<p>weenie,</p>
<p>You realize I am not alone in this dilemma. Not an uncommon situation: our family is blessed to be able to afford --albeit with sacrifice-- and our daughter knew that. </p>
<p>And cheers, yes, one can apply ED and EA, as described by roshke. And yes, we do have a plan, in case she is not accepted ED.</p>
<p>I am surprised everyone immediately dismissed the idea of outside sources of scholarships. Yes, they are typically smaller amounts, and require additional applications, but someone who is motivated, gets on the stick, and approaches things in an organized fashion can potentially rack up enough awards to at least make a small dent in the total cost of attendance so they should NOT be ignored. I worked with a student last year, for instance, who managed to get close to $10,000 in various outside scholarships before all was said and done. She did put a good deal of effort into the process, but she treated it as a job, and, in reality, $10,000 is probably more than she might earn in a summer or after school job. By the way, her family did not qualify for need-based aid, so this was purely merit money.</p>
<p>The place to start would by your daughter's high school guidance office - they usually have lists of local and national scholarships, as well as some of the directories/books to look for more (you can also purchase books like this on amazon). Online sources like <a href="http://www.finaid.com%5B/url%5D">www.finaid.com</a> can help you track down others - I have some listed on my blog, so PM me if you would like the link. Google any special talents or characteristics your daughter has as well, i.e., "yodelling college scholarship" and see what turns up. Again, it will take time and initiative to line up these awards, but if she gets in ED, she'll have plenty of that for the rest of her high school year. Best of luck to her!
Carolyn</p>
<p>One is able to apply to an ED school along with EA or rolling admission schools in most cases.>>
One notable exception is Brown. They do not allow ANY EA application if you apply ED. You can, however, apply to rolling admissions schools.</p>
<p>carolyn: Is it very late for a HS senior though to be looking for scholarship money from outside sources? Particularly from guidance offices - it seems like they give out all of those late in junior year. Am I wrong about that? Thanks.</p>
<p>There are exceptions for EA and ED schools so you do have to read the apps. Princeton did not allow EA if you appled early there. Georgetown has restrictions as does Harvard and Yale. Brown is another one. </p>
<p>I think that for students who spend a lot of time perusing the web and IMing with friends, applying for some of these scholarships might be a good pasttime, and if they are good candidates, can be a lucrataive endeavor. I would not put up my nose to the money, even if the amounts that are small. My son got one scholarship that was $100 per year. It was nice to get that check each year.</p>
<p>It is NOT too late to look for local scholarships from outside sources. Where we live, those deadlines are February 1 for the application (some are even later...one DD got was actually April). Carolyn is correct...all those $300, $500 small scholarships do add up. May civic organizations (women's clubs, Lions, businesses, PTO, Teachers associations) give scholarships in communities. Your first stop should be the guidance department where someone should have a listing and the applications for local scholarships. BUT keep an eye on the newspaper also. We know one student who got a $1000 scholarship that not too many folks applied for...it was in the local paper. I saw it...her parents didn't...and it was for students considering her field of study. Keep your eyes open.</p>
<p>weenie:</p>
<p>There are plenty of scholarships available to those in the senior year although they have application cutoff dates starting around now. </p>
<p>If any of you work for a medium to large company, check there first - they sometimes have excellent and generous scholarships open to only the kids of employees and the competition group is small.</p>
<p>I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet, that "merit" aid is not always about merit, but about revenue management. The Atlantic Monthly had a great article on this topic about 18 months ago.</p>
<p>The "myth" of no one paying sticker, IMHO, arose from those private U's that are competing with State U's. These are mostly second tier (i.e. good places, but not national names-not ones that would turn heads at a cocktail party) schools with solid regional reputations. They are often LACs or smaller master's U's. My nephew from Chicago received several good "merit" aid offers from schools of the caliber of Illinois Wesleyan, where he's going. He was a B+ to A- football player (second string, not recruited athlete) with SAT scores in the NM commended range. That's a data point. </p>
<p>Our own experience 3 years ago was a merit aid offer from a large State U. That was it. This was for a kid who has gone on as an undergrad to win one of the few merit scholarships awarded on a national basis to undergrads. And her classmates that received the U. Chi merit awards are by no means the academic stars of her year. Yes, she knows quite a few.</p>
<p>Yes,there is revenue marketing and "pruchasing specials" in merit awards. Schools will give merit money to some kids that their market studies indicate that a $5K award that freshman year could "buy" that kid for the next 4 years, a real bargain if the family is a full pay one. Buying 8 of such kids is much better for the bottom line than giving a needy kid of similar or even slightly better academic file the full ride he would need to come to the school. The economics are clear in this example. Also schools "buy" some of the students that they want even if they are not the strongest academically. I see this in this area all of the time. Schools like Fordham, BC, Villanova need another NYC suburb catholic kid like I need more T shirts in this house. They are lined up to the whazoo for admissions and that includes kids with some pretty impressive stats. So the kid from Ohio or Texas, who looks interested in such school is much more likely to get one of those merit awards. URM also helps, a major or interest in a department they want to develop; all of those things help kids in not only admissions but in merit money. Same sort of situation as the Asian kids face if they are the majority of the apps. Not a situation isolated to Asians.<br>
Newmassdad, my son got a lot of token merit awards at the type of schools you describe. In they were a sweetner for the very heavy dose of tuition costs that would follow, and were a drop in the bucket when it came to total cost, but we would get bragging rights to having a kid on scholarship.</p>
<p>It's not most--Brown specifically forbids it and so does Harvard--at least the way I read their websites. RD yes, additional EA/EDs no. But didn't know that about Columbia and Penn. Cheers for that.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The "myth" of no one paying sticker, IMHO, arose from those private U's that are competing with State U's. These are mostly second tier (i.e. good places, but not national names-not ones that would turn heads at a cocktail party) schools with solid regional reputations.
