Is attending summer camps at Dayton a good way to show interest in addition to the traditional on-campus visits? Does this at all influence merit scholarships?
I did not get the sense that demonstrated interest played a role in either admissions or scholarships for my son. We did not formally visit or otherwise have any contact with UD before my son applied. He was admitted with a large scholarship, a small grant, a book scholarship, and a study abroad scholarship. We are attending an Admitted Students Day next weekend, and that will be our first official visit.
If you do want to demonstrate interest, I would think the camp and / or admissions tour would do it.
Were the awards more than your EFC?
The awards brought the COA down to just below our EFC.
Also @blueskies456 Have you seen this link? https://udayton.edu/apply/undergraduate/affordability.php. In our Son’s case, this was pretty accurate in terms of scholarship.
Review the Common Data Set for Dayton (Google it) to see if interest matters in admissions. If it does, a visit is enough to show that, as long as you signed in at admissions.
Regarding merit — the main reason schools give it is to try to convince students to attend once admitted. So, at least in theory, showing TONS of interest could hurt your chances. If you are a sure thing to attend, why would they award it? I’m not saying skimp in interest (you want to get admitted). But it probably won’t increase your merit chances. Focus on your stats to do that.
Common Data Set shows that interest is important. If you do not attend prior to submitting application please ask guidance counselor to note that it was a family decision not to visit schools prior to acceptance. Note that you have limited funds for travel and are saving the expense for accepted student weekends. There are many different ways to demonstrate interest. UD has local coffee chat with AC, they attend college fairs and visit high schools in a wide range of communities.
You have to do a visit (and submit FAFSA) to get the book scholarship ($4,000 total, $1,000 per year). I do not think Dayton is as big on interest as other schools, but it wouldn’t hurt to take the visit before you apply. Only do the camp if you really want to.
The merit award chart has been accurate for us (2 kids attended, one still making her decision).
My DD graduated from Dayton a year ago. We did a campus visit to see if she liked the school and applied. Due to the visit she got the book scholarship ($4000 total). With her acceptance she received her merit award (The merit award chart was accurate for us too). Thanks to her wonderful education she is in a fully funded PhD program.
I would only do the camp if you want to. One of my kids did a few summer camps/courses for the love of learning and found it gave her a better feel for each college. If you can visit the campus, the book scholarship is definitely worth it. If you can’t, then visit them at college fairs, or when they visit your guidance department to show interest. We found U of D very fair and straight forward when it came to the admission process.