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<li>My S has a 14K merit scholarship to a school he has applied to. Our financial need will be around 20K. Does this mean the maximum we can expect is 6K (equaling our 20K need)... or is the merit scholarship separate and distinct from the impending FA offer we should be receiving?</li>
<li>If a merit scholarship is part of the financial NEED computation would you be better served requesting the school withdraw the merit scholarship and provide those funds as a grant so the student would not have to maintain the high 3.2 GPA associated with the scholarship? Can you mix and match like that?</li>
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<p>what school is it? It depends</p>
<p>What school did he get this from?</p>
<p>Scholarships are usually going to considered in the FA package. Merit often reduces the amount of loans in the package.</p>
<p>Unless the school meets 100% of need without loans, you can’t “expect” that you’ll also get $6k. You may get a gap or loan offer for that $6k.</p>
<p>As for question #2…I doubt the school is going to agree with trading the merit for a grant. Scholarships come from a different source of money. Plus, everyone would do that if they could. That scholarship may have replaced a big ole Plus loan in the FA package.</p>
<p>They’re being generous ($14k merit) because of your son’s stats, so naturally they would want his performance to stay high at the school.</p>
<p>If you’re worried about maintaining the 3.2 GPA (which is not asking too much), then advise your son to balance his course load and not take too many demanding courses in any one semester - especially the first year as he adapts to college. If he will come into the school with any AP credits, then that should really make things a bit easier.</p>
<p>I think a 3.2 GPA would be difficult to maintain in a science or engineering curriculum… especially for a B student in HS… although he did take several AP/Honors courses. I take your point about balancing things off with relatively easy electives.</p>
<p>Most schools will reduce need by any scholarship money. I certainly would not ask them to withdraw the scholarship. It is unlikely they will replace the whole thing with a need based grant.</p>
<p>3.2 is not too bad a requirement. I agree that he should be a little cautious his first year about what classes he takes. I think AP credits will make this harder rather than easier as they bump you into higher level classes earlier. Starting off with a really high GPA gives a cushion for down the road when a semester or two may have less stellar GPAs. I have seen this with the scholarship my daughter has. We know a couple of students who had the same one, very smart kids but unfortunately had low GPAs the 1st year and lost the scholarship. She had a great GPA her first year which gave her a bit of a cushion when she had a couple of less stellar semesters (which she did) so she has kept her scholarship. So have him choose those 1st semester classes with a little caution.</p>
<p>I think AP credits will make this harder rather than easier as they bump you into higher level classes earlier.</p>
<p>Not necessarily. </p>
<p>For math and science this can be true… BUT…a student can avoid that by just re-taking the class in college…which should be easy for him since he’s already taken it as an AP. For instance, if the student took APCal AB and got credit for Cal I, he can still take Cal I in college. That class should be easier for him to do. Same for Chem or Bio.</p>
<p>However, if the AP credits are in English or History, then not only are you not “bumped” up, but that means you don’t have to take those classes at all. Instead, you can take an easier, more laid-back course.</p>
<p>I think I’ll try a negotiate down the GPA even if it means a lower award. I swear some colleges do this just to bait folks. I feel bad for those kids who don’t get the GPA they need and have to leave because they NEEDED that merit scholarship. I mean my kid barely had a 3.2 in HS. Why would they think he’d pull a 3.2 in a math heavy college major? Even with a 2.5 GPA needed any electives should be gravy classes just to bolster the GPA. More gaming the system I guess … but if he really wants to go there…</p>
<p>Nightingale - We are in a very similar situation with a nice scholarship that requires a 3.2gpa, but the kid only has a 3.2gpa in hs. I’m very concerned for the freshman year adjustment and the pressure of getting at least a 3.2gpa every semester. We are also considering talking to the school to see if they would allow for a lesser scholarship amount with a lower gpa requirement. They have them but generously didn’t offer that to my kid. Is it crazy to give back $ for fear of kid not meeting a gpa? Let us all know how your negotiation goes.</p>
<p>I seriously doubt schools will generally negotiate down a GPA requirement for a scholarship. But that is pure speculation on my part as I have not heard of anyone trying to do so. My thinking would be that if they do it for one they will have to do it for all. edit: missed the part about being willing to take a lower scholarship. SOunds like a real quandary you have here!</p>
<p>It is a very generous scholarship for a 3.2 HS GPA. (most of the good scholarships at my daughter’s school require high act/sat and GPA of around 3.75 as far as I can remember). It does give cause for concern that they perhaps expect a lot of students to lose it.</p>
<p>I was quite surprised at the students we know that had the same scholarship as my daughter and lost it after the first year. Good students all of them. They probably improved their GPAs in subsequent years. The adjustment to college is definitely something that can affect their grades.</p>
<p>I was quite surprised at the students we know that had the same scholarship as my daughter and lost it after the first year.</p>
<p>Yes…My older son only took 14 credits his first semester. We had him sign up for 17 credits, but then had him quickly drop one class that he thought might be too demanding for his first semester. If possible, that’s a good strategy to try.</p>
