Accepted with the presidential scholarship - $20,000 a year! I also got accepted to the PPL scholars program. Stats 4.8w/3.92uw. 10 Aps and 1520 sat. I also visited campus and demonstrated a ton of interest.
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those 2 sound like they fit you better. you have to realize that the same way that applicants look at schools, schools look at applicants. just because you have certain hard stats, doesnāt mean youāre an automatic yes into their school. AU especially gives applications a holistic review. Those other acceptances are incredible. If you really wanted to go to AU it would have been evident to AU through your application and interest. Schools that use a holistic review really yield protect.
So if no merit based scholarship listed in mailed packet, my son should be expect any?
Merit aid is listed in the online letter that can be found on the Future Eagle Portal. If thereās no mention of a scholarship on there, then thereās no merit aid. For need-based aid, it is listed in the MyAU portal that students can sign up for once accepted.
is it ok to negotiate for more merit aid if i received none or should i just negotiate for more financial aid? also, who do i negotiate it with?
AU does not negotiate merit aid since itās based on un-changeable things like your SAT/ACT scores and freshman-junior GPA. Your best bet would be to negotiate need-based aid, which can be done with your financial aid advisor: Contact Financial Aid | American University, Washington, DC
Accepted but no merit. American was one of the top choices, but not sure if itās worth full pay vs a similar school with generous merit and honors college
Just wanted to remind you that many of us live far from DC and didnāt have the time and/or money for a flight and trip all the way to AU. It seems like the interest AU values the most is visits, as it clearly has some effect on the results in this thread alone. While I understand where you are coming from when explaining Americanās admission process, please remember that there are probably plenty of kids and parents who read your comment who did really want to go to AU but couldnāt visit. Just some food for thought, especially since AU isnāt the only school that functions like this.
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To everyone touting the scholarship that your student received, remember, itās not about the amount of the scholarship but what the cost of attendance will be after applying the scholarship and other free money (e.g., grants) to the total COA (including books, travel, personal expenses). A $20,000 scholarship to a school that costs $80k all in likely will be less impactful than the $10,000 scholarship from the school that costs $60k all in.
When you negotiate aid, forget the categories of merit aid versus need based aid. Itās all about the numbers and colleges (including this one) that might be inclined to increase an award can decide how to categorize it.
Iām not sure anyone is ātoutingā the scholarships and we are all aware of the costs associated with AU and other schools. Maybe Iām reading in too much tone into your post, but it seems pretty off to me. Students and parents are just excited and expressing their admission outcomes.
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Not for AU. AU doesnāt negotiate merit aid (unless you have extraordinary academic circumstances), but they do negotiate need-based aid. For the question I was answering, they didnāt get any merit aid in the first place, so AUās not going to give them any if they negotiate.
AU was comparing applicants to spots, not applicants to offers. All colleges give out way more offers than spots because not everyone is going to accept their offer. The info AU gave in the letter is technically correct (19k applicants for 1780 spots) but doesnāt account for yield. With the exception of the COVID year, acceptance rates for AU lately have been around 35-45% I believe. (Although Iāve never actually crunched the numbers, I suspect the acceptance rate is somewhat lower for RD applicants since AU accepts a very high percentage of its ED applicants.)
Daughter admitted with almost $68K/yr in grants and awards. Almost a full ride 
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Iād love to hear from people who chose American last year (or anytime recently) and how they like it. Honestly Iād love to hear from someone who loves it! For a variety of reasons it seems like a perfect fit for my D24 but right now sheās not planning to apply because 1.) we didnāt have a great visit and 2.) we have heard from 3 other people (one is a friend of my daughter and two are friends of friends) who started out there and chose to leave after one year because they didnāt like it. However, I still think itās great for her in many ways and her chances of admission look reasonably good when looking at Naviance for our school. So tell me something good! Any current students with a positive experience to share?
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My S is a sophomore and happy at AU. Like you, our visits werenāt spectacular ā but my S picked AU from many good choices because it checked so many boxes. He is an SIS (international studies) major. His classes have been amazing! Very (very) small class sizes across the board. Interesting and helpful professors. Substantive and thoughtful work. I really canāt say enough good things about the academics.
Re: the campus, his dorms have been nice and recently refurbished/built. His freshman year dorm was a traditional style (hallway bath), but was clean and updated. This year he is in a newer dorm (East Campus) and each room has a private bath. The size and location of the campus are good fits for him. He likes DC. He likes the neighborhood around AU. Itās easy to get around on the Metro. There are lots of complaints about the food, but my S has found it to be perfectly fine. There are actually quite a few options given the size of the campus.
I do wish there was more school spirit/pride. Although, if Iām being honest, Iām not sure my kid would really care about tailgating, football games, etc.
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Iām a current student and I love it. Honestly I think AU is just a very specific type of school for a very specific student. If youāre looking for the stereotypical college experience, AU isnāt the school of that, which I think a lot of people donāt expect. AU is a school for students who are really driven and interested in the world and their academics. Students are really focused on what comes after college and what they can do professionally. Iāll also say, anecdotes arenāt representative of the whole school: 90% of freshman stay for a sophomore year, which is similar to our sister schools. A visit is also just one day out of 365 on a campus, and AU has a ton of virtual visits and regional stuff. Students can also email their admissions counselor and get in touch with current students in their major of interest if your daughter is interested.
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Thanks! I am SO glad to hear your positive take! I am hoping to convince her to at least apply. Doesnāt mean she has to attend but at least try to keep it as an option since it seems like such a good fit for her academically, geographically, and for a couple of other reasons. Itās interesting you mention the retention rate as a selling pointā¦that was actually another concern for me. The most recent CDS reports a retention rate of 86 percent, which is lower than almost all the other schools she is applying to. I hear what you are saying about it being a school for specific types of students. I hope she will at least apply since admissions seems to be such a crap shoot and Iād like her to have good options. Best of luck to you and thanks again for your reply!
This is great info - thank you!
The 86% is for the class of 2025 (sophomores in fall 2022, freshmen 2021). Ultimately sheāll end up where sheās meant to be! Feel free to DM me if you have any other questions.