Anonymous wrote:OP: I believe all the schools have some kind of merit scholarships but their definition of "merit" may be different than yours. I think school offers scholarships to the students they want, and sometime that can be because of a particular sport, or ethnicity! Grades or academic standing is probably the least likely reason to give out scholarships because, well frankly, most of the students applying were all pretty good on that front.

My DC was offered one at a school we ultimately declined because another school just felt better fit.

This is false. Some schools have some merit aid but the norm is that schools go by financial need. As has emerged above, most likely you'll find merit awards at some of the Catholic/parochial schools. If you assume merit aid is widely available you will be disappointed.

Anonymous wrote:OP: I believe all the schools have some kind of merit scholarships but their definition of "merit" may be different than yours. I think school offers scholarships to the students they want, and sometime that can be because of a particular sport, or ethnicity! Grades or academic standing is probably the least likely reason to give out scholarships because, well frankly, most of the students applying were all pretty good on that front.

My DC was offered one at a school we ultimately declined because another school just felt better fit.

Exactly this,you have to be very bright to be admitted so it isn't a distinguishing characteristic justifying merit aid. I'm in Baltimore and the limited "merit" aid I've seen given out is for athletics.

St Andrew's has a limited number of inspire merit awards for feshmen. As another poster said, some schools' ideas of merit consider factors besides grades But . . . If you have a very strong academic student -one who would be strong at any of the Big x alternatives downtown - ask about them regardless of other talents. You may be pleasantly surprised and they and they can provide a comparable education for these kids and it's a great culture. It's just that when you are a Montgomery county based school the publics are a major competitor as well as other privates. The DC privates are largely insulated from that competition so they have no need to do this. Good luck OP.

OP: I believe all the schools have some kind of merit scholarships but their definition of "merit" may be different than yours. I think school offers scholarships to the students they want, and sometime that can be because of a particular sport, or ethnicity! Grades or academic standing is probably the least likely reason to give out scholarships because, well frankly, most of the students applying were all pretty good on that front.

My DC was offered one at a school we ultimately declined because another school just felt better fit.

Actually I think that your daughter would be most likely to get a merit scholarship at the school she especially wants to go to .
So, take her around for visits and see which school she is most enthusiastic about. That way she can express herself during any interviews or visits appropriately. I don't think that the schools want to give out a merit scholarship to someone who doesn't want to attend the school. They do try to tease that out a bit.

Merit scholarships are not considered a best practice by NAIS until a school is financially able to meet full demonstrated need first with need blind admissions. I'm not sure any school in the area is in that position.

My daughter has one of the scholarships to Stone Ridge for high school. At 5k a year it helps immensely.
I am not aware of the other girls who got it as you aren't supposed to chat about it.
So, sorry, no statistics on how to get one. Our daughter is bright - she had good grades, is
self motivated and tested well. As many of the girls at the school are very bright I don't know
how they decided.

We have family friends (Latino) whose child was offered a scholarship to Sidwell (upper middle class). Maybe they actually called it financial aid but they were told it was a new gift from a benefactor who wanted to support Latino students at the school.

Catholic High Schools in DC metro offer merit scholarships. The most you can get is $12,000 over 4 years ($3,000 per year) and these are called "Presidential Scholarships." I did not know about this until DS was awarded the scholarship upon receiving our acceptance. You cannot apply for the scholarship. They are awarded by through the admissions process based on grades, test scores, etc.

I'd love to have more parents think that their children were bright, and take an interest in their schoolwork. -- Teacher

Anonymous wrote:If I had a dollar for every time I've heard a DC mom say her child is bright, I'd be a millionaire.

And what's your point? Should parents who have bright children never mention it or be ashamed of it? I don't get why every gets their panties in a bunch when someone says their child is bright. I mean there are a ton of bright kids out there and guess what? They have moms! Find something else to take issue with...

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard a DC mom say her child is bright, I'd be a millionaire.

Sadly, no. Most privates use money generated by auctions, tuition, donations and other sources to offer financial aid packages and even those can be very difficult to obtain.

Many independent schools do not, but I think it is more common for Catholic schools. For example, I know that the following all girls Catholic Schools offer merit aid, but don't know the amounts: Connelly School of the Holy Child (generally referred to as "Holy Child,") in Potomac; the Academy of the Holy Cross ("Holy Cross"), in Kensington; Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart ("Stone Ridge"), in Bethesda. Co-ed schools that offer merit include Archbishop Carroll and Our Lady of Good Counsel.

THinking about my DD in a couple of years and wondering if that is even an option. She's a smart cookie, but we wouldn't qualify for much need-based aid, unfortunately. Interested in information about single-sex, co-ed, parochial, or otherwise. Thanks for any insight!