Go to the school that wants you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else love this?

My DD received some pretty good merit money from 2 schools but was waitlisted at another that was near the top of her list. The waitlist school required supplemental materials, but when my DD saw that she was like “forget that! I don’t want to go there that badly!”

I was like this too when I was applying (ages ago), and I’m glad my DD felt that way that on her own, rather than start writing letters of interest and sending supplemental info, and then still have the chance to be rejected. Seems like you’re begging a school to take you, when they don’t seem terribly interested.

I guess the question is this a school that anyone that has criteria of X receives Y, or is this an individualized award of merit?

If the latter...completely agree with you. If the former, I guess just understand that this is the school's business model...high rack-rate and merit for everybody.

If a school has criteria for merit (your X receives Y example), how is that merit for everyone? Presumably not everyone applying to that school has the GPA or test score merit cut off.

Meaning, everyone that achieves X gets Y. There is nothing individual about it. Also, there is little mystery regarding acceptance if you have the minimum stats for merit.

Put another way, you can go to Niche Direct Admit and input your stats and there will be a number of schools with automatic acceptance and the merit they will give you.

Yup. It’s an algorithm nothing individual about it. But hey if it helps OP’s sour grapes to say it this way, that’s fine.

Ooooh this is OP - I’m interested in exactly what sour grapes I possess!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else love this?

My DD received some pretty good merit money from 2 schools but was waitlisted at another that was near the top of her list. The waitlist school required supplemental materials, but when my DD saw that she was like “forget that! I don’t want to go there that badly!”

I was like this too when I was applying (ages ago), and I’m glad my DD felt that way that on her own, rather than start writing letters of interest and sending supplemental info, and then still have the chance to be rejected. Seems like you’re begging a school to take you, when they don’t seem terribly interested.

I guess the question is this a school that anyone that has criteria of X receives Y, or is this an individualized award of merit?

If the latter...completely agree with you. If the former, I guess just understand that this is the school's business model...high rack-rate and merit for everybody.

If a school has criteria for merit (your X receives Y example), how is that merit for everyone? Presumably not everyone applying to that school has the GPA or test score merit cut off.

Meaning, everyone that achieves X gets Y. There is nothing individual about it. Also, there is little mystery regarding acceptance if you have the minimum stats for merit.

Put another way, you can go to Niche Direct Admit and input your stats and there will be a number of schools with automatic acceptance and the merit they will give you.

Yup. It’s an algorithm nothing individual about it. But hey if it helps OP’s sour grapes to say it this way, that’s fine.

Ooooh this is OP - I’m interested in exactly what sour grapes I possess!

I just looked up the criteria for my DD’s merit, and it says it’s based on “academic achievement and excellence beyond the classroom.” Awards
Range from 5-15k. My daughter got 15k.
Is this an individualized award or an algorithm? (I’m guessing I already know your answer)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else love this?

My DD received some pretty good merit money from 2 schools but was waitlisted at another that was near the top of her list. The waitlist school required supplemental materials, but when my DD saw that she was like “forget that! I don’t want to go there that badly!”

I was like this too when I was applying (ages ago), and I’m glad my DD felt that way that on her own, rather than start writing letters of interest and sending supplemental info, and then still have the chance to be rejected. Seems like you’re begging a school to take you, when they don’t seem terribly interested.

I guess the question is this a school that anyone that has criteria of X receives Y, or is this an individualized award of merit?

If the latter...completely agree with you. If the former, I guess just understand that this is the school's business model...high rack-rate and merit for everybody.

If a school has criteria for merit (your X receives Y example), how is that merit for everyone? Presumably not everyone applying to that school has the GPA or test score merit cut off.

Meaning, everyone that achieves X gets Y. There is nothing individual about it. Also, there is little mystery regarding acceptance if you have the minimum stats for merit.

Put another way, you can go to Niche Direct Admit and input your stats and there will be a number of schools with automatic acceptance and the merit they will give you.

Isn’t this how it works for most merit scholarships? Are schools really saying “we’ll look at sally…she’s super interesting! Let’s give her…say…15k! And look at Mary…she’s pretty smart too, but not as much as Sally. Let’s give her 12k.”

I still take issue with “merit for everyone.” Clearly everyone is not getting merit at most schools.

