Test Optional and Merit Aid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

This is a good advice. Since he is going TO anyway, give it a shot at ACT (and also retake SAT??). What do you got to lose?

He has time and effort to loose. Why bother. He should just focus on the ECs that he does well at and his applications. My kid isn’t a good test taker either. That is just one skill and lots of schools are realizing that it has never been the only indicator of a valuable candidate. Consider the test blind schools, the entire California system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

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.

My TO 4.2 kid with 6 APs and 4-year sport, NHS, and a STEM focus received zero merit at Elon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“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?

This is worse than uncharitable, it’s untrue. Many colleges will give merit for this GPA, even test optional.

+1

Some kids just do not test well---I have one. 30+ hours of test prep and they were at .....drumroll....the exact same score where they started (~1250). ADHD and anxiety are often an issue with standardized testing. Kid has graduated college, employed for 2+ years with the top raise each year. I'd call that successful. Kid graduate college with a 3.4+ and it was "only that low" because of first year premed attempt that failed miserably and killed the gpa. If they had started in their actual major, they would've been over a 3.6.

Yep! 23 grad took test prep and….drumroll…score went DOWN a bit. Princeton 1400+ guarantee reimbursed us the cost of test prep since it did not work.

The 2023 grad had test anxiety and poor working memory, which makes math tests hard. They can do the math with more time but they don’t get more time.

Op—Look at WMU.

[Anonymous]

My DD went TO and got $15000/yr from CU Boulder

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD went TO and got $15000/yr from CU Boulder

Would you mind sharing your DD’s UW/W gpa? And did she have APs? I think DS would love Boulder and we have family there but he needs merit aid. Just yesterday I was trying to research if he’d qualify and it didn’t look hopeful. He has a 3.5 unweighted and a 4.2 weighted.

[Anonymous]

I think expecting test optional will result in merit aid is a little like expecting a medal for turning up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think expecting test optional will result in merit aid is a little like expecting a medal for turning up.

And yet there are schools that advertise automatic merit discounts for certain GPAs, if you apply test optional. Do you think those schools are lying?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think expecting test optional will result in merit aid is a little like expecting a medal for turning up.

And yet there are schools that advertise automatic merit discounts for certain GPAs, if you apply test optional. Do you think those schools are lying?

DP. Those schools are desperate for students and don't exactly have a line of students breaking down the doors to get in!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think expecting test optional will result in merit aid is a little like expecting a medal for turning up.

And yet there are schools that advertise automatic merit discounts for certain GPAs, if you apply test optional. Do you think those schools are lying?

No I'm sure they're not "lying" but I wonder if they're worth attending. It might be better to put the application in directly to Starbucks rather than waste 4 years somewhere only to be doing that at the end of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

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.

Ooh, does he know/is he Adam Jockle?

[Anonymous]

Disagree strongly with the Temple suggestion, but check out St. Joe's. It's a nice school that is quite generous with merit aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Disagree strongly with the Temple suggestion, but check out St. Joe's. It's a nice school that is quite generous with merit aid.

Oh, never mind, I see that Temple is his idea. Temple is not overly generous with merit aid. They used to be, but more of their aid is now directed to first-gen students and grads of local high schools. Does he know what he wants to major in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

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.

My TO 4.2 kid with 6 APs and 4-year sport, NHS, and a STEM focus received zero merit at Elon.

My 3.8 uw TO kid (no APs as school does not offer) got 10k at Elon and an additional 2.5k when we asked if they could increase it. Elon is not really known for great merit because their price is a bit lower. By contrast, my kid got aid in the 20k range at most other schools.

[Anonymous]

Most schools today are TO. My kid goes to a big name private and so many kids not
submitting. It has gotten to the point where if you don’t have a 1500 then you worry about submitting. I feel like i a few years there will be no SAT/ACT. I am guessing your kid will get merit somewhere.

[Anonymous]

my kid got offered between 10k-$85K annuallyh TO, granted kid had special skill, music major from T30-T150 schools so it can be done but I think specilzed program and if they distinguish self in one expert area.