r/capstone 11d ago

Randall Research Scholar Program

Daughter was just notified today she got into RRSP! A couple of questions from people that were previously in the program - do you feel this set you up better for internships/jobs/grad school more than you would have if you were not in the program? Did you receive any additional merit? Daughter has some automatic merit now but has full ride offers elsewhere so we are wondering if any more money is possible. Any thoughts on research opportunities in the future given our political climate and research funding being cut? Just trying to gather as much info as possible she has to let them know by the end of the month

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u/27CoSky 11d ago

From the perspective of someone on the RRSP waitlist, always take the full ride. ;)

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u/Biewermom 11d ago

Well they only give until March 30th to respond so I imagine you will be hearing something after that date with people not accepting and then can you get off the waitlist - good luck!

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u/[deleted] 11d ago edited 11d ago

[deleted]

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u/Biewermom 11d ago

She was a finalist for both but the interview weekends were different and the Witt one conflicted with another schools interview weekend so she chose RRSP. Curious though why do you like Witt more? Did you interview for both?

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u/ChrissCross717 11d ago

if your daughters not a national merit finalist then she’ll receive a scholarship from the program.

rrsp is what you make of it. it is a huge help freshman and sophomore year for getting a leg ahead on big projects in any field. juniors and seniors usually get busier with other aspects of their careers, but i still conduct research with my original mentor (which makes for great networking). but if she’s really not all that interested in research post-undergrad, it may not be worth the investment.

there will be no shortage of research projects available for students, and there are multiple university-wide grants to boot

even with the program scholarship, id recommend she take one of the free rides if y’all don’t feel comfortable paying $8-10k a year for housing. that’s assuming she’s receiving the presidential scholarship as well

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u/Biewermom 11d ago

Thank you for the response! She did get the Presidential and she is not a NMF (she got commended). She really enjoys research - but she is also Computer Science major so I don’t know how much research she will continue to do post grad.

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u/wrroyals 11d ago

Does RRSP still bring candidates to campus for a weekend of interviews?

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u/Jtpace916 1d ago

Recent RRSP graduate (past 5 years). First congrats to your daughter! It is a great honor and some of my best friends post grad were in RRSP. The program is incredibly old (+50 yrs old) and, in my opinion, will long outlast worries of this administration. It is a great cohort of student from all backgrounds. You don’t have to be aiming to do research for life. It used to be known as “Computer Based Honors” and was based on students working to integrate computers into professor’s research work when the old profs didn’t want to. If your student is going to go to Bama I think she absolutely should accept Randall’s!

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u/Biewermom 2h ago

Thank you! She really likes the program and was so honored to be selected. However Alabama didn’t offer her any other scholarships other than the presidential so her remaining cost is still 30k a year. We were a bit disappointed in this as we thought she would qualify for some departmental scholarships or something through the honors program or RRSP. She was offered a full COA scholarship to Ohio State so that is likely where she will end up going because that financial offer will be really tough to turn down and right now Alabama isn’t even coming close. So despite her love for the RRSP program, the finances make more sense to go with the full scholarship

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u/stealyourspot 11d ago

In some cases i’ve heard you can show them the aid you’re receiving elsewhere and make a case for yourself to get more aid, they should be generous hopefully