Let’s say you have a pretty high stats kid- 4.0 UW, 4.6 weighted, 1530 SAT, varsity soccer captain but not a recruit…
You think she might have a shot (just a shot, not a shoe-in) at some merit money at pretty good schools like Tulane, GW…that tier.
Would applying ED- so she is bound and has to go if accepted- mean that those schools would not have any reason to tempt her with a merit award and so she would be giving up any chance of getting one?
Please read this thread:
This question has been asked repeatedly in the last few days. You will find links in that thread to other threads discussing the same topic.
The short answer is that, typically, ED students don’t receive merit awards. There is no incentive for them to lure an ED student with cash. Run the NPC to see what it says about what you will pay. And merit awards are often then used against whatever FA you might be awarded. So the award will be part of your FA.
Tulane specifically says there is a lower pool of merit for ED applicants. Here is one place that is mentioned: http://tuadmissionjeff.blogspot.com/2019/08/apps-101-when-to-apply.html?q=ed+merit
Unfortunately some schools aren’t so transparent about this issue. You can certainly call schools and ask this question.
My son applied ED to Tulane three years ago (maybe things are different now?). 1540 SAT, lower GPA than what you shared, also captain of a sport, not a lot of ECs, got 12k merit/year from Tulane with his ED acceptance. I think they liked his high SAT because it lifts their median.
Thanks for this. Somehow, I had thought you had to ED to merit aid schools to show your commitment. I’m glad I now understand that it’s the other way around.
You learn something new each day!
IMO this is not always the case, especially if you are talking less selective schools, and especially LACS…schools like Allegheny, College of Wooster, Gettysburg, DePauw and more. These schools are actively discounting and I am not comfortable saying with certainty that they offer markedly less in the ED round…again, do your research which includes talking with someone in admissions.
It can depend on the college though. As @Ellyn said above, her child applied ED and was offered merit aid. It would be interesting to know if the merit aid was part of the financial aid package.
Most schools are really tight lipped about merit awards. It’s probably a good idea to ask the financial aid office about these things, though merit aid is given via the admissions office.
Maybe some other CC’ers have knowledge of this topic. @kelsmom @twoinanddone or @BelknapPoint might have something to add.
I suspect that a student is less likely to receive merit if they apply ED, simply because merit is often used as a tool to achieve enrollment. A student who applies ED has signaled a strong desire to enroll if accepted. I agree that merit offered to an ED student is most likely offered because the student has financial need. Some scholarships are targeted for students with financial need, so a college might offer such a scholarship to help meet an ED student’s need. It’s possible that a similar student applying ED without financial need might not get a similar merit scholarship. Then again, the school might offer merit to attract the very best students & if the student is top-notch, they might be offered merit even if ED. It really depends on the school’s policies. And yes, they do often keep those policies private for purposes of flexibility in enrollment management.
This is a GREAT explanation! Thanks, @kelsmom !
Very much depends on the school. Some schools offer same merit to a candidate if they go EA or ED. Also, some schools will be up front about it and some won’t say. I suggest reading back years of parents comments on CC for each school and even reaching out and asking to those schools you’d consider applying ED. I know some who applied ED to Tulane this year and got I think a fair scholarship. Now had she gone EA perhaps she could have asked for even more but the relief of that acceptance to first choice school and the merit she did get was a joy!
Both my kids went to schools where merit was awarded for certain scores and GPA. One school was quite clear that if you had X gpa and Y score, your merit aid would be $Z. There were also other awards you could earn. The other school was a little fuzzier about the amount for the score/gpa/class rank numbers, but you could get a pretty good guess by the prior year’s awards. They also had other merit based awards for EagleScout/GS Gold awards, robotics, siblings, etc.
Neither school had ED but both had rolling admissions. They were admitted LONG before FA/merit notifications came out, but of course different from ED because they were free to choose other schools.
IMO, schools should give the same merit to an ED candidate as to RDs. The student is signaling that this is their favorite school. A school is being unfair if they want the student to commit ED but then only give merit as bribe money. Do they want the students who want them, who want to be there?
Thanks, @Lindagaf, @kelsmom, and others!
This is yet another great CC thread, which I will bookmark. I now have so many CC bookmarks, that I need a bookmarks manager to keep up with great info like this, which has diametrically changed my thinking on merit aid!
We did not apply for financial aid and the merit was a surprise for sure.
If you want an assurance of merit aid, you don’t apply ED. Period, end of story.
There are exceptions. NYU says you can bolt. Some others say they’ll tell you up front.
Bit in general terms, if you want merit aid, stay away from ED.
Might you cause a rejection ? Perhaps. Bit your wallet will thank you later if you’re not looking to spend $320-350k.
Depends on the school – you can ask Admissions about merit award practices and ED apps, noting that as a full pay family, merit would be a factor in applications. Our experience was with Denison where my ED athletic recruit was given an estimate of his merit award as a full pay applicant before he applied ED, and Admissions specifically said that merit would not change between ED and RD. He in fact got more than the estimate with his ED acceptance, which I credit to the coherence of his essay, LORs etc.