Has your kid or any kid you know won a full-ride scholarship to an elite college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one wins a merit scholarship, they EARN it. Even the way you pose the question is insulting.

No, these scholarships are extremely competitive and are won. The applicants earn the chance to take a shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My nephew received a full ride to Brown in 2015, graduating in 2019.

This was financial aid, not a merit scholarship.

No it was merit. He had a 4.0 unweighted and a super high SAT. I don’t know what the scholarship was called, but it was based on merit.

DP here.

Brown (and other ivies) do not give merit scholarships.

Nearly every student at those schools has stats like those attributed to your nephew.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My nephew received a full ride to Brown in 2015, graduating in 2019.

This was financial aid, not a merit scholarship.

No it was merit. He had a 4.0 unweighted and a super high SAT. I don’t know what the scholarship was called, but it was based on merit.

DP here.

Brown (and other ivies) do not give merit scholarships.

Nearly every student at those schools has stats like those attributed to your nephew.

Right. Brown could have a scholarship designated for students who excel in some specific way or want to study a particular topic. But the first threshold is need; students who don’t have financial need would not be considered.

It’s also possible that there’s some foundation or private organization that awards full scholarships to Brown based on factors other than need, like the Jefferson Scholars Foundation for UVA. But your nephew did not get a non-need-based scholarship from Brown University.

[Anonymous]

A relative was a Woodruff Scholar at Emory (full tuition) some years ago, but it looks like the program is still running.

[Anonymous]

I know a Blair kid who got a free ride to Carnegie Melon. He was truly extraordinary in Math and they were trying to build up their program and get students who would test well in the Putnam competition.

[Anonymous]

Years ago I received the Hodson scholarship from Hopkins, which I believe is the largest merit scholarship awarded. It covers 60% tuition for the four years.

As for me, I was a first gen college student, female in STEM with lots of ECs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a kid (California resident) who turned down Harvard and Yale for a scholarship to Berkeley

I knew several classmates who turned down Ivy League schools to go to UVA in state. At the time (early 2000s) Ivy's were $40k a year and UVA was I think $9k in state. Probably a wise choice.

Cousin's sons admitted to Duke, Ivies, but are Cav grads because money.

[Anonymous]

HS bf got a full ride to an HYPSM from a local businessman, who happened to be an alum of the school. BF met with him for the alum interview during application process. The biz guy followed up after admissions announcement and BF told him he was going to Michigan as parents could not afford the HYPSM tuition. A day later his parents got a call with the offer. This was nearly 40 years ago.

So, not exactly what OP is seeking, but he did win a (one-time) full-ride scholarship to an elite college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't Harvard automatically offer a full ride to anyone whose family income is less than a certain threshold?

Yes, but that's FA, not merit aid. These full-ride scholarships to highly ranked schools (read upthread) are not based on financial need.

If you are getting into Harvard and not paying for it, it doesn't matter what you or they call it, you got there on merit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HS bf got a full ride to an HYPSM from a local businessman, who happened to be an alum of the school. BF met with him for the alum interview during application process. The biz guy followed up after admissions announcement and BF told him he was going to Michigan as parents could not afford the HYPSM tuition. A day later his parents got a call with the offer. This was nearly 40 years ago.

So, not exactly what OP is seeking, but he did win a (one-time) full-ride scholarship to an elite college.

As it is a one-off, this is a gift, not a scholarship per se. I have tremendous admiration for the businessman who gave it. Amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't Harvard automatically offer a full ride to anyone whose family income is less than a certain threshold?

Yes, but that's FA, not merit aid. These full-ride scholarships to highly ranked schools (read upthread) are not based on financial need.

If you are getting into Harvard and not paying for it, it doesn't matter what you or they call it, you got there on merit.

What you are saying may be theoretically true, but it is not technically true, which is the only kind of true that matters. So therefore, it is false.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid got the Stamps scholarship, which is full ride. But the schools that participate in Stamps, while strong, are not super elite. I know that UChicago used to participate, but not anymore.

I know Stamps scholarship recipient at Pitt. Talks frequently about being 1st gen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HS bf got a full ride to an HYPSM from a local businessman, who happened to be an alum of the school. BF met with him for the alum interview during application process. The biz guy followed up after admissions announcement and BF told him he was going to Michigan as parents could not afford the HYPSM tuition. A day later his parents got a call with the offer. This was nearly 40 years ago.

So, not exactly what OP is seeking, but he did win a (one-time) full-ride scholarship to an elite college.

As it is a one-off, this is a gift, not a scholarship per se. I have tremendous admiration for the businessman who gave it. Amazing.

Right. Meant to put the scholarship in quote marks. Yeah, pretty amazing. Would not necessarily describe my ex BF as charismatic, but loved - and loves ideas - and I think that made a deep, favorable impression on the businessman who made his money through numerous inventions in finish process technology. They clicked and the rest is history.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A relative was a Woodruff Scholar at Emory (full tuition) some years ago, but it looks like the program is still running.

One of my DS' best friends will be attending Emory this fall and got a full ride - Woodruff Scholar. 2021 high school grad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elite colleges don’t offer merit scholarships. So the answer is no.

Not true. Looks at the Stamps Foundation. The Ivy League doesn't offer merit scholarships, but many other elite colleges do. https://www.stampsscholars.org/our-program/partner-schools/