Could it be true that ED students are considered equally for merit scholarships as RD students are? Even the Buntrock scholarship? St. Olaf is my son’s first choice, but there are a lot of schools he could get into and possibly get merit money from. Doesn’t it seem that there is less incentive to give scholarship money, when the admissions office knows you are already committed? Maybe he should wait to apply RD?
That’s a good question. We can’t afford to try ED as a full pay family at private schools. My son loves Olaf but he’s applying to a range of schools and will be applying RD.
My DD applied RD and received substantial merit aid. She is a junior there now.
If your son has high enough stats to get considered for merit and has shown interest, he is probably fine in the RD round.
My daughter was accepted ED1 with a $19,000/year merit award last year. According to their website, ED and RD students are given equal consideration for scholarships.
Yes. He wants to apply ED and be done with it (hopefully), but I think it’s wiser to apply RD and compare any scholarship offers.
That’s encouraging to hear about the ED acceptance with a great merit scholarship like that! Thank you for sharing!!
I would like to add that her experience at St. Olaf has exceeded all of our expectations so far.
Adding to an older thread… RD, substantial merit aid. So it can happen!