My Financial Aid Experience, continued

In my meetings with financial aid advisors, the ill-defined "requirements" for transfer scholarships seemed to shift depending on the situation and the person you're talking to. Sometimes I was told I would be able to apply for a full scholarship at TCU; sometimes I was told I could not receive any aid at all.

Fortunately for me, after speaking with several financial aid advisors, I managed to convince TCU to reinstate the Dean's Scholarship I had been offered as a first-time freshman. Without this support I would not have been able to enroll at TCU.

But here's the part that made me incredibly frustrated: after receiving the Dean's Scholarship, I was told by the financial aid office that if I performed well in my first semester at TCU, I would be able to apply for a full tuition scholarship in May. If you're a TCU student, you know that TCU has no provision for scholarships for currently enrolled students, outside of departmental awards. Being a naive freshman, however, I was blissfully unaware that this was the case. I trusted in the promise of a potential full scholarship and contacted financial aid again at the semester's end.

Of course, I was told that I was now a “current student” and therefore ineligible for any additional merit scholarships. The financial advisor was nice enough to call and break this news to me over the phone. He encouraged me to apply for a loan. I was seething and had a hard time holding back tears. I was essentially stuck—I had burned my bridge to my former college, fallen for TCU, and couldn't stand the thought of moving and transferring again. I would now have to take out thousands of dollars worth of government money to continue my education.

I’m not telling this story to complain—after all, I did receive the highest scholarship TCU offers to transfer students, and without it I would never have been able to make this important change in my life. Transferring after one semester of college was a huge risk, but the scholarship support I did receive from TCU softened the blow.

Instead, I’m telling my story to point out an area where TCU could improve. By offering scholarships to students outside of the incoming freshman class, TCU has the opportunity to make a private education available to a wider range of talented, high-achieving individuals—some of whom may not have the financial ability to pay anything higher than the application fee. Despite my struggles with financial aid, I’m so thankful I made the decision to come to TCU. The academic opportunities I’ve already experienced here are a world away from the limited options at my previous school. I believe increasing the merit scholarships available to transfer students AND currently enrolled upperclassmen will help ensure that everyone has that chance to reach for a better college experience and pursue their academic goals.