CU Boulder decisions are out!

[Anonymous]

My OOS son with pretty high stats, excellent ECs, LORs, and legacy received a direct admit to their Leeds Business school, but no merit aid. We are surprised as he received a ton of merit from a more highly ranked school. Also saw on College Confidential that students with lower stats received merit. Curiuos what their selection process is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My OOS son with pretty high stats, excellent ECs, LORs, and legacy received a direct admit to their Leeds Business school, but no merit aid. We are surprised as he received a ton of merit from a more highly ranked school. Also saw on College Confidential that students with lower stats received merit. Curiuos what their selection process is?

Again, this is very typical for CU Boulder. A broad generalization: they use their location to attract OOS $$ rather than using $$ to attract OOS high stats applicants. Also, which school within the university probably matters - perhaps the kids getting some merit you saw on CC were applying to a less-popular school, not Leeds. Also, most merit discounts are relatively small. The way CU reports scholarship amounts can be confusing (especially when reported excitedly in internet forums), as they often give the four-year total, which obviously is a much smaller amount for 1 yr.

[Anonymous]

In short, if you are looking for significant merit $, CU Boulder is not the place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In short, if you are looking for significant merit $, CU Boulder is not the place.

Totally understand given their “big” merit package is still less than $15k/yr that others have offered, but what so don’t understand is not showing any interest in sweetening the pot for high stats kids. Their honor program is also weak compared to many honors colleges but it would say least be a way to communicate that they want a student there. As it is they’re essentially saying we think you aren’t coming no matter what we do so why even try. It is unfortunate b/c they were top 3 for DC but will be eliminated w/o at least some $.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In short, if you are looking for significant merit $, CU Boulder is not the place.

Totally understand given their “big” merit package is still less than $15k/yr that others have offered, but what so don’t understand is not showing any interest in sweetening the pot for high stats kids. Their honor program is also weak compared to many honors colleges but it would say least be a way to communicate that they want a student there. As it is they’re essentially saying we think you aren’t coming no matter what we do so why even try. It is unfortunate b/c they were top 3 for DC but will be eliminated w/o at least some $.

#1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In short, if you are looking for significant merit $, CU Boulder is not the place.

Totally understand given their “big” merit package is still less than $15k/yr that others have offered, but what so don’t understand is not showing any interest in sweetening the pot for high stats kids. Their honor program is also weak compared to many honors colleges but it would say least be a way to communicate that they want a student there. As it is they’re essentially saying we think you aren’t coming no matter what we do so why even try. It is unfortunate b/c they were top 3 for DC but will be eliminated w/o at least some $.

It seems their priority isn't to get more high stats kids to come from OOS and are not focused on having the higher stats OOS kids. They are going to accept those kids but want their full $$.

[Anonymous]

Rejection here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In short, if you are looking for significant merit $, CU Boulder is not the place.

Totally understand given their “big” merit package is still less than $15k/yr that others have offered, but what so don’t understand is not showing any interest in sweetening the pot for high stats kids. Their honor program is also weak compared to many honors colleges but it would say least be a way to communicate that they want a student there. As it is they’re essentially saying we think you aren’t coming no matter what we do so why even try. It is unfortunate b/c they were top 3 for DC but will be eliminated w/o at least some $.

It seems their priority isn't to get more high stats kids to come from OOS and are not focused on having the higher stats OOS kids. They are going to accept those kids but want their full $$.

But then what is the logic in offering merit money and honors to strong but not exemplary students? That’s the cohort more likely to go w/o additional incentives.

[Anonymous]

For those wondering about merit, DD had a link at the bottom of her online acceptance letter. She was awarded the $25,000 CU Boulder Chancellor’s Achievement Scholarship, which is $6,250 per year. She was admitted to the biomedical engineering program, but her letter didn't say anything about an Honors College or program.

Did students have to apply to the Honors College separately? DD's at a basketball tournament today so I have no idea if she applied for Honors or not - but she should have.

Here are her stats, if helpful to others.

OOS - large public school district
4.0/4.62W at time of application (GPA went up slightly at the end of 1st semester)
35 ACT single-sitting; 36 superscore
1550 ACT single-sitting; 1570 or 80 superscore (can't remember)
10-ish APs, including several senior year. This is a typical amount for honors students at her high school, though some have more APs
3 sports, plus a club sport. Varsity captain of 2 of those sports, but not recruited athlete material
Executive student government officer and state officer of an organization
Some national awards for stuff unrelated to her major
Volunteering, etc.
NMSF

I've tried to stay back from her app process, though I helped by proofreading her essays before she submitted. I assumed CU Boulder had rolling admissions, so I wondered when notice of her acceptance or redirection would show up. She was also accepted to CO School of the Mines and some other schools, with a few more pending. Cost is a big issue for us and in-state would be free. CU Boulder does sound great and we have family in the area, so we may schedule a visit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In short, if you are looking for significant merit $, CU Boulder is not the place.

Right? Why don't people understand that alot of schools don't give merit. Doesn't matter about stats. They just don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In short, if you are looking for significant merit $, CU Boulder is not the place.

Right? Why don't people understand that alot of schools don't give merit. Doesn't matter about stats. They just don't.

But Boulder does some merit $. I think a bunch of us are just wondering why kids with lower stats got it and ours didn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So if there wasn’t notice of merit scholarship yesterday, there won’t be any?

I hope not. Some of these high stay kids have nice merit from much higher ranked schools. Boulder is a great location but needs to show at least a little love to be in consideration.

That would be my kid. No money from Boulder, and she has a 1500 SAT, weighted GPA of 4.8 and 13 AP classes — all 4s and 5s on the exams. She’d love to go to Boulder but without some $$$, it’s just not going to happen.

Wow, I am very surprised and sorry your DD did not get merit. She’ll definitely get a better offer. Last year my DS with lower stats for $6k per year and selected to interview for full ride but did not get. He was disappointed with $6k/year but as it turned out, he might have been fortunate. He went elsewhere and it happy but Boulder I am sure would have been great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In short, if you are looking for significant merit $, CU Boulder is not the place.

Right? Why don't people understand that alot of schools don't give merit. Doesn't matter about stats. They just don't.

But Boulder does some merit $. I think a bunch of us are just wondering why kids with lower stats got it and ours didn’t.

This is just a guess, but perhaps the assumption is that the higher stats applicants are unlikely to be swayed by the small merit?

I would think of these merit scholarships as mere discounts and, for whatever reason, the kids who got the discounts were presumed more likely to enroll than the others, per yield factors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In short, if you are looking for significant merit $, CU Boulder is not the place.

Right? Why don't people understand that alot of schools don't give merit. Doesn't matter about stats. They just don't.

But Boulder does some merit $. I think a bunch of us are just wondering why kids with lower stats got it and ours didn’t.

Maybe they were filtered out by the entitled-brat screen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In short, if you are looking for significant merit $, CU Boulder is not the place.

Right? Why don't people understand that alot of schools don't give merit. Doesn't matter about stats. They just don't.

But Boulder does some merit $. I think a bunch of us are just wondering why kids with lower stats got it and ours didn’t.

Maybe it has to do with a form of yield protection — as in, they aren’t confident that a high stats kid will actually end up going there (i.e., they are likely to go somewhere more prestigious) regardless of merit aid, so they don’t want to waste the award on them. We were at JMU this weekend and they asked parents to let them know ASAP if their kid wasn’t ultimately going to attend, because they wanted to use the merit for RD kids.