Merit based scholarships in top 25 schools

[Anonymous]

There are a handful of merit scholarships at Vanderbilt, Duke, Chicago, Rice, and Notre Dame. Whether one gets one is as much about luck as anything else. These are the exact same kids that are applying to Stanford, Penn, Yale, MIT, Princeton, Brown, and Harvard. Anyone getting admitted to these schools is typically already very accomplished. The difference between a regular admit and a merit scholarship at Duke is not that big. What all of these schools have in common though is exceptionally good financial aid. So a merit scholarship is more a bonus rather than a determinant of affordability for most families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Duke, Vanderbilt, Rice, USC and U Chicago give some merit scholarships, some of which cover half to full tuition.

However, getting these scholarships is much more difficult than getting admitted to any of these T20 schools. However, all T20 and top SLAC are very generous with financial aid, specially for families with income lower than $200K.

This^^^ Very few Merit scholarships are given at T20 schools. Very , very very few

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most students who get these scholarships are ones who get admitted to Ivies and other T20s as well and merit offers are used to lure such students.

Agree with this. The kid we know who got full tuition merit from Vanderbilt this year also got into Ivy league schools and received Banneker-Key from UMD.

Do families share this information with each other?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke, Vanderbilt, Rice, USC and U Chicago give some merit scholarships, some of which cover half to full tuition.

However, getting these scholarships is much more difficult than getting admitted to any of these T20 schools. However, all T20 and top SLAC are very generous with financial aid, specially for families with income lower than $200K.

And Emory and WashU

I’m looking at Wash. U.’s site, and I think it might give out about 60 to 80 full tuition scholarships.

In parent times, the students who had those sorts of scholarships were really bright, motivated students who were genuinely interested in learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I understand that many top 25 schools may not provide merit based since that is most of the students on campus or applicants. Still wanted to find out which of those schools provide merit based scholarships and typically how much aid? Do they bring down the tuition to match VA in-state tuition to attract students?

No, they don’t care about tuition matching VA in-state tuition. As other people have stated the school will say every student is a high caliber student and having robust financial aid and potentially need blind financial aid is how they attract the best and brightest….

USC is popular option for UMC (not qualified for financial aid) seeking merit if your child is a National Merit Finalist. There is some debate if that makes it harder to get in because it’s a 1/2 tuition scholarship but it’s one of the few T25 universities that has more than a handful of merit scholarships.

[Anonymous]

My son got a $10,000/year merit scholarship for all four years at Rice. We were shocked because he applied ED. Plus Rice's tuition is definitely less than comparable schools. He loved his time there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke, Vanderbilt, Rice, USC and U Chicago give some merit scholarships, some of which cover half to full tuition.

However, getting these scholarships is much more difficult than getting admitted to any of these T20 schools. However, all T20 and top SLAC are very generous with financial aid, specially for families with income lower than $200K.

And Emory and WashU

I’m looking at Wash. U.’s site, and I think it might give out about 60 to 80 full tuition scholarships.

In parent times, the students who had those sorts of scholarships were really bright, motivated students who were genuinely interested in learning.

First daughter was a Shipman Scholar at Michigan. We paid nothing but extras like a car and a generous allowance. She had very high stats of every kind - only about 8 Shipmans a year. Too hard to turn down.

The second daughter had even better stats and she wanted to go to Princeton full pay. We paid. She got merit at Wash U and several other places. Finished Princeton in 3 years which made me unhappy as I wanted her to have fun but it was her choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - I dont think (?) you understand that top schools dont offer merit because they dont have to. you need to drop to T50 to start sparking interest

+1. neither of my kids got any merit from GMU and UVA which are already discounted for In-state

UMD gave merit full tuition to my CS kid, and it is already discounted for in-state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - I dont think (?) you understand that top schools dont offer merit because they dont have to. you need to drop to T50 to start sparking interest

+1. neither of my kids got any merit from GMU and UVA which are already discounted for In-state

UMD gave merit full tuition to my CS kid, and it is already discounted for in-state.

My daughter got $20K/year scholarship from UVA, and they even covered a summer trip to Europe as an exchange student in her first year. We are in-state and trying to finish in three years at UVA Engineering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most students who get these scholarships are ones who get admitted to Ivies and other T20s as well and merit offers are used to lure such students.

Agree with this. The kid we know who got full tuition merit from Vanderbilt this year also got into Ivy league schools and received Banneker-Key from UMD.

Do families share this information with each other?

In this case the kid shared it with their friends (not parents sharing) and posted on social media. But someone’s parents share too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most students who get these scholarships are ones who get admitted to Ivies and other T20s as well and merit offers are used to lure such students.

So you can take offer from Ivy and negotiate for scholarship in other T20 schools?

No, the decision to offer a scholarship is made at the institutional level to offer something to compete with HYP. You can't negotiate them any more than you can negotiate an HYP rejection. What you can do is ask for more financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I understand that many top 25 schools may not provide merit based since that is most of the students on campus or applicants. Still wanted to find out which of those schools provide merit based scholarships and typically how much aid? Do they bring down the tuition to match VA in-state tuition to attract students?

Sure. The non-Ivy D1 schools give plenty. How good is your kid at playing football?

[Anonymous]

Are these "merit" scholarships reserved for families who also demonstrate financial need?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are these "merit" scholarships reserved for families who also demonstrate financial need?

A lot are masked that way at the top schools. When you get lower in rankings they are to grab some of the kids that are T1-T20 caliber. You drop below T35, more like T50 and they start wheeling and dealing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a handful of merit scholarships at Vanderbilt, Duke, Chicago, Rice, and Notre Dame. Whether one gets one is as much about luck as anything else. These are the exact same kids that are applying to Stanford, Penn, Yale, MIT, Princeton, Brown, and Harvard. Anyone getting admitted to these schools is typically already very accomplished. The difference between a regular admit and a merit scholarship at Duke is not that big. What all of these schools have in common though is exceptionally good financial aid. So a merit scholarship is more a bonus rather than a determinant of affordability for most families.

Hopkins also has a handful of merit scholarships: https://apply.jhu.edu/tuition-aid/types-of-financial-aid/merit-scholarships/