Test Optional and Merit Aid?
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Anonymous
| Kid is going to be a senior. 4.0W/3.6UW with all honors in core classes all 4y, 1AP/5 IB/1 DE + lettered in a varsity sport (wasn't offered COVID year) + National Honors Society. But he BOMBED the SAT (under 1100 with a prep class...yes, we can talk grade inflation...but also ADHD and being a poor test taker.) Clearly he will be going TO and isn't applying to top schools (looking at Towson, Temple, GMU) but wasn't sure how being test optional affected merit aid. Any insight? We need all the merit he can get since we won't qualify for financial aid. |
Anonymous
| Following as this almost exactly describes my ADHD DS. |
Anonymous
| Take a look at the public merit chart at WVU, which shows both test-optional and with-test options. Schools vary but at least that gives you one very transparent data point. |
Anonymous
| DS is only a sophomore but I’ve been wondering about this too. My son’s GPA is currently similar but he will be non-honors in math due to disability. He is also a student athlete and will have good ECs so I think he will be a viable candidate for Towson, Miami of Ohio, etc. Yet he is a terrible standardized test taker and we aren’t even sure it’s worth the stress to prep. Our oldest applied to college pre-COVID so the SAT was expected and our middle child scored decently well off the bat during COVID so I didn’t give it a second thought. However, my son is a totally different kid and I would like to avoid stressing him out with test prep since most schools claim to be TO. I can’t help but think it hurts for merit aid though. |
Anonymous
| Similar situation here with my rising senior DD. Only one way to find out! Fingers crossed for all of us🤞 |
Anonymous
| “Merit” aid means just that. Under an 1100 doesn’t cut it, especially when the grades, while good, aren’t outstanding. Honestly why do you think a good college should give him “merit” aid to attend? |
Anonymous
| I posted on a recent thread about my kid getting lots of merit aid and he applied TO. Most schools gave him around $20k in merit money and he didn’t have anywhere near the GPA your kid has. |
Anonymous
This is worse than uncharitable, it’s untrue. Many colleges will give merit for this GPA, even test optional. |
Anonymous
How do you take all honors for 4 years with only 1 AP? By junior year at our school I don’t think there even are honors options that are not AP. I guess Physics. But math/history/English are all AP or nothing at our school by 11th grade. Is he in public school? |
Anonymous
Yeah, “merit aid” is a euphemism for “tuition discount to maximize revenue/yield rate/desired student enrollment.” |
Anonymous
| Could he get a job? If he goes to temple, for example, he can live inexpensively off campus and also work. I think he would get a little money from Temple but a job would help a lot. |
Anonymous
| If you don’t send in the test score they won’t base the merit award on it. |
Anonymous
Yes, public school in the DMV. His junior year he did IB math, spanish, science + AP World History + honors English (not a great writer.) Next year honors + 2 more IB + DE + work. But the county does "regular", honors, and AP for all core classes. |
Anonymous
Have your son try the ACT. With extra time, it is a much easier test to master than the SAT. My ADHD kid got a 34. |
Anonymous
OP - my DS had the same GPA and no AP classes, some honors, same test scores so went TO. He was offered merit aid at almost every school at which he was accepted - varying in degrees - and he is now a rising freshman at Elon, where he got merit aid. But he also got merit aid at Miami of Ohio, University of Tampa, High Point, and WVU. He was rejected from 2 reach schools, unsurprisingly, but was accepted everywhere else. |