FAFSA and Auburn University Merit Scholarships - Anyone get award notifications yet?

my son got accepted to auburn too! we got our SAI score last week (thx fafsa for taking forever lol) and auburn sent the scholarship offer two days after. he had 3.9 GPA and 1280 SAT and got $11,500 per year in academic scholarship. they only used fafsa, no CSS needed for merit scholarships. congrats on your daughters acceptance! war eagle!

My daughter is a sophomore at Auburn now. When she applied (for Fall 2023), they were SUPER late with scholarship announcements - like March/April when most other schools had already sent packages in January!!! It was SO stressful and we almost committed elsewhere before their offer finally came. They only required FAFSA for merit scholarships but needed the CSS Profile for need-based aid. The financial aid office there is TERRIBLE to deal with - always busy signals or voicemails that never get returned!!!

You won't hear anything from Auburn until they receive both your FAFSA data AND your daughter completes the scholarship application on their portal. Many parents miss this step. Your daughter needs to log into her Auburn admitted student portal and check for the scholarship application. It's easy to miss - it's under the "Financial Aid" tab and then "Scholarship Opportunities." You must complete this even for automatic merit scholarships based on GPA/test scores. For reference on merit awards, Auburn has these tiers for out-of-state students (in-state is different): - 3.5 GPA + 1250 SAT: $8,000/year - 3.8 GPA + 1300 SAT: $10,000/year - 4.0 GPA + 1400 SAT: $14,000/year They do have some wiggle room - your daughter should be in the middle tier with her stats.

As someone who works in college financial aid (not at Auburn specifically), I wanted to mention that many universities are waiting longer to release scholarship notifications this year due to the FAFSA delays. The Department of Education had significant issues with the new FAFSA rollout, and many schools are receiving student data much later than normal. For Auburn specifically, they typically announce their Presidential Scholarship (their main academic merit scholarship) by late February, but this year it could be March or even April. Make sure your FAFSA is fully processed with a valid SAI score before expecting notifications. One other tip - if you're having trouble reaching their financial aid office by phone, I've had many students have success using a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to financial aid offices during peak season. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. Might be worth trying if you need to reach Auburn's aid office directly.

My son also applied to Auburn but we didn't complete the FAFSA yet...are we already too late for merit scholarships?? I thought those were separate from need-based aid?? Now I'm panicking!!!

my daughters at auburn now as a junior.... dont get ur hopes up too high for scholarships unless ur kid is like valedictorian or something.... they give way less than they advertise on there website.... we were so dissapointed with what they offered even tho her grades and sat were really good..... ended up having to take out way more parent plus loans than we planned... 🤬

Update: Thanks for all the advice, everyone! My daughter checked her Auburn portal and found the separate scholarship application (we had totally missed this!). She completed it yesterday. We also got our SAI score this morning - finally! I'm going to give Auburn's financial aid office a few weeks to process everything before trying to contact them again. Fingers crossed we hear something soon about merit scholarships!

Great thread! I'm in a similar situation with my son who was accepted to Auburn for Fall 2025. We submitted our FAFSA in early February and just got our SAI last week. His stats are close to your daughter's (3.9 GPA, 1310 SAT) so I'm hoping for something in that $10-11K range based on what others have shared here. One thing I wanted to add - make sure to check if Auburn has any special scholarships for your daughter's intended major. Some departments have additional merit awards that aren't widely advertised. Also, if you're out-of-state, there are sometimes regional scholarships available depending on where you're from. The waiting is definitely stressful when you're trying to compare financial packages from multiple schools! Auburn seems to be one of the slower ones this year, but at least now we know it's partly due to the FAFSA delays affecting everyone.

Just wanted to chime in as another parent going through this process! My daughter was also accepted to Auburn for Fall 2025 with a 3.8 GPA and 1350 SAT. We submitted our FAFSA in January and got our SAI about 10 days ago. She completed the scholarship application in her portal right after reading this thread (thank you Paolo for that crucial info!). I called Auburn's financial aid office yesterday using that Claimyr service someone mentioned and actually got through in about 20 minutes - way better than the 2+ hour holds I've experienced before! The rep told me they're processing scholarship notifications in batches and expect most to go out by mid-to-late March, which is definitely later than usual due to the FAFSA delays. One thing she mentioned that might be helpful - they're prioritizing notifications for students who have both submitted their FAFSA AND completed the scholarship application. So if anyone reading this hasn't done the scholarship app yet, definitely get on that ASAP! Hoping we all hear some good news soon. War Eagle! 🦅

I'm a freshman at Auburn currently and went through this exact process last year! Just wanted to add a few things that might help. First, Auburn does have a really helpful scholarship estimator tool on their website that's pretty accurate if you know your recalculated GPA. It's under the "Cost & Aid" section if anyone wants to check it out. Also, don't forget about the automatic out-of-state tuition reduction they offer - it's not technically a "scholarship" but it reduces your tuition to almost in-state levels if you meet certain criteria (I think it's 3.5 GPA and 24 ACT or equivalent SAT). This can be a huge money saver that people sometimes overlook! One more tip - if you end up getting less than expected in merit aid, you CAN appeal their decision. I had a friend who successfully appealed and got an additional $2K per year by providing updated grades from senior year. The appeals process isn't well advertised but it does exist. Good luck to everyone still waiting - Auburn is an amazing school and totally worth it! 🧡💙

Just wanted to add my experience as someone who went through this process with my son two years ago! We were in a very similar situation - submitted FAFSA late January, got SAI in early March, and Auburn finally sent the scholarship notification in mid-April (way later than other schools). My son had a 3.82 GPA and 1340 SAT and received $10,500/year in academic merit scholarships. What really helped us was following up with Auburn's admissions counselor (not financial aid office) about 2 weeks after we knew they had all our documents. The admissions counselor was much easier to reach and could actually check the status of scholarship review. Also want to echo what others have said about departmental scholarships - these can be substantial! My son got an additional $3,000/year from the College of Engineering that we almost missed because it had a separate application deadline. Make sure to check with your daughter's specific college within Auburn for any additional opportunities. The waiting is absolutely nerve-wracking when you're trying to make decisions by May 1st, but Auburn typically comes through with competitive offers. Hang in there!