There literally are schools where 100% of the accepted students get merit. See a list below:

Name State % Freshmen W/out Need
Receiving Merit Aid Avg Merit Award Cost of Attendance
('22-'23)
Beloit College WI 99 $41,660 $67,172
Albion College MI 100 $39,697 $67,796
Susquehanna University PA 98 $36,317 $70,600
Kalamazoo College MI 96 $36,009 $68,166
Clarkson University NY 100 $35,794 $76,666
Washington & Jefferson College PA 100 $34,857 $45,515
The College of Wooster OH 98 $33,902 $73,550
Washington College MD 100 $33,834 $67,960
Ursinus College PA 97 $33,247 $74,240
Coe College IA 98 $33,182 $63,562
Simpson College IA 100 $32,534 $55,394
Lebannon Valley College PA 98 $32,257 $60,460
Centre College KY 98 $32,217 $60,370
St. Catherine University MN 96 $32,101 $58,764
Wabash College IN 100 $31,853 $61,500
Lawrence University WI 99 $31,503 $66,987
Widener University PA 97 $31,300 $68,148
Agnes Scott College GA 100 $31,127 $61,195
Cornell College IA 99 $30,950 $61,168
Ohio Wesleyan University OH 99 $30,854 $69,443

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else love this?

My DD received some pretty good merit money from 2 schools but was waitlisted at another that was near the top of her list. The waitlist school required supplemental materials, but when my DD saw that she was like “forget that! I don’t want to go there that badly!”

I was like this too when I was applying (ages ago), and I’m glad my DD felt that way that on her own, rather than start writing letters of interest and sending supplemental info, and then still have the chance to be rejected. Seems like you’re begging a school to take you, when they don’t seem terribly interested.

I guess the question is this a school that anyone that has criteria of X receives Y, or is this an individualized award of merit?

If the latter...completely agree with you. If the former, I guess just understand that this is the school's business model...high rack-rate and merit for everybody.

If a school has criteria for merit (your X receives Y example), how is that merit for everyone? Presumably not everyone applying to that school has the GPA or test score merit cut off.

Meaning, everyone that achieves X gets Y. There is nothing individual about it. Also, there is little mystery regarding acceptance if you have the minimum stats for merit.

Put another way, you can go to Niche Direct Admit and input your stats and there will be a number of schools with automatic acceptance and the merit they will give you.

Isn’t this how it works for most merit scholarships? Are schools really saying “we’ll look at sally…she’s super interesting! Let’s give her…say…15k! And look at Mary…she’s pretty smart too, but not as much as Sally. Let’s give her 12k.”

I still take issue with “merit for everyone.” Clearly everyone is not getting merit at most schools.

There literally are schools where 100% of the accepted students get merit. See a list below:

Name State % Freshmen W/out Need
Receiving Merit Aid Avg Merit Award Cost of Attendance
('22-'23)
Beloit College WI 99 $41,660 $67,172
Albion College MI 100 $39,697 $67,796
Susquehanna University PA 98 $36,317 $70,600
Kalamazoo College MI 96 $36,009 $68,166
Clarkson University NY 100 $35,794 $76,666
Washington & Jefferson College PA 100 $34,857 $45,515
The College of Wooster OH 98 $33,902 $73,550
Washington College MD 100 $33,834 $67,960
Ursinus College PA 97 $33,247 $74,240
Coe College IA 98 $33,182 $63,562
Simpson College IA 100 $32,534 $55,394
Lebannon Valley College PA 98 $32,257 $60,460
Centre College KY 98 $32,217 $60,370
St. Catherine University MN 96 $32,101 $58,764
Wabash College IN 100 $31,853 $61,500
Lawrence University WI 99 $31,503 $66,987
Widener University PA 97 $31,300 $68,148
Agnes Scott College GA 100 $31,127 $61,195
Cornell College IA 99 $30,950 $61,168
Ohio Wesleyan University OH 99 $30,854 $69,443

I said MOST schools. 20 out of thousands of schools still supports my statement. Most schools aren’t giving merit to everyone. Just a handful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else love this?

My DD received some pretty good merit money from 2 schools but was waitlisted at another that was near the top of her list. The waitlist school required supplemental materials, but when my DD saw that she was like “forget that! I don’t want to go there that badly!”

I was like this too when I was applying (ages ago), and I’m glad my DD felt that way that on her own, rather than start writing letters of interest and sending supplemental info, and then still have the chance to be rejected. Seems like you’re begging a school to take you, when they don’t seem terribly interested.

