How to position (merit aid)?
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Anonymous
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DD got an ED merit aid offer from a very good but not TOP LACs. (A coach wants her for a team there hence the ED merit estimate. Coach has told her he does not require ED for her to be able to join the team.) This school is her #2 choice overall and she really likes it. We’d need a little bit more than the amt of merit they offered already to make it work but not tons more.
But her #1 choice is another LAC she will RD at - higher ranked and viewed as more prestigious for her major for sure (not WASP). The #1 school does give some merit although much less than the #2 school. If they give her merit $ anywhere within spitting distance of what’s possible for us (maybe also with a small amt of loans too) she will go there. Any advice on how to navigate this so we keep #2 as an option but give it time for She’s replied already that she had not planned on ED’ing anywhere and asked if the offer would extend to RD. |
Anonymous
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^ fixing typo…
give it time to see if she gets into #2 and they give her any merit. - OP |
Anonymous
Ugh!  I meant gets into #1. - OP
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Anonymous
| No coach is going to wait for RD decisions. If you want to take your chances and wait and see where your kid gets in and what merit money they get in RD then you need to roll the dice on a walk on spot on the team. I’m sure that would affect your merit money offer, but no Coach is going to hold your offer for six months unless your kid’s on the youth national team and then playing D3. |
Anonymous
| OP, take the bird in hand. There's a lot of flux in D3 recruitments. Also have you run the net price calculator for each school - would your DD be eligible for financial aid (in addition to or in lieu of merit)? |
Anonymous
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Yes we did NPC. Eligible for $0.
- OP |
Anonymous
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It sounds like No. 2 told you it was fine not to ED, so what is the issue? Also, if No. 2 is not going to give you enough money, why do you need to keep it as an option? And if No. 1 doesn’t give as much aid, why do you think that is a possibility?
I would be very frank with these coaches about what you need to make it work. There is no point dragging things out if the $ is not going to work; focus on the schools you can afford. These schools can’t give athletic scholarships, so they really can’t give you aid beyond what they give as merit aid to comparable non-athletes. |
Anonymous
This really depends on the school and sport. Beyond the very top SLACs (which don’t give merit aid anyway), and depending on the sport, coaches have more leeway to make offers of support in RD, particularly for a very desired athlete. |
Anonymous
| Is this an academic scholarship or athletic? |
Anonymous
No. 2’s coach had said ED was not mandatory. We don’t have reply back from #2’s admissions yet re: the money carrying over to RD. We were also hoping that the amount may be somewhat negotiable (and had assumed higher amts are likelier in RD vs ED) - OP |
Anonymous
Academic. School is D3. |
Anonymous
| Merit is going to be hard to come by this cycle with the Trump effect on college finances. Go with the bird in hand of you can make it work. |
Anonymous
It's an athletic scholarship but D3s can't give athletic scholarships so they call those "merit" scholarships, but they are really not. |
Anonymous
| Sounds like if you wait she might not end up at either school. |
Anonymous
Maybe. It’s not labeled. It’s at a school known for being pretty generous with merit even beyond athletes. - OP |