As a current Auburn parent (daughter is a sophomore), I wanted to share some additional insights that might help! We went through this exact same anxiety two years ago. A few things I learned that weren't mentioned yet: 1. Auburn's scholarship notifications often come in waves - they don't send them all at once. So even if some people are getting theirs now, don't panic if yours comes later. 2. Make sure your daughter accepts her admission offer ASAP if she hasn't already. I found out later that Auburn prioritizes scholarship distribution to students who have already committed, especially when funds get tight later in the cycle. 3. If you're comparing offers from multiple schools, Auburn is usually willing to match or come close to matching competitive offers from similar universities (like Alabama, Tennessee, etc.). You just have to ask! 4. The business school (Harbert College) has some fantastic scholarship opportunities that aren't well publicized. My daughter's roommate got an additional $5K/year from Harbert that she found by digging through their website. Your daughter's stats (3.85 GPA, 1320 SAT) should definitely put her in good standing for merit aid. The waiting is terrible but Auburn usually comes through! Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions about the Auburn experience.

Just found this thread and it's been so helpful! My daughter was also accepted to Auburn for Fall 2025 with a 3.9 GPA and 1290 SAT. We submitted our FAFSA in late January and finally got our SAI last week. She just completed the scholarship application in her portal after reading all your advice here (seriously, thank you Paolo for mentioning that - we had no idea it existed!). Quick question for those who have been through this - do you know if Auburn sends scholarship notifications via email, regular mail, or through the student portal? I want to make sure we're checking the right places so we don't miss anything. Also, has anyone had experience with their Honors College scholarships? My daughter applied to the Honors College as well and I'm wondering if those have separate timelines. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences - this waiting period is so stressful but at least now I feel like we're on the right track with all the requirements completed!

Hi everyone! Just wanted to jump in and thank you all for this incredibly helpful thread. I'm a newcomer to this community but going through the exact same situation with my son who was accepted to Auburn for Fall 2025. Reading through all these experiences has been so reassuring and informative! My son has a 3.8 GPA and 1350 SAT, and we submitted our FAFSA in early February. We just got our SAI this week and he completed the scholarship application in his portal yesterday after reading Paolo's advice about that separate application (seriously, lifesaver!). I'm feeling much more confident about the process now after seeing everyone's timelines and scholarship amounts. It sounds like we should expect to hear something by mid-to-late March based on what Sean heard from financial aid. The tip about contacting the admissions counselor instead of the financial aid office is brilliant - definitely going to try that if we need updates. One question - for those whose kids received Auburn scholarships, did the offers come all at once or did you receive multiple notifications for different types of aid (academic merit, departmental, etc.)? Trying to understand if we should expect one big package or several smaller notifications over time. Thanks again for creating such a supportive and informative discussion! War Eagle! 🦅

Hi everyone! I'm new to this community but found this thread incredibly helpful as we're in the exact same boat with Auburn. My daughter was accepted for Fall 2025 with a 3.82 GPA and 1310 SAT. We submitted our FAFSA in mid-February and are still waiting for our SAI score (ugh, the delays this year are unreal!). After reading through all your experiences, I immediately had my daughter check her Auburn portal for that scholarship application - and sure enough, there it was under Financial Aid > Scholarship Opportunities! She's completing it today. I cannot believe how easy it would have been to miss that completely. Thank you Paolo for that crucial information! It's so reassuring to see the scholarship amounts others have received with similar stats. Based on the tier breakdown Paolo shared, it sounds like we should expect something in the $8-10K range, which would be fantastic. The timing information has also been super helpful - knowing that Auburn is just running behind due to FAFSA issues rather than us missing something important definitely reduces my stress level. One quick question - for those who have received Auburn scholarships, do they typically require maintaining a certain GPA to renew each year? I want to make sure we understand all the terms before comparing offers. Thanks again everyone for sharing your experiences! This thread has been a lifesaver! 🧡💙

Hi everyone! I'm new to this community but have been lurking and reading through this incredibly helpful thread. My son was also accepted to Auburn for Fall 2025 with a 3.75 GPA and 1280 SAT. We're out-of-state and submitted our FAFSA in early February, got our SAI last week, and he just completed that scholarship application in his portal yesterday (thank goodness for Paolo's tip about that!). I wanted to add something that might help other parents - I noticed several people mentioned struggling to get through to Auburn's financial aid office. I actually had success reaching them by calling right when they open at 8 AM Central Time. The wait was only about 10 minutes versus the 2+ hour holds later in the day. The rep I spoke with confirmed they're processing scholarship notifications in batches through March and said they prioritize students who have completed both FAFSA and the scholarship application. Based on the merit tiers Paolo shared, it looks like my son should be in the $8K range, which would be amazing! We're also looking into that out-of-state tuition reduction Honorah mentioned since his stats should qualify. This whole process has been so much less stressful thanks to everyone sharing their experiences here. Fingers crossed we all get good news soon! War Eagle! 🦅