I guess the question is this a school that anyone that has criteria of X receives Y, or is this an individualized award of merit?

If the latter...completely agree with you. If the former, I guess just understand that this is the school's business model...high rack-rate and merit for everybody.

If a school has criteria for merit (your X receives Y example), how is that merit for everyone? Presumably not everyone applying to that school has the GPA or test score merit cut off.

Meaning, everyone that achieves X gets Y. There is nothing individual about it. Also, there is little mystery regarding acceptance if you have the minimum stats for merit.

Put another way, you can go to Niche Direct Admit and input your stats and there will be a number of schools with automatic acceptance and the merit they will give you.

Isn’t this how it works for most merit scholarships? Are schools really saying “we’ll look at sally…she’s super interesting! Let’s give her…say…15k! And look at Mary…she’s pretty smart too, but not as much as Sally. Let’s give her 12k.”

I still take issue with “merit for everyone.” Clearly everyone is not getting merit at most schools.

There literally are schools where 100% of the accepted students get merit. See a list below:

Name State % Freshmen W/out Need
Receiving Merit Aid Avg Merit Award Cost of Attendance
('22-'23)
Beloit College WI 99 $41,660 $67,172
Albion College MI 100 $39,697 $67,796
Susquehanna University PA 98 $36,317 $70,600
Kalamazoo College MI 96 $36,009 $68,166
Clarkson University NY 100 $35,794 $76,666
Washington & Jefferson College PA 100 $34,857 $45,515
The College of Wooster OH 98 $33,902 $73,550
Washington College MD 100 $33,834 $67,960
Ursinus College PA 97 $33,247 $74,240
Coe College IA 98 $33,182 $63,562
Simpson College IA 100 $32,534 $55,394
Lebannon Valley College PA 98 $32,257 $60,460
Centre College KY 98 $32,217 $60,370
St. Catherine University MN 96 $32,101 $58,764
Wabash College IN 100 $31,853 $61,500
Lawrence University WI 99 $31,503 $66,987
Widener University PA 97 $31,300 $68,148
Agnes Scott College GA 100 $31,127 $61,195
Cornell College IA 99 $30,950 $61,168
Ohio Wesleyan University OH 99 $30,854 $69,443

I said MOST schools. 20 out of thousands of schools still supports my statement. Most schools aren’t giving merit to everyone. Just a handful.

From where I got the list:

'We have shared the top 20 colleges offering the most generous merit aid. However, there are over 340 colleges and universities offering 95% or more of their students without financial need merit aid.'

So, 340 colleges out of roughly 3,000 4-year colleges (or call it 10%). That's schools offering 95% or more of the students. I would assume there are many hundreds more if you lowered the threshold to 75% of the students (but I guess I can't speculate).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else love this?

My DD received some pretty good merit money from 2 schools but was waitlisted at another that was near the top of her list. The waitlist school required supplemental materials, but when my DD saw that she was like “forget that! I don’t want to go there that badly!”

I was like this too when I was applying (ages ago), and I’m glad my DD felt that way that on her own, rather than start writing letters of interest and sending supplemental info, and then still have the chance to be rejected. Seems like you’re begging a school to take you, when they don’t seem terribly interested.

I guess the question is this a school that anyone that has criteria of X receives Y, or is this an individualized award of merit?

If the latter...completely agree with you. If the former, I guess just understand that this is the school's business model...high rack-rate and merit for everybody.

If a school has criteria for merit (your X receives Y example), how is that merit for everyone? Presumably not everyone applying to that school has the GPA or test score merit cut off.

Meaning, everyone that achieves X gets Y. There is nothing individual about it. Also, there is little mystery regarding acceptance if you have the minimum stats for merit.

Put another way, you can go to Niche Direct Admit and input your stats and there will be a number of schools with automatic acceptance and the merit they will give you.

Isn’t this how it works for most merit scholarships? Are schools really saying “we’ll look at sally…she’s super interesting! Let’s give her…say…15k! And look at Mary…she’s pretty smart too, but not as much as Sally. Let’s give her 12k.”

I still take issue with “merit for everyone.” Clearly everyone is not getting merit at most schools.

