<p>Hi, Any feedback on how good the merit scholarships are at Drexel University. My daughter's Junior year SAT's were 1620 (1080 reading and math), but she is hoping to bring these scores up when she takes them again in her senior year in both Oct and November. Just wondering what others have gotten as far as merit scholarhips based on their SAT scores. Other than her SAT scores, she has a great GCP (94) and is in many clubs holding officer roles. She just got into her National Honor Society. Thanks for any feedback.</p>
<p>here’s some info:
<a href=“Does Drexel give out "merit" money/scholarship help? - Drexel University - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/drexel-university/1116028-does-drexel-give-out-merit-money-scholarship-help.html</a></p>
<p>When we got the packet, we got about $13,500 in merit. The cost of per year was way too much for us. $68,000 minus merit was a joke…even with $20,000 we would have turned it down. Oh, but they were the only school that did give us $1000 for filing FAFSA even though we were full pay.</p>
<p>I did see that a few students got anywhere from $13,500. - $20,000. </p>
<p>My S a few years ago was offered half tuition scholarship. His SAT was 1930 and ACT 31. He did not attend Drexel.</p>
1 Like
<p>Those numbers are a little low for really big merit. Have you tried the ACT? We know lots of kids who choose Drexel - it is often considered the best value in the area for good students with full pay parents. There seems to be a leap every couple of hundred SAT points. 1700 seems to be a minimum for 10k. There’s another jump at 1900. And a bigger one still at 2100. </p>
<p>But, like anywhere, you won’t know until you try. </p>
<p><<<
1080 reading and math)</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>FYI…a 1070 is at the bottom of Drexel’s middle quartiles.</p>
<p>That M+CR score probably needs to increase by 250 pts to get merit.</p>
<p>ECs probably count for little or nothing for merit.</p>
<p>This is how merit often works:</p>
<p>There is a big pool of applicants that have a high GPA</p>
<p>There is a smaller pool of applicants that have high M+CR SAT (or high ACT)…scores that are within the upper quartile for the school. For instance, the upper quartile at Drexel has at least a 1330 M+CR…or ACT 31+</p>
<p>There is an EVEN SMALLER pool of applicants that have high test scores AND a high GPA. These are the students who get the good-sized merit awards at a school that gives merit. So, a student with a 1400 M+CR and a 3.8 GPA is probably going to get a good award at Drexel.</p>
<p>My son had much higher SATs, but a lower GPA and got essentially nothing from Drexel. He also had very good ECs and a reasonably rigorous curriculum. I would strongly encourage your daughter to find a financial safety, meaning an affordable state school or move down the ranking list to a school where her SATs are above average. Unless there was some reason she did not do well on Jr. Year SATs, it may be hard to bring her scores up that much. </p>
<p>There may also be merit money for students that meet specific requirement. There is a list of Special Interest scholarships on their website where there may be a smaller pool of students and so less competition. </p>
<p>Good luck! Hope her SATs work out. Has she tried the ACT?</p>
<p>Both of my kids got merit $$ from Drexel that seemed directly linked to SAT scores. For both, it was a “safety” school and they applied in part because of waived application fee. With Drexel’s Co-op program, I found it hard to calculate exactly what it would cost us–you make $$$ on your co-op, but you’re still paying tuition …so what’s the end nut?? For both kids, Drexel increased the $$$ (grants NOT loans) as the application year progressed - this was without us asking for more, please. Ultimately, neither kid went there, but we were intrigued by the Co-op program and it does seem like Drexel is a college “on the rise.” . </p>
<p>My daughter had a 4.0uw GPA and 2130 sat, 33act. She was offered 14500 merit award at Drexel this past year. Not nearly enough for us to keep it on the list and far less than she was offered at similarly ranked schools. From watching the merit awards at Drexel I got the impression that the size of the award was very major-dependent. Others with lower stats got much higher awards, but in other majors.</p>
<p>What majors get higher awards, the more common ones or the more obscure ones? Drexel seems to be really on the rise as a lot of top kids in my school are applying there because of the merit programs, co ops and the new buildings. </p>
<p>Is it really true that you pay Drexel tuition while on co-op? That’s not how it works at Northeastern, another co-op centered school. At NEU you don’t pay tuition on co-op, only housing, if you stay on campus. </p>
<p>We were told that not all co-ops are paid ones. Some co-ops jobs have nothing to do with one’s major. </p>
<p>I am pretty sure you don’t pay tuition anymore during coop terms at Drexel. But you do have to pay for an extra quarter of classes during the coop year to stay on target to graduate in 4 years. (you can do extended coops and graduate in 5 years too, in some majors.) Most, but not all, coops are salaried jobs. It is unusual to have one completely unrelated to your major. Coop is not required at Drexel so I don’t know why a student would do one outside their major. </p>
<p>My D is applying there for animation/visual effects, and it’s probably her top school right now. I did the Net Price Calculator and got $21,500 in merit aid. She has 3.9 unweighted GPA and 1970 SAT, and hasn’t taken ACT yet and may take the SAT again to try to improve her score. We have heard through the grapevine that there is a jump at 2100 for more aid. Drexel also offers additional scholarships for performing arts students, and she will apply for that in either voice or theater. Room and board is very high but we plan to only have her on campus the first year. We may be moving into Philadelphia (we live in the suburbs now but will be empty-nesters when D starts college) and we can save even more if she commutes. It can be a very expensive school if you have to live on campus for two or more years. Unfortunately for us, all the schools that offer animation are very expensive and not all of them even offer academic scholarships. </p>
<p>BTW a Drexel student developed an app called Myscholly that can help your student look for scholarships. </p>
<p>Drexel used to spread out their costs over 5 years, so you paid during co-op, but people found that hard to understand and people were always complaining about paying during co-op, so they changed it so you just pay while you’re on a school term. You end up paying for 4 years worth of school over the course of 5 years, and you do make money during your co-ops, at least if you’re in a STEM or other “employable” major. </p>
<p>Drexel gives full tuition scholarships guaranteed to NMFs (maybe even NMSFs) but their other merit scholarships look good on first glance, but are fairly small compared to their costs. (Even with full tuition, that doesn’t cover fees, which are high, and housing, which is high…) Both of my boys applied there because of the NMF full tuition offer, but neither ended up attending. For one, the program he was interested in turned out to be less well-developed than it initially seemed, and for the other, it was too large and he didn’t get a great vibe when visiting.</p>
<p>My son would not qualify for much aid according to the NPC, and he has just under 2100 SAT and 3.7 GPA.</p>
<p>However, the question I have is that it appears Drexel doesn’t want the CSS Profile any more (we submitted just in case because info was confusing). If they are FAFSA only, his FA estimate would likely include extra because our home equity would not be counted. I’m going to ask about this on the Drexel page.</p>
<p>Yes - Drexel looks to be the most costly of my son’s current three possibilities, about 10K more than his first choice where his test scores are just below 75th percentile, and he is more than a hundred over Drexel’s 75th percentile. </p>
<p>Time will tell. </p>
<p>Drexel has CHANGED their payment program and you no longer pay tuition while on co op. It’s a game changer and probably what made Drexel be on the new top 10 list of universities on the rise. </p>