<p>Luckily, my son came into the school with 41 AP credits, so taking that lighter semester wasn’t going to hurt him graduation-wise. I knew that he had the type of personality that would need “adjustment time.” Even if he hadn’t had all the AP credits, I still think taking that lighter load was a good idea. If necessary, he could have always taken a summer school class at our local U to “catch up.” </p>
<p>Of course, not all classes are available in the summer at a local U or cc, so that strategy needs some foresight, too. Check to see which classes are offered…usually there are some general ed, cal I, bio, chem classes offered. Also, “sequencing” is important at colleges these days, so only “skip” a class that isn’t required to be taken at a certain time - such as American History or a Fine arts reqt or whatever.</p>
<p>I think it’s very important for kids to get that “right start” from the beginning. If they start out struggling, then they may never mentally recover. My son had straight A’s that semester and every semester since. Last month, he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. </p>
<p>However, the story would have been quite different if a strategy had not been in place. Believe me…much different.</p>
<p>I agree it’s good to check with the particular school to find out how many kids graduate after 4 years with their merit scholarships intact (don’t lose due to grades).</p>
<p>For our kids’ U, you only needed a 3.0 & satisfactory progress toward your degree to maintain your scholarship. I believe they even gave you up to 1 year of probation/grace. Our S had the max 32 credits from AP & college coursework when he entered for engineering. He still re-took everything & did not get “bumped up.” We were glad he was able to get a solid foundation & just relax & deal with social issues his 1st year without struggling with academics (since it was review). </p>
<p>I do know of a few kids who were stressed about keeping their grades up to keep their awards. One lost his & is now home selling cars while he contemplates his next move. One switched majors out of engineering into psych & is happy & kept his scholarship.</p>
<p>It is worthwhile to figure this out, since merit aid can make a big difference, especially over 4 years!</p>
<p>The other advice to give to a student is that if things are going south, sometimes a class can be shifted to pass/fail (it’s called pass/ no credit at DD’s school). I am sure that every college is different and the number of classes you can do this with is limited, but it is something to tuck back. A student maintains the credits(if he/she passes) and it doesn’t kill the GPA that first semester.</p>
<p>^^^this does vary from school to school. For instance at my daughter’s school pass/no pass must be applied for at the beginning of the class (before the last day to add/drop classes). You can’t decide half way through the class that you want to change it to p/np (or vice versa if you discover you are doing fantastic and want the grade after all). You would need to check with each school for their policies.</p>
<p>^^The change is restricted at DD’s school as well, but it usually is after at least the first test.</p>
<p>That’s a lot better policy!! My daughter would have to decide up front before she really had any idea how she was going to do. Would kind of be a defeatist attitude. I don’t think she is even aware she can do it to be honest.</p>
<p>*Our S had the max 32 credits from AP & college coursework when he entered for engineering. He still re-took everything & did not get “bumped up.” **We were glad he was able to get a solid foundation & just relax & deal with social issues his 1st year without struggling with academics (since it was review). ***</p>
<p>Exactly! No one has to be bumped up. I’ve never heard of a college requiring an AP student to get bumped up without wanting such. Anyone worried about GPA should retake the math & science courses. I wouldn’t retake the US History, World History, English, etc, unless that was the student’s major.</p>
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<p>There are a few/some. I believe some of the UC’s.</p>
<p>I don’t think so since the UC med schools will NOT accept AP credits. </p>
<p>You have to retake the classes if you want into UCSD, UCLA or UCDavis med schools. Nothing is said about UCI med school, so don’t know about that one…</p>
<p>I’ll have to ask my niece and nephews…one is at UCI, one is at UCLA, one is at UCDavis and one is at UCSD.</p>
<p>Well, on the Pre-Med board there have been some students, somewhere that have posted that their school would not allow them to register for classes that they had AP’ed with a qualifying score. I haven’t verified that on the websites. Could have been a UC, could have been the University of Mars. But somewhere. ;)</p>
<p>It would be best to check with the school in question rather than assume.</p>
<p>nightingale ~ from one who has been there, yes, a 3.2 can be tough for a merit scholarship requirement in a math/science major, especially for that first, transitioning semester. My D was bumped up by university placement tests into second semester chem. and calc. And since she was in a particular honors program, she was assigned a schedule that was 18 1/2 credits. She did miss the 3.25 requirement that first semester, decided her current major just was not going to work for her, switched majors and was able to bring the gpa up the next semester over the 3.25. She ended up graduating in 4 years magna cum laude with a double major. So it can be done, but she put a LOT of effort into it. </p>
<p>S also missed his gpa minimum that first semester. Again, he was able to pull it up after the second semester and has maintained it.</p>
<p>Their college does send a warning letter when the gpa drops and gives them a semester to raise it. </p>
<p>I would contact the college directly and ask them specifically what their policy is.</p>