<p>I had a conversation with Financial Aid and was told he was not eligible for more merit. My son is an Eagle Scout, many leadership positions in scouting, and Director at Summer Camp. Certainly very disappointing.</p>
<p>Does anybody know exactly how these leadership scholarships are determined? I had never even heard of it until it showed up on the form that came with my acceptance letter.</p>
<p>Do they base it simply on what you list as a leadership activity on your application? I put down that I was captain of 2 different academic teams at my school, so maybe that's what gave me a little extra money.</p>
<p>I do not believe it is based soley on leadership positions. Just happens to be the name of a merit aid program. We have been offered this award in our package and " leadership positions" were not the highlight of D's EC's.</p>
<p>We were pleased but puzzled when son received $16,250 year Leadership
Award. He has the usual EC's, mostly as member, not leader of any groups.
Finally dawned on us son wrote about being part of a team of ham radio operators that provide communications for fundraising walks, marathons, etc for last 6 years. Figured maybe they were awarding him for long standing community involvement-because he certainly did not portray himself as a leader. Go figure. We're happy though.</p>
<p>Didn't apply for finaid but got a $15,000 merit for Leadership</p>
<p>ACT: 34
GPA: 96.8, all honors and nine APs by graduation, score of 5 on 5 AP exams
Rank : 7/240
EC: JV/Varsity Football (Captain, 2 letters), Varsity Spring Track (Captain, 4 letters), Spanish Honor Society, Varsity Club (50 hours of volunteering), Hospital Volunteer (175 hours), FBLA (lots of fundraising), NHS, Ski CLub, Weight Lifting Club (lifting trainer), tutoring (200 hours)</p>
<p>mj23: Did you also get the Medal? Thanks.</p>
<p>My S got a letter from Financial Aid Office with "Congratulations on your recent acceptance to Rensselaer" and a 12k Alumni scholarship. However, nothing has come in from Admissions office yet.</p>
<p>Plantree-- you should definitely follow up. My D's acceptance came with a large glossy folder and info about everything. Call admissions, maybe your acceptance package is lost in the mail.</p>
<p>I got in aswell. I don't feel like typing up my exact stats but I'm the typical suburban high school student wh used RPI as a safety.</p>
<p>errr... i haven't got anything from rpi yet...</p>
<p>Maybe they're pulling an MIT EA. Everyone who got in finds out first, then the people who didn't figure out that they didn't through deductive reasoning.</p>
<p>My S received the most underwhelming admission letter I've seen. It's a one page letter and a housing enrollment form. Two pieces of paper in a business envelope, that's it. Every other acceptance was a big envelope with brochures / information or congratulations printed on the outside. Is this indicative of the school?</p>
<p>I recieved a thick envelope with about 10 pages of form to be completed and returned.</p>
<p>Hmmm, I wonder why the discrepancy? Did you apply via the 'Candidate's Choice'? Can I ask what other forms you received?</p>
<p>Mine acceptance letter came in a small envelope as well. I didn't really get the financial aid I wanted (including merit aid)... Does this seem to be common this year?</p>
<p>My acceptance letter 2 years ago came in a big package also, but I wasn't initially awarded any merit or anything. If you didn't get the merit you wanted, you can try to re-apply for it, possibly saying that it would be a determining factor in your choice of schools (that's what I did and got $10k/year)</p>
<p>I applied via the common app online.
I recieved a thick envelope postmaked March 10th. It had $2.07 in postage in the upper left hand corner and an additional 0.24 in postage added added below.</p>
<p>My thick envelope included, in this order:
Cover letter
Aid Report
PLUS lon explanation letter
Loan Tip Sheet
Alternitive Loan Information Sheet
Another Financial Aid brochure
A 12 page glossy viewbook for admitted students
In the back pocket of the viewbook:
Enrollment deposit form
Orientation Reservation form
Resisence Gall+ Dining preference sheet.
4 page medical history.</p>
<p>I was suprised at how many redundent financial aid brochers they sent me.</p>
<p>apple 17, my son applied via "Candidates Choice" and received the same very underwhelming acceptance letter (especially since it followed the "tube" from MIT & a big envelope from Caltech). He did receive a bigger envelope from RPI a week or two ago with a folder & more info in it. I have to say I was really disappointed in RPI's financial aid package & very glad he has great financial aid offers from MIT & Caltech. RPI was his safety and I think we're both still stunned he was accepted ED by both MIT & Caltech.</p>
<p>He did get two big envelopes finally which indicated a financial package. So far we haven't been too impressed with RPI and haven't figured out where it gets its reputation from.</p>
<p>On the other side of the coin.
While the initial acceptance letter was underwhelming ( compared to the "tube" as oaklandmon pointed out) the follow up information was equal to any other institution. In regard to merit aid, RPI is at the top end of D's offers >100k. The value of the school does not reside in the perceived quality of admission correspondence but rather the value of the institution, students, faculty and staff. In this regard RPI is a match for many of the top engineering schools. I would not chose or dismiss a school because of one letter. In our case d has a very difficult choice to make between a number of excellent schools including RPI.</p>