[/quote]
NMD knows very well that many first tier National Schools (as defined by that fount of all knowledge USNews, both Research U's and Lac's) . If any one needs a list just p.m. me. And if you are interested in turning heads at a cocktail party , I'd suggest bringing Paris Hilton on your arm would draw more stares than Harvard. ;)</p>
<p>Even if someone wanted to limit it to Top 20 Research U's and Lac's there are still several merit aid granting institutions to chose in your search. The idea that they are mostly second tier really doesn't give them a fair picture of what is out there. IMO.</p>
<p>Quote: And her classmates that received the U. Chi merit awards are by no means the academic stars of her year. Yes, she knows quite a few.</p>
<p>Um, as someone whose daughter received a full tuition merit award from UChicago, I find this statement a bit all-encompassing. My daughter has done quite well, thank you very much. Her profs certainly consider her to be an academic powerhouse.</p>
<p>
and somehow I just ended the thought there. I got lost in my definition and never finished the sentence. I'm sorry. It should end with ..."many first tier National Schools grant merit aid." Hopefully that was clear from the context. Sheesh.</p>
<p>If your D is good enough to get into an Ivy ED, she probably could have gotten merit aid from some nice top 25 college. Unfortunately, if she gets in ED, she'll be obligated to go there, so if you want her to get merit aid, she'll need to start combing the bushes -- looking locally and nationally through organizations like fastweb.com.</p>
<p>A student good enough to get into an Ivy should be able to get outside merit aid -- if she takes the time and effort to put in good applications.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, if she gets in ED, she must go to that college ED unless a documented emergency (such as a sick parent whom she wishes to go to college locally to be near) or financial problem occurs. Since, however, you had her apply ED without applying for financial aid, it doesnt' seem like finances would prevent her attending the college. The parents not wanting to pay full price even though they can afford it isn't considered a good enough reason to back out of ED nor is her having a merit offer from a competing university. </p>
<p>You can easily find out about all colleges' ED and financial aid policies by reading their web pages.</p>
<p>When it comes to Ivies, probably the majority of students pay sticker price. At Harvard, for instance, about 60% do. There is generous need-based aid at all Ivies, so all students with documented financial need get 100% of their finanacial need met. However, no Ivies offer merit aid. If merit aid was important, one needed to apply to places like U Chicago, Cal Tech, Washington University, Duke and Emory and be at the top of their applicant pool. They tend to give merit aid to the students whom they're competing with Harvard to get.</p>
<p>Northstarmom,</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply. I am sorry I was not clear in my original post. I am not trying to back out of ED. Maybe you didn't have a chance to read my other posts. We can afford, with a bit of sacrifice, says one of them. It is not a matter of "the parents not wanting to pay full price." I was trying to 1) dispell the "no one pay sticker price" myth; 2) find out about outside opportunities for some help.</p>
<p>Your student is very fortunate that you are able and willing to pay the full cost of a private school education. You are not the only one. We are doing just about the same thing for one of our kids. I think you have some good answers here...people DO pay the full price at these highly selective schools, and it's not too late to look for local scholarships. I'm of the opinion that every penny helps!!!</p>
<p>I get so confused with these tier one and two discussions so as a good librarian, I looked it all up. Tier 1 schools are the top 50, and yes many of them have wonderful financial aid & merit packages. But....whatever....</p>
<p>I understand the context, but I must say that, regarding admission to Ivies or similarly selective schools, one rarely sees the phrase: "Unfortunately, if she gets in ED,...."</p>
<p>Curm: Thanks for the clarification in post #53. See, someone was reading it! :)</p>
<p>My take on the supposed pros and cons of merit aid:</p>
<p>Without it, my kid would not be at the great LAC he's at. He'd be at a SUNY. 'Nuff said???</p>