Chances for Merit Aid

<p>The only way I can afford Brandeis is if I get at least 10k a year in scholarship money. Despite the fact that my family will have 2 kids in college and we make 140k a year, we don’t get any financial aid. My sister is currently at Columbia and we are full pay. </p>

<p>Sex: Female
Location: Delaware
School type: Private, sends about 3-4 out of 50 to top schools
Income bracket: 140k </p>

<p>Stats:
SAT: M-720 CR-720 W-750 11 Essay
SAT II: Math II-730 USH-730
AP: Lang-5, Stat-4, US-4, Art History-4, Euro-4
GPA:3.95 weird weighting. Basically equates to all As and one B+ each year </p>

<p>Course rigor: Absolute toughest in the school. </p>

<p>ECs:

  • Work for a non-profit political journal and have published work about American educuation
  • Member of Delaware Youth Philanthropy Board
  • Volunteer at school for disadvantaged girls
  • Member of Math League A Team and have advanced to state invitational
  • Science Olympiad member and captain
  • Varsity Swimming through 11th grade
  • Member of Varsity Academic Bowl
  • NHS</p>

<p>Awards:

  • AP Scholar w/ Distinction
  • State medals in Science Olympiad
  • NHS
  • Nominated to Philanthropy Board
  • Highest Honor Roll all semesters every year </p>

<p>Work:

  • Interned with the Lieutenant Governor of Delaware where I worked with the Models of Excellence in Education Program
  • Private tutoring </p>

<p>Interview: NAILED IT. I mean this was easily the best interview I’ve ever had (out of 9). However, it was with an alumni and probably doesn’t carry much weight. </p>

<p>Essays: 1st essay was really all about conveying my voice. It doesn’t really give any additional concrete information about me. Supplementary short answer is about how Brandeis attracts intellectual students like me and also has an education studies major (exactly what I want). </p>

<p>I really need some money! What are my chances?</p>

<p>Bring up my post.</p>

<p>Bump again.</p>

<p>With two kids in college and a family income of 140K, you’re likely to get some need-based aid from those private schools. Have you filled out a FAFSA and/or CSS profile that reflects two kids in college rather than just one? If so, what is your EFC? It seems to me that you would have a good chance of getting $10K in need-based aid.</p>

<p>Nope. We have too much in assets. FAFSA EFC for me is $54,900 and Profile EFC is $83,000. Unfortunately merit aid is my only no loan option. Worse comes to worse I take out 10k per year in loans but I’d like to avoid that if possible.</p>

<p>How far we have gone? Chance threads for merit aid?</p>

<p>^I wasn’t aware that this was especially reprehensible…</p>

<p>I want to know if it is realistic for me to even apply to a school. There is no point in me applying if I don’t have a decent shot at a merit scholarship because I wouldn’t attend otherwise.</p>

<p>It’s a perfectly reasonable question, but, particularly this year, there’s no way to answer it.</p>

<p>The admissions office announced a few months ago that they had made a decision to phase out merit aid. I believe they are still awarding merit scholarships this year, but fewer than in the past, so it’s really hard to know what it would take to qualify for one. They’ve decided to re-allocate institutional resources to need-based aid, which they are apparently going to award in some kind of a merit-based way. (Candidates will be ranked and full need will be met for everyone as they go down the list until they run out; anyone below that point wouldn’t have full need met.) There were articles about it in the school’s papers–you can read them online (The Justice and The Hoot).</p>

<p>If you go back to last year’s admissions threads you can see who got substantial merit aid. Certainly you seem like you have outstanding qualifications and have spent your time in ways that are aligned with what Brandeis says they are looking for in applicants, but the only way to find out is to apply, which you’ve already done, I gather? Or did you interview without applying?</p>

<p>My point was no can possibly know whether you would qualify or not. And just like any chance thread, they are not going to be totally accurate.</p>

<p>Correct…
People can, however, say, “yes, I got a merit scholarship worth X from Brandeis and I had very similar stats.” This would give me a good gauge as to whether I am a solid candidate or whether it is just out of my league.</p>

<p>Brandeis is going to shrink merit aid the upcoming year so to meet more FA. </p>

<p>This is my advice, look at specific scholarships, my roommate got a large scholarship for music, see if you can be a candidate for any of those. Also, definitely apply for FA and fill out the FAFSA, Brandeis is very generous. If they don’t give you enough (or any) contact the school, they love to work with students and you can explain to them that you have siblings in college, your family only makes X, you can’t afford it. There isn’t a rigid, absolute system. If you get into Brandeis, they want you to attend and they want to make it work.</p>

<p>That makes me feel quite hopeful. The problem with finaid for me is that about 10 years ago we bought a beach house that was literally the steal of the century. We purchased it for very little (comparatively) in cash. The value has more than doubled which sounds good and all, but now would be a horrible time to sell a vacation home. Since we bought it we have rented it out as part of our family income so it’s not like it’s a real luxury we have or anything. Needless to say, our assets (and lack of any mortgages or debt) put us out of the running for finaid so merit aid is pretty much the only option for me unless colleges can sympathize.</p>