Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is definition of merit aid.

My kid got $15,000 University Grant and $15,000 Dean's Scholarship per year.
Did I earn right to brag that my kid got merit aid scholarship?

Weird post.

Agree. The person wants to brag, obviously, yet expresses contempt for bragging. Bizarre.

Seriously, my kids offer letter states

- University Grant = $15,000
- Dean's Scholarship = $15,000

So if it says 'scholarship', is it merit aid?
Is the grant part need based, and scholarship part merit aid?
Scholarships can be needed?

or does it specifically state 'You got Merit Scholarship'
What's the basis of people's claim?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS got 40K/year at Case Western, test optional

Stats? FA? Merit?

My kid got deferred from CW, and we're assuming it's because DC's stats are too high, and they figured DC will not come if accepted. Yield protection? It was a safety for DC, but if they gave enough $$ it's likely DC would go, so I don't get it.

Your mistake was assuming CW was a safety. It’s not a safety for anyone. It’s a fringe top 50 school. You need to pick a lesser school as your safety.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is definition of merit aid.

My kid got $15,000 University Grant and $15,000 Dean's Scholarship per year.
Did I earn right to brag that my kid got merit aid scholarship?

Weird post.

Yes or No

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m less interested in merit and more interested in what the COA is after merit. If one school is still $50k after merit and another is $25k, that seems like a far more relevant data point.

Yes. For example my kid got 9000/yr from Mines and $18 k at WPI which makes the COA lower even though WPI is more expensive at full rack rate. My kid got 0 from Pitt.

When did you get your merit award from Pitt?

DD got accepted a while ago, but nothing about merit, so we're worried she's getting nothing from Pitt. Very disappointing.

No merit from Pitt. Got in end of September.

I'm a different poster, but here was our timing: DD applied to Pitt in mid-October, got an acceptance in mid-November, and got notice of a $10k annual merit award a month later in mid-December.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m less interested in merit and more interested in what the COA is after merit. If one school is still $50k after merit and another is $25k, that seems like a far more relevant data point.

Yes. For example my kid got 9000/yr from Mines and $18 k at WPI which makes the COA lower even though WPI is more expensive at full rack rate. My kid got 0 from Pitt.

When did you get your merit award from Pitt?

DD got accepted a while ago, but nothing about merit, so we're worried she's getting nothing from Pitt. Very disappointing.

No merit from Pitt. Got in end of September.

Anonymous wrote:With that much saved, and considering you have to disclose that, you likely won’t get aid. Aid is for people who need it, please keep that in mind. You clearly don’t.

Post elsewhere, please. And get your reading glasses updated!

This is a thread about MERIT aid. Bill Gates' kid is eligible for merit aid, as is Jeff Bezos' kid. Merit has nothing to do with your ability to pay.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m less interested in merit and more interested in what the COA is after merit. If one school is still $50k after merit and another is $25k, that seems like a far more relevant data point.

Yes. For example my kid got 9000/yr from Mines and $18 k at WPI which makes the COA lower even though WPI is more expensive at full rack rate. My kid got 0 from Pitt.

When did you get your merit award from Pitt?

DD got accepted a while ago, but nothing about merit, so we're worried she's getting nothing from Pitt. Very disappointing.

Anonymous wrote:DS got 40K/year at Case Western, test optional

Stats? FA? Merit?

My kid got deferred from CW, and we're assuming it's because DC's stats are too high, and they figured DC will not come if accepted. Yield protection? It was a safety for DC, but if they gave enough $$ it's likely DC would go, so I don't get it.

Anonymous wrote:just applied schools which don't have any merit scholarship except 2 schools.

Harvey Mudd/ $40,000 merit
Emory/$48,000 merit

Your kid must be exceptional 4.0/1600, sports, hooked in some way. Those are the largest merit aid awards I've seen from private colleges.

Anonymous wrote:Kid 1: LSU, U of South Carolina
Kid 2: Vermont, Northeastern
Kid 3: U of Washington

All 3 ended up choosing UMD, though.

I don't think any school except for some southern flagships can match the in-state cost of UMD. Merit isn't enough, even a $25K merit package means you're paying more than $50K for a mediocre SLAC or OOS public. Not worth it by a long shot compared with the in-state cost of UMD.

23k at Miami and 10k at South Carolina

Anonymous wrote:What is definition of merit aid.

My kid got $15,000 University Grant and $15,000 Dean's Scholarship per year.
Did I earn right to brag that my kid got merit aid scholarship?

Weird post.

Merit aid is based upon your kid's grades/scores/desirability ("merit" in the eyes of the admissions committee). It is not a function of how much your family's income would need to be augmented in order for your child to afford college.

Anonymous wrote:What is definition of merit aid.

My kid got $15,000 University Grant and $15,000 Dean's Scholarship per year.
Did I earn right to brag that my kid got merit aid scholarship?

Merit aid is non-need based aid, where need is determined by FAFSA/CSS, etc. It also called tuition discounting.

The most recent NACUBO report indicates that average discount levels are now above 50%, but bear in mind that that figure spans a very broad range of schools.

https://www.nacubo.org/Research/2021/NACUBO-Tuition-Discounting-Study