<p>I wanted to apply early decision to Rice. However, I'm so concerned about the financial liability. Does anyone have any advice? I've been told by a couple of alumni that that was no reason not to apply early, since they meet 100% of your need, but I don't know...</p>
<p>if you are unable to pay and are admitted ED, you can withdraw. </p>
<p>Is rice the place you really want to go? if yes, you should apply</p>
<p>My daughter applied ED last year. She was accepted, she had all the qualifications and in fact was a National Merit winner, not semi-finalist, not finalist, she was a winner.
RICE DID NOT GIVE HER A SINGLE DIME.</p>
<p>and you had an EFC of what?</p>
<p>Did she qualify for financial aid?</p>
<p>We did not apply for financial aid. However they claim to award a large percentage of the class a “merit” award going so far as to mention Nat’l Merit Semifinalists in particular.
I was told that that money is actually used to “build our class”. I will let you interpret that.
National Merit people were surprised when I contacted them to voice my concern as Rice is listed as one of the main sponsors. They thought there must be a mistake and suggested I call back, and of course there was no mistake.
Having said that, she applied and “contracted” for ED, and is therefore attending Rice as we speak.
I would caution anyone thinking that ANY aid is guaranteed or likely.</p>
<p>I would suggest one not apply here ED but wait and see what other offers you may get in regular admission. Don’t lock yourself in and decrease Rice motivation for offering you an award.</p>
<p>RiceFan - </p>
<p>If you read the original post, the OP NEEDS financial Aid. HUGE difference between your case. At no point is Rice claiming to give ED people scholarships.</p>
<p>The fact that you “expect” it is surprising, regardless of you daughters stats. This is a question about not being able to pay for Rice at all. </p>
<p>The result still stands. If you CANNOT pay for Rice and they do not give you enough aid, you will be able to break the contract and not attend. This ONLY applies to extenuating financial circumstances.</p>
<p>In your case, you were able to pay (hence no aid). At that point, scholarships are a nice plus, but not a necessity.</p>
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<p>true if you want merit aid. NOT true for financial aid.</p>
<p>A student is only allowed a single national merit award, and she did get the single $2500 direct from National Merit, but folks in the Nat’l Merit office told me that schools “usually” find another way to reward such students.</p>
<p>once again - you are ranting about not getting the merit aid YOU WANT. Rice gets a lot of talented applicants and scholarships are not based on just numbers. A propensity for research etc makes a big difference. If you have issues with that, contact the financial aid office. </p>
<p>this is totally off topic</p>
<h2>If you read the original post, the OP NEEDS financial Aid. HUGE difference between your case. At no point is Rice claiming to give ED people scholarships.</h2>
<p>You need to look at their merit aid page on the financial section of their website. And yes, based on information which we received during our tour, being flat out told that if you are a semi-finalist you “get” $1000/yr, and based on our discussions with Nat’l Merit co., we did indeed expect at least that.
Also, as we can afford the tuition though not easily, we had no cause to break the contract and were stuck.
And yes my advice may not apply to someone who needs financial assistance , it should be a heads up to anyone applying ED.</p>
<h2>once again - you are ranting about not getting the merit aid YOU WANT. Rice gets a lot of talented applicants and scholarships are not based on just numbers. A propensity for research etc makes a big difference. If you have issues with that, contact the financial aid office.</h2>
<p>They specifically mention awards to National Merit Semi-Finalists. Do your research before you tell me I am ranting.
I am giving a legitimate head’s up to people who may actually believe what they read and are told.
In fact, when I first called Rice financial aid office the first statement I heard was “we get a lot of calls about this”
I’LL BET THEY DO</p>
<p>all I am saying is - start a new thread on this if you feel so strongly about this. This is not pertinent to the original topic asked.</p>
<p>I am guessing that Rice was designated as her first choice with national Merit? In that case, it is worth filing an appeal.</p>
<p>Appeal Denied --and yes Rice was listed first because on our tour we were told that was how we would assure that award.</p>
<p>I understand your frustration RiceFan. Every dollar counts and an extra $4,000 over four years is nothing to sneeze at. The Rice Merit award page could be more transparent, but you are an unusual case (most NM scholar sdo not get any money from the NM corp.). The key wording on the Rice scholarship page is:
Your S/D was awarded a NM-corporation award and thus was not eligible for the school-sponsored award. You are correct that others like you would feel much better about Rice if they gave you something, but remember that most NM holders do not get an NM-corp. award - the money comes from the school (in this case Rice).</p>
<p>If I were head of FA I would make up the difference between the NM award ($2500) and Rice’s NM award ($4,000). Perhaps if you ask, RiceFan, they will give you $750 in years 3 and 4. Hopefully your S/D will be happy and excel at Rice and the extra money will appear well spent to you.</p>
<p>To the OP: I think the ED process works well at Rice. I believe each FA award is independent of application process (ED vs RD). That does not mean that all will find Rice affordable. It may not be possible for many families to pay their EFC, and merit scholarships at schools like Rice cannot be counted upon. Each family should decide in advance if they can afford to pay their EFC. If your EFC is acceptable then Rice Ed is not a bad choice. Any merit award would be a nice bonus for an ED applicant but should not go into an ED application decision.</p>