There literally are schools where 100% of the accepted students get merit. See a list below:

Name State % Freshmen W/out Need
Receiving Merit Aid Avg Merit Award Cost of Attendance
('22-'23)
Beloit College WI 99 $41,660 $67,172
Albion College MI 100 $39,697 $67,796
Susquehanna University PA 98 $36,317 $70,600
Kalamazoo College MI 96 $36,009 $68,166
Clarkson University NY 100 $35,794 $76,666
Washington & Jefferson College PA 100 $34,857 $45,515
The College of Wooster OH 98 $33,902 $73,550
Washington College MD 100 $33,834 $67,960
Ursinus College PA 97 $33,247 $74,240
Coe College IA 98 $33,182 $63,562
Simpson College IA 100 $32,534 $55,394
Lebannon Valley College PA 98 $32,257 $60,460
Centre College KY 98 $32,217 $60,370
St. Catherine University MN 96 $32,101 $58,764
Wabash College IN 100 $31,853 $61,500
Lawrence University WI 99 $31,503 $66,987
Widener University PA 97 $31,300 $68,148
Agnes Scott College GA 100 $31,127 $61,195
Cornell College IA 99 $30,950 $61,168
Ohio Wesleyan University OH 99 $30,854 $69,443

I said MOST schools. 20 out of thousands of schools still supports my statement. Most schools aren’t giving merit to everyone. Just a handful.

From where I got the list:

'We have shared the top 20 colleges offering the most generous merit aid. However, there are over 340 colleges and universities offering 95% or more of their students without financial need merit aid.'

So, 340 colleges out of roughly 3,000 4-year colleges (or call it 10%). That's schools offering 95% or more of the students. I would assume there are many hundreds more if you lowered the threshold to 75% of the students (but I guess I can't speculate).

So we went from EVERYONE GETS MERIT, to a list where 100, 99, and 98% get merit, and now we’re taking about 75-95% get merit. We could make lists like this for days.

My point still stands no matter how hard you try - there is literally a handful of schools that give merit to everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else love this?

My DD received some pretty good merit money from 2 schools but was waitlisted at another that was near the top of her list. The waitlist school required supplemental materials, but when my DD saw that she was like “forget that! I don’t want to go there that badly!”

I was like this too when I was applying (ages ago), and I’m glad my DD felt that way that on her own, rather than start writing letters of interest and sending supplemental info, and then still have the chance to be rejected. Seems like you’re begging a school to take you, when they don’t seem terribly interested.

I guess the question is this a school that anyone that has criteria of X receives Y, or is this an individualized award of merit?

If the latter...completely agree with you. If the former, I guess just understand that this is the school's business model...high rack-rate and merit for everybody.

If a school has criteria for merit (your X receives Y example), how is that merit for everyone? Presumably not everyone applying to that school has the GPA or test score merit cut off.

Meaning, everyone that achieves X gets Y. There is nothing individual about it. Also, there is little mystery regarding acceptance if you have the minimum stats for merit.

Put another way, you can go to Niche Direct Admit and input your stats and there will be a number of schools with automatic acceptance and the merit they will give you.

Isn’t this how it works for most merit scholarships? Are schools really saying “we’ll look at sally…she’s super interesting! Let’s give her…say…15k! And look at Mary…she’s pretty smart too, but not as much as Sally. Let’s give her 12k.”

I still take issue with “merit for everyone.” Clearly everyone is not getting merit at most schools.

There literally are schools where 100% of the accepted students get merit. See a list below:

Name State % Freshmen W/out Need
Receiving Merit Aid Avg Merit Award Cost of Attendance
('22-'23)
Beloit College WI 99 $41,660 $67,172
Albion College MI 100 $39,697 $67,796
Susquehanna University PA 98 $36,317 $70,600
Kalamazoo College MI 96 $36,009 $68,166
Clarkson University NY 100 $35,794 $76,666
Washington & Jefferson College PA 100 $34,857 $45,515
The College of Wooster OH 98 $33,902 $73,550
Washington College MD 100 $33,834 $67,960
Ursinus College PA 97 $33,247 $74,240
Coe College IA 98 $33,182 $63,562
Simpson College IA 100 $32,534 $55,394
Lebannon Valley College PA 98 $32,257 $60,460
Centre College KY 98 $32,217 $60,370
St. Catherine University MN 96 $32,101 $58,764
Wabash College IN 100 $31,853 $61,500
Lawrence University WI 99 $31,503 $66,987
Widener University PA 97 $31,300 $68,148
Agnes Scott College GA 100 $31,127 $61,195
Cornell College IA 99 $30,950 $61,168
Ohio Wesleyan University OH 99 $30,854 $69,443

I said MOST schools. 20 out of thousands of schools still supports my statement. Most schools aren’t giving merit to everyone. Just a handful.

