Hi,
My daughter has been wait-listed at her top choice school and at a few others. I’m wondering if she puts her name on the wait list, will she still have the possibility of getting financial aid and/or merit aid if she gets and offer from the wait-listed school? Does it ever happen that colleges give merit aid still, or is that only reserved for the first choice students?
Thanks.
It depends on the school.
@thumper1 do schools typically say on their website if they cover the kids on the waitlist if they are accepted? Or is there somewhere to find that information? My nephew is on the waitlist at three schools but if financial aid is off the table he wouldn’t be able to attend even if accepted.
Some schools do say that aid is on a first come basis, but I think most schools have FA pools of money, and know that some on the accepted/awarded $$ list will turn the school down, so then there will be some money left in the school’s pot.
I think you can call the schools and say “Yes, he really wants to attend, but if he gets accepted off the waitlist, will there be funds available? If not, it won’t work for him.”
In most cases the question is moot: most waitlisted kids never move off the list.
Send in the info to accept your waitlist spot and update the school with any news, but learn to love the school(s) that loved you back. If an offer comes later, then worry about financial aid.
A lot of schools are need aware vs need blind for the wl. A lot depends on how much is left in the budget, which they may not know until they get all their responses
Merit is typically reserved for top choice students. If a student warranted merit, why would he/she be put on the WL?
Many schools have limited aid when it comes time to pull some kids from the WL, so some schools are “need aware” for this process. They don’t want the person saying “no” due to money, and there’s limited money available at that point, so they choose the students who need little/no aid.
That said, most students do not get off the WL.
As several admission officers explained to me…merit is a recruitment tool. They offer you if they think you are going to walk away. To protect yield, they probably will exhaust all merit aid by May 1st, which will not speak well for kids getting off waiting list after May 1st.
No merit, as explained above.
However depending on schools WL applicants (meet need especially) may get FA
OP, you should only post your questions once. I answered your same question here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20468806/#Comment_20468806
If the school is a 1"00% meets need" school, they’ll treat the WL admit the same as any other for need-based aid. But as others have said, need-aware may prevent admission. And others have said this … admission off WL is not likely regardless.
To all you other posters: Merit off WL is possible, albeit not likely. See my linked post above.