<p>My daughters first choice is Rice University. She wants to apply with early decision. I would like to have a general idea of what to expect as far as scholarship money from the University. We won't qualify for financial aid, and do have some saved for college. She has good grades and got a 32 on her ACT. Which sounds great for most colleges but kind of average at Rice. This is our first child going to college so we are learning as we go. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>I believe the stat was 1/3 of the students receive some type of merit aid from Rice
I can post my stats and my merit aid, but I think I got lucky
my stats weren’t outstanding or anything
take a look at this too
[Financial</a> Aid at Rice University](<a href=“http://financialaid.rice.edu/main.aspx?id=62]Financial”>http://financialaid.rice.edu/main.aspx?id=62)
maybe try and weight the essays to reflect one of these qualities?</p>
<p>Past recipients have included:</p>
<pre><code>* political and community service leaders
- math/science competition winners
- creative and performance artists
- entrepreneurs
- scholar-athletes
- exceptional writers
</code></pre>
<p>btw i think the title of my merit aid was the trustee dist scholarship?
@ 19k + fin aid grant money so it was nice for my dad
SAT M:750 CR:670 W:770
SAT2 M2:740 PHYS:730 CHEM:740 USH:750
i dont remember my gpa
Probably what “distinguished” me from the pool of applicants was running the student cafe for 2 years and my ebay ipod repair business
I guess that put me under the entrepreneurs catagory</p>
<p>hope this helps and good luck!</p>
<p>If you are looking for merit money, ED might not be the way to go. You cannot compare scholarship offers from other schools if you apply ED to Rice and get accepted.</p>
<p>In general, I don’t think it’s a good idea to apply to any school ED unless 1) you’re absolutely certain you’d want to go to the school if accepted and 2) you will go regardless of funding you’re offered. If you feel your daughter could only go to Rice if she got a merit scholarship, she’s better off applying RD. That’s just a general rule of thumb, though, not particular to Rice. As for the amount of merit money that was offered to students applying ED v. RD at Rice, I doubt those numbers are available anywhere. You might be able to get some anecdotal information here, but I’m not sure how helpful that will be. If merit money is a big factor, I think she’s better off applying RD.</p>
<p>If you apply ED you cannot negotiate the merit award. If you apply RD and have several offers, Rice will consider comparable offers if you try to negotiate additional merit award money. They will not consider awards from significantly lessor ranked schools as comparable, but there is a pretty broad range that could be in the comparison. With ED you never get to do the comparison. If you are fine with that, go ahead.</p>
<p>Are you SURE you won’t qualify for any financial aid? Have you run the FAFSA simulator? We found Rice to be just about spot-on in our EFC using the FAFSA… UUMV. I’m always surprised at how much financial aid we receive (in a good way…).</p>
<p>I would offer these comments about financial aid.</p>
<p>Financial aid is a relative discussion. There are grants, loans, and work-study options. Many students at private colleges pay list price and effectively subsidize other students receiving grants. Loans are considered part of most financial aid packages unless a college specifically states limitations to student debt.</p>
<p>Don’t expect to receive financial aid, i.e. grants, from Rice if you have higher income and/or assets. Grant are need-based. Small Federal loans are normally available but they would be a small percentage of the overall attendance cost at Rice.</p>
<p>The implied financial aid at Rice is that the school’s endowment allows lower tuition costs than other top universities.</p>
<p>A large percentage of the merit scholarships at Rice are small awards for National Merit Finalists.</p>
<p>Academic scholarships are a recruiting tool that Rice uses to assemble a class. Scholarship recipients are identified during the admissions process. There is no separate application.</p>
<p>Applying ED doesn’t offer any specific advantage with regard to financial aid. You may save some minor application costs, but colleges do vary in what family assets are counted in their financial aid calculations.</p>
<p>Good luck! Admission to Rice is highly competitive. It’s a great school.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help!</p>