid dropping one class is totally normal. College is not HS.

You did not do your do diligence in understanding how this works.

DO NOT BLAME YOUR KID, they did the right thing.

You did not read the fine print, you did not explain to your kid what would happen. .

Where are all the posters screaming, “ they are adults?”

I would kill my kid if this happened, but I made sure they understood the terms of the agreement. Did you not know your kid was dropping the class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please write to the college and ask them to reconsider based on mental health or other issues (COVID or flu). They give you grace for one semester of you can demonstrate that you are on the e right track

But those are lies. Do you people have zero principles?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In your case it is a GPA or a credit requirement? Make sure that you find out.

I never heard of a package that does not have both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure they weren't taking 16 credits originally?

Im trying to understand the configuration that leaves a kid with 11 credits instead of 12, and i can only think they were left with two other 4credit classes plus one three credit class. Is that right?

OP here:
They were taking 15. It was two 4 credit classes, two 3 credit classes, and a freshman seminar that was one credit that all incoming freshman have to take.
They do have ADD, and so the mental health wouldn't be an outright lie... We are both guilty for not realizing that dropping the 4 credits would make a change int their student status. I was just wondering if anyone had this happen to them - and it looks like it has, and different outcomes for all. I didn't sign any parental waiver to communicate with the school so I think this needs to all be handled by them. As for the GPA, it doesn't even matter what her GPA is the first two years, as long as it is a cumulative 3.0 by the end of two years (so yes ultimately I guess it does matter...) And yes we can afford the school without the merit. But thank you all for feedback - it may or may not be a lost cause!

Losing a merit scholarship is not uncommon as it happens frequently.

The schools count on it. Some even base it on each semester’s (stand alone) GPA, which is even more dicey.

I am surprised though that you missed this rule, which seems kind of obvious (part time students don’t get merit awards).

[Anonymous]

See if their advisor had to sign the drop form. If they did, you might say they should have pointed this out to a freshman.
But if only the course professor had to sign the form, they would not have the bigger picture (in terms of the full course load).

Signed, a professor

[Anonymous]

Some departments/schools have aid for students that otherwise no longer qualify for merit aid. Most schools want their students to succeed, and if they are already assigned a major - the major wants to work with the student. It sounds like the student in this case is not dependent on the merit scholarship to continue at the college. So if they do lose the merit aid, they can still afford to pay - but it is important to see what the residential requirements might be. Do they have an academic advisor they meet with for course selection? They can also help with determine next steps.

[Anonymous]

OP-- did the kid talk with an advisor to drop or were they able to drop without such a conversation? IMHO if they spoke to a an advisor and that advisor didn't warn the kid that this would shift them out of a FT load, then the school should be generous. I would have a conversation with the most senior person you can. If it's a university that admits into schools, there is probably an undergraduate dean who would oversee (through a staff member) all of the advisors, and I'd start there. If it's a smaller school then there may be a Dean of Students or something like that for the full university.

Obviously, it should be a good, constructive conversation (not starting out blaming them) but I would have this in your back pocket in case they play hard ball (I actually don't think they will).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:See if their advisor had to sign the drop form. If they did, you might say they should have pointed this out to a freshman.
But if only the course professor had to sign the form, they would not have the bigger picture (in terms of the full course load).

Signed, a professor

I was going to inquire along these lines - not to throw blame, but was wondering if a college student needs to meet with their advisor before dropping a class. Would seem to make sense for these types of reasons- so the advisor can advise on the impacts of the decision rhat a new student might not be thinking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:See if their advisor had to sign the drop form. If they did, you might say they should have pointed this out to a freshman.
But if only the course professor had to sign the form, they would not have the bigger picture (in terms of the full course load).

Signed, a professor

I was going to inquire along these lines - not to throw blame, but was wondering if a college student needs to meet with their advisor before dropping a class. Would seem to make sense for these types of reasons- so the advisor can advise on the impacts of the decision rhat a new student might not be thinking about.

Which schools do that kind of hand holding?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:See if their advisor had to sign the drop form. If they did, you might say they should have pointed this out to a freshman.
But if only the course professor had to sign the form, they would not have the bigger picture (in terms of the full course load).

Signed, a professor

I was going to inquire along these lines - not to throw blame, but was wondering if a college student needs to meet with their advisor before dropping a class. Would seem to make sense for these types of reasons- so the advisor can advise on the impacts of the decision rhat a new student might not be thinking about.

Which schools do that kind of hand holding?

You can call it hand holding; we'll just call it the advisor's job.

[Anonymous]

Some schools are strict about this and others aren't. You won't know, OP, until you see how it plays out.