From where I got the list:

'We have shared the top 20 colleges offering the most generous merit aid. However, there are over 340 colleges and universities offering 95% or more of their students without financial need merit aid.'

So, 340 colleges out of roughly 3,000 4-year colleges (or call it 10%). That's schools offering 95% or more of the students. I would assume there are many hundreds more if you lowered the threshold to 75% of the students (but I guess I can't speculate).

So we went from EVERYONE GETS MERIT, to a list where 100, 99, and 98% get merit, and now we’re taking about 75-95% get merit. We could make lists like this for days.

My point still stands no matter how hard you try - there is literally a handful of schools that give merit to everyone.

Sorry, but 95% is basically everyone...and that's 340 schools. That's more than a handful.

I strongly doubt anyone from DCUM falls into that 5% not getting anything.

[Anonymous]

The schools that give “merit” to everyone really should just drop their list price. It’s honestly just a discounted price, but this is how they do things, for whatever reason.

To be fair, several of these schools were on my daughter’s list (not the ones listed above, though)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else love this?

My DD received some pretty good merit money from 2 schools but was waitlisted at another that was near the top of her list. The waitlist school required supplemental materials, but when my DD saw that she was like “forget that! I don’t want to go there that badly!”

I was like this too when I was applying (ages ago), and I’m glad my DD felt that way that on her own, rather than start writing letters of interest and sending supplemental info, and then still have the chance to be rejected. Seems like you’re begging a school to take you, when they don’t seem terribly interested.

I guess the question is this a school that anyone that has criteria of X receives Y, or is this an individualized award of merit?

If the latter...completely agree with you. If the former, I guess just understand that this is the school's business model...high rack-rate and merit for everybody.

If a school has criteria for merit (your X receives Y example), how is that merit for everyone? Presumably not everyone applying to that school has the GPA or test score merit cut off.

Meaning, everyone that achieves X gets Y. There is nothing individual about it. Also, there is little mystery regarding acceptance if you have the minimum stats for merit.

Put another way, you can go to Niche Direct Admit and input your stats and there will be a number of schools with automatic acceptance and the merit they will give you.

Isn’t this how it works for most merit scholarships? Are schools really saying “we’ll look at sally…she’s super interesting! Let’s give her…say…15k! And look at Mary…she’s pretty smart too, but not as much as Sally. Let’s give her 12k.”

I still take issue with “merit for everyone.” Clearly everyone is not getting merit at most schools.

There literally are schools where 100% of the accepted students get merit. See a list below:

Name State % Freshmen W/out Need
Receiving Merit Aid Avg Merit Award Cost of Attendance
('22-'23)
Beloit College WI 99 $41,660 $67,172
Albion College MI 100 $39,697 $67,796
Susquehanna University PA 98 $36,317 $70,600
Kalamazoo College MI 96 $36,009 $68,166
Clarkson University NY 100 $35,794 $76,666
Washington & Jefferson College PA 100 $34,857 $45,515
The College of Wooster OH 98 $33,902 $73,550
Washington College MD 100 $33,834 $67,960
Ursinus College PA 97 $33,247 $74,240
Coe College IA 98 $33,182 $63,562
Simpson College IA 100 $32,534 $55,394
Lebannon Valley College PA 98 $32,257 $60,460
Centre College KY 98 $32,217 $60,370
St. Catherine University MN 96 $32,101 $58,764
Wabash College IN 100 $31,853 $61,500
Lawrence University WI 99 $31,503 $66,987
Widener University PA 97 $31,300 $68,148
Agnes Scott College GA 100 $31,127 $61,195
Cornell College IA 99 $30,950 $61,168
Ohio Wesleyan University OH 99 $30,854 $69,443

I said MOST schools. 20 out of thousands of schools still supports my statement. Most schools aren’t giving merit to everyone. Just a handful.

From where I got the list:

'We have shared the top 20 colleges offering the most generous merit aid. However, there are over 340 colleges and universities offering 95% or more of their students without financial need merit aid.'

So, 340 colleges out of roughly 3,000 4-year colleges (or call it 10%). That's schools offering 95% or more of the students. I would assume there are many hundreds more if you lowered the threshold to 75% of the students (but I guess I can't speculate).

