The MAC Program offers a variety of resources for you McLennan County college students, and some of you may have already received your letter from us recently containing a paper application for the MAC Scholarship. As the December 1st deadline for the application rapidly approaches, we wanted to give y’all a little more about the MAC Scholarship itself. MAC Scholarship recipients are awarded $5,000 for the last two years of your college career no matter where they are attending school, and the three Baylor transfer students who applied with the highest GPAs will receive full scholarships! You can fill out a paper application for the MAC Scholarship and mail it to us, or you can apply online here.
Students who are eligible to receive the MAC Scholarship meet the following criteria:
- They applied to the MAC Program during their senior year of high school
- They submitted their MAC Scholarship applications before December 1st of their sophomore year in college
- They will have completed approximately 60 credit hours (two years) before June 1st of the upcoming year
- They have earned a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
- If they planned to transfer, they sent us their letter of acceptance before June 1st of the upcoming year
We here at the MAC Program, we receive many questions about the MAC Scholarship, so we decided to go ahead and list the answers to the most frequent ones in a handy list.
1. If I don’t plan to transfer next year but will be at MCC one more year should I apply anyway?
Unless you’re in a special program, like Nursing, then you may not have completed the 60 credit hours required to apply for the MAC Scholarship. If you will have completed 60 credit hours, but intend to stay at MCC another year before transferring, you will want to wait until December 1st of next year to apply so you will receive your MAC Scholarship at the more expensive school.
2. Can I apply even if I didn’t go to MCC or TSTC?
Yes. If you applied to the MAC Program while you were a senior in high school, then you are eligible to apply for the MAC Scholarship no matter where you are attending college, even if you attend a school out of state.
3. What if I am going to be in Nursing School or the University Center at MCC?
The MAC Scholarship can be used for a continuing program such as Nursing at MCC. If you are attending the University Center at MCC, you are considered a Junior/Senior working on your Bachelor’s Degree and are therefore eligible.
4. What if I already have a scholarship for tuition?
The MAC Scholarship, unlike the MAC Grant, isn’t a “last dollar toward tuition” grant. It is a true scholarship, and you will be awarded $1,250 per semester for up to 4 semesters whether or not your tuition is paid for. It can be used for living expenses if you don’t need it for tuition.
5. What if I am already at Baylor, am I still eligible for the Full Scholarship at Baylor?
The full tuition scholarships are awarded to transfer students to attract successful students to Baylor. So while you may apply for a standard MAC Scholarship of $5,000, you do need to have completed your first 2 years at MCC, TSTC or some other community college in order to receive full tuition at Baylor.
6. What if I won’t have 60 hours completed by June 1st?
If you plan to transfer during the next academic year (Fall or Spring), you should still apply for a MAC Scholarship if you are close to completing 60 credit hours or will be completing them next Summer or Fall before you transfer. We don’t require students to take extra classes just so they can have 60 hours, but we do encourage you to get your Associates Degree if possible. Attaining an Associate’s Degree or other goals along the way to a Bachelor’s has been shown to encourage students to work on their next big goal, and it provides some security in case something drastic happens and you are unable to complete your Bachelors Degree on schedule.
7. What if I won’t be transferring until the spring semester?
You should still apply for the MAC Scholarship now. When you are awarded the scholarship, just notify the MAC Program to hold it until the spring. The scholarship will still only cover you for 4 semesters, but it would expire in December of the following school year instead of May. However if you will still need 2 years after your Spring semester, you have the option of waiting until next December 1st to apply for the next round of MAC Scholarships.
8. What if I have funding for Fall And Spring but really need help paying for Summer classes or to Study Abroad?
Even though the MAC Grant doesn’t cover summer classes, we do offer our MAC Scholarship recipients the option of using one or more of their semesters for summer classes or to study abroad. Quite often, those are the classes they have the most trouble finding funding to pay for.
9. What if I don’t quite have a 3.0 GPA?
You can still apply in December; you just need to improve your GPA to a 3.0 by the end of the spring semester. We go by the grades you turn in by June 1st of the upcoming year.
10. How does the Baylor scholarship work?
Three full Baylor scholarships are donated to the MAC Program each year to be awarded to transfer students. Of all the students who apply for the MAC Scholarship, we consider the students who intend to transfer to Baylor during the upcoming year. Of these transfer students, we award full scholarships to the three applicants who have the highest GPAs. Again, the final decision is based on the applicants’ GPAs after the end of the spring semester so students still have a chance to improve after they submit their applications. After being awarded, the three full tuition scholarships are managed by Baylor and include four semesters of tuition and most fees. They don’t cover summer classes, however, so make sure and contact the Financial Aid office if you’ll need funding during the summer that goes beyond your scholarship.
We here at the MAC Program hope this helps you understand a little more about the MAC Scholarship. If you have any more questions, you can give us a call, send us an email, or make an appointment to come in and talk with us. Remember to submit your applications soon!
MAC College Money Program 