<p>Presumably HMC offers merit scholarships such as the Harvey S. Mudd Merit Award and President's Scholars Program in part to lure strong applicants who might otherwise choose to attend Caltech or MIT. If this is true, then it seems logical that applying ED would hurt chances of receiving these awards, as in that case HMC has a lock on the applicant, so there is no reason for them to offer further incentives.</p>
<p>Is this how it works in practice, or are these awards based entirely on a candidate's strength (top X% of aggregate applicant pool) and the other criteria documented for the awards? Does anyone have experience applying ED and receiving merit aid from HMC? Are stats available anywhere showing the distribution of merit aid for ED vs RD apps?</p>
<p>Thanks, sunnyholiday. Did your son receive notice of the merit award with the ED acceptance letter, or later, when the RD acceptances were finalized? Also, did you apply for financial aid as well â Iâve heard that the merit awards can âfall through the cracksâ when there is no need-based award.</p>
<p>Has anyone else applied ED to HMC and received the Presidentâs Scholars Program Award?</p>
<p>I believe there may be some truth to this. So be vigilant.</p>
<p>I canât find the Harvey Mudd Merit award letter and I donât trust my memory re the timing. Sorry. My son did not apply for the Presidentâs Award.</p>
<p>My son wanted to apply ED II to Mudd if he was rejected by his EA school but he didnât because he will be applying for the Presidential Scholars Award as he does need significant aid to attend. Heâs already done with his app. though, except for the app for the scholarship.</p>
<p>Mine applied ED and got the National Merit award. He didnât apply for any other merit aid. I think merit award letters come after RD acceptances.</p>
<p>Back when the Merit award was based off of strict SAT/ACT and class rank qualifications, it was awarded automatically, so applying ED was in no way disadvantageous.</p>
<p>Now that theyâve removed the objective criteria, itâs hard not to believe that the merit award is being used to up the yield rate, which would imply that theyâre stingier with it during ED. If youâre a strong candidate for the merit award based off of the old criteria, then you shouldnât have much trouble being accepted to Mudd. Might as well go through the regular decision process and compare financial/merit aid packages. </p>
<p>As for how applying ED affects the Presidentâs scholarships⊠I donât really know. Look at the committee in charge of awarding them. If the committee is free of admissions office people, then no one will know whoâs locked in to ED and who isnât. If there are admissions people on the committee, then it WILL influence the process, even if no one brings it up in committee discussions.</p>
<p>I believe that part (but not all) of the reason for the change had to do with class rank issues. My son, for example, went to a very small, very rigorous high school. Top 10% of the graduating class was , at most, 4 people. And, they didnât calculate rank.
Nevertheless, I find esquiarâs reasoning quite sound.</p>
<p>I think it was basically SAT scores (maybe ACT as well) and rank. Mostly I can only remember that my son was a likely qualifier except for rank since , as noted, his school (like many private schools) didnât calculate rank. (And they really , really didnât. Kids there take college courses and it was considered hopeless to try to come up with a reasonable weighting system. ) Mudd still gives money to all NM finalists.</p>
<p>Thanks NeMom. I guess I was wondering if my son might someday be a match for Mudd. He is on track to be top 5% with the hardest classes (APs but not Universiity level) and hopefully SATs will get over 2200. His school is offering a great education but no science fair or science olympiad. They are starting to look at me funnyâŠbut then again they havenât sent anyone to CalTech or MIT or Mudd or OlinâŠthey are new andd small. How much should I worry about the hook? It the picture as bleak for ORM as is painted in âWhat High School Donât tell You?â
Sorry for the threadjack.</p>
<p>ParentSparkle:
I found the âoldâ criteria for the Harvey Mudd Award (that they donât use any more):</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd College Merit Award: $10,000 per year for four years to students who meet all five of the following criteria; ACT English score 32 or up, ACT Reading score 32 or up, ACT Math 34 or up, SAT Math II 750 or up, High School rank top 10%. [For ED must take ACT by October of Senior Yr.]</p>
<p>Iâm sorry I have only the ACT info, not the SAT info, because thatâs what our high school uses, so thatâs all I wrote down. But the original info included both SAT and ACT of course. </p>
<p>[Although FYI Harvey Mudd was one of the last colleges to agree to use ACT as well as SAT scores for admission.]</p>
<p>Thanks Sunny - I used a conversion table and came up with Writing 720,CR 710, and Math 755. If those conversions are correct, I think my son is capable of getting those scores if he puts the time in, so if he gets the Merit Aid or not, itâs reassuring to know that he could be a good match he sticks on the path he is on.</p>
<p>I think those conversion scores are about right. I think , ParentSparkle, your son is definitely in the range for Mudd in terms of scores and such. Mudd does understand that not all kids have access to APs/college courses/etc.</p>