So we went from EVERYONE GETS MERIT, to a list where 100, 99, and 98% get merit, and now we’re taking about 75-95% get merit. We could make lists like this for days.

My point still stands no matter how hard you try - there is literally a handful of schools that give merit to everyone.

Sorry, but 95% is basically everyone...and that's 340 schools. That's more than a handful.

I strongly doubt anyone from DCUM falls into that 5% not getting anything.

Ok. You’re right. 95% equals everyone. And 10% is a huge huge number. You got me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The schools that give “merit” to everyone really should just drop their list price. It’s honestly just a discounted price, but this is how they do things, for whatever reason.

To be fair, several of these schools were on my daughter’s list (not the ones listed above, though)

Are most schools that do this privates?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The schools that give “merit” to everyone really should just drop their list price. It’s honestly just a discounted price, but this is how they do things, for whatever reason.

To be fair, several of these schools were on my daughter’s list (not the ones listed above, though)

Are most schools that do this privates?

Yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The schools that give “merit” to everyone really should just drop their list price. It’s honestly just a discounted price, but this is how they do things, for whatever reason.

To be fair, several of these schools were on my daughter’s list (not the ones listed above, though)

Are most schools that do this privates?

Yes

So what’s the point then? Of the high sticker price but cash for everyone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The schools that give “merit” to everyone really should just drop their list price. It’s honestly just a discounted price, but this is how they do things, for whatever reason.

To be fair, several of these schools were on my daughter’s list (not the ones listed above, though)

Are most schools that do this privates?

Yes

So what’s the point then? Of the high sticker price but cash for everyone?

The view that a high sticker price = quality...even though nearly everyone doesn't pay the sticker price.

Bridgewater College in VA took the opposite approach. Decided not enough kids were applying with the high sticker price, so dropped tuition by 60% and got rid of merit aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else love this?

My DD received some pretty good merit money from 2 schools but was waitlisted at another that was near the top of her list. The waitlist school required supplemental materials, but when my DD saw that she was like “forget that! I don’t want to go there that badly!”

I was like this too when I was applying (ages ago), and I’m glad my DD felt that way that on her own, rather than start writing letters of interest and sending supplemental info, and then still have the chance to be rejected. Seems like you’re begging a school to take you, when they don’t seem terribly interested.

I guess the question is this a school that anyone that has criteria of X receives Y, or is this an individualized award of merit?

If the latter...completely agree with you. If the former, I guess just understand that this is the school's business model...high rack-rate and merit for everybody.

If a school has criteria for merit (your X receives Y example), how is that merit for everyone? Presumably not everyone applying to that school has the GPA or test score merit cut off.

Meaning, everyone that achieves X gets Y. There is nothing individual about it. Also, there is little mystery regarding acceptance if you have the minimum stats for merit.

Put another way, you can go to Niche Direct Admit and input your stats and there will be a number of schools with automatic acceptance and the merit they will give you.

Yup. It’s an algorithm nothing individual about it. But hey if it helps OP’s sour grapes to say it this way, that’s fine.

Ooooh this is OP - I’m interested in exactly what sour grapes I possess!

I just looked up the criteria for my DD’s merit, and it says it’s based on “academic achievement and excellence beyond the classroom.” Awards
Range from 5-15k. My daughter got 15k.
Is this an individualized award or an algorithm? (I’m guessing I already know your answer)

Oh don’t be so triggered and defensive. The award was based on an algorithm that said if we give her X, she will likely bite. Guess what it worked, You’re biting. Congrats on the discounted tuition. A year from now it won’t matter that she couldn’t get into the higher ranked school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The schools that give “merit” to everyone really should just drop their list price. It’s honestly just a discounted price, but this is how they do things, for whatever reason.

To be fair, several of these schools were on my daughter’s list (not the ones listed above, though)

Are most schools that do this privates?

Yes

So what’s the point then? Of the high sticker price but cash for everyone?

The view that a high sticker price = quality...even though nearly everyone doesn't pay the sticker price.

Bridgewater College in VA took the opposite approach. Decided not enough kids were applying with the high sticker price, so dropped tuition by 60% and got rid of merit aid.

Rider in NJ also dropped tuition fairly recently, but still gives merit to just about everyone.

Just drop to whatever that minimum is and go from there