Your merit aid success story

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To get merit, you have to research what school gives merit (are buyers) and which do not (are sellers).

If you want merit, look for schools that are “buyers.”

Gee thanks

Yup you'll get more money where school wants you. Everyone wants Harvard so no matter how great you are, you won't get merit money. They only give need based aid. For Tufts or Tulane, to take you away from Harvard, they've to sweeten the deal. If you aren't at that level, they too won't offer any merit money.

Other than ROTC and a small amount via National Merit Scholarships, Tufts does not offer merit aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC got $25K/yr from UMiami and $20K/yr from UMN.

I will never understand UMiami. DS really wanted to attend but got zero merit aid. 4.7w, plenty of rigor and 1480 SAT. Meanwhile we know of kids with lower stats who got a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC got $25K/yr from UMiami and $20K/yr from UMN.

I will never understand UMiami. DS really wanted to attend but got zero merit aid. 4.7w, plenty of rigor and 1480 SAT. Meanwhile we know of kids with lower stats who got a lot.

College admissions is a ridiculous crapshoot that makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

NOVA HS class of 23. 3.95/4.5, 1560
Lehigh ~$30.5k/yr
CWRU $30K
BU $25k
UMN $25K
Ohio St. $16.5k
UMD $10K (ATTENDING)
WM and Pitt $0

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Way back when my kid got essentially half tuition merit from Grinnell. Once she got that she picked it over Carleton and William & Mary. We weren’t willing to go any lower than that in the rankings, merit or no merit aid. Didn’t make sense for a high achiever like her.

I was a high achiever who went to an LAC much lower ranked than Grinnell for a full merit aid offer and I had an amazing learning experience and went to an Ivy for my PhD and felt well-prepared for it. I think high achievers can thrive in many, many schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Way back when my kid got essentially half tuition merit from Grinnell. Once she got that she picked it over Carleton and William & Mary. We weren’t willing to go any lower than that in the rankings, merit or no merit aid. Didn’t make sense for a high achiever like her.

I was a high achiever who went to an LAC much lower ranked than Grinnell for a full merit aid offer and I had an amazing learning experience and went to an Ivy for my PhD and felt well-prepared for it. I think high achievers can thrive in many, many schools.

Shhhhh…no one is supposed to believe that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Way back when my kid got essentially half tuition merit from Grinnell. Once she got that she picked it over Carleton and William & Mary. We weren’t willing to go any lower than that in the rankings, merit or no merit aid. Didn’t make sense for a high achiever like her.

I was a high achiever who went to an LAC much lower ranked than Grinnell for a full merit aid offer and I had an amazing learning experience and went to an Ivy for my PhD and felt well-prepared for it. I think high achievers can thrive in many, many schools.

Shhhhh…no one is supposed to believe that

Adding-- I also wasn't the smartest one there by a long shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kid received enough at Kalamazoo College to bring price down to $25,000, full tuition at Juniata College to bring price to $13,000, and $15-$20,000 at UVM for a final COA of $45,000, and others.

Attending UMD for $30,000.

Wow, these are great offers at schools our kid is looking at (though we're in Virginia so W&M is the in-state first choice rather than UMD). Congrats to your kid!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Way back when my kid got essentially half tuition merit from Grinnell. Once she got that she picked it over Carleton and William & Mary. We weren’t willing to go any lower than that in the rankings, merit or no merit aid. Didn’t make sense for a high achiever like her.

I was a high achiever who went to an LAC much lower ranked than Grinnell for a full merit aid offer and I had an amazing learning experience and went to an Ivy for my PhD and felt well-prepared for it. I think high achievers can thrive in many, many schools.

You are right. Just look at the list of schools from which Harvard accepts its law class each year.

Just one example

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid received enough at Kalamazoo College to bring price down to $25,000, full tuition at Juniata College to bring price to $13,000, and $15-$20,000 at UVM for a final COA of $45,000, and others.

Attending UMD for $30,000.


Wow! Great offers

Thank you!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid received enough at Kalamazoo College to bring price down to $25,000, full tuition at Juniata College to bring price to $13,000, and $15-$20,000 at UVM for a final COA of $45,000, and others.

Attending UMD for $30,000.

Wow, these are great offers at schools our kid is looking at (though we're in Virginia so W&M is the in-state first choice rather than UMD). Congrats to your kid!

Thank you so much!! 😄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To get merit, you have to research what school gives merit (are buyers) and which do not (are sellers).

If you want merit, look for schools that are “buyers.”

Gee thanks

Well you have people here acting like they can’t figure this out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:25k Grinnell. Enough to draw DC (nervously, at first...then enthusiastically) to midwest.

For those interested, Grinnell now guarantees $20K/year to all successful domestic ED applicants. Very strong candidates might get more but the $20K is a nice promise.

I greatly admire this!

Wow, we could not do ED without knowing the merit aid situation. Finally, a school does the right thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wooster $43K, Allegheny $41K, Clark $30k - annual.

Congrats. Do you mind sharing stats (and/or if applied TO)? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Got our first 0 merit offer as a point of comparison. Since schools hate this, I won't name it but it ranked in the same range as the others on US News and World Report--70-100 ish.

Student had sub 1400 scores, 3.5 ish gpa. Has gotten merit at every other school in this range (5 others), so I was starting to expect it.

Sometimes the m,Eric will come in later.