<p>Does the first invariably preclude the latter ?</p>
<p>no (ten characters)</p>
<p>Hi anxious. Just wondering...what is "ten characters" ?</p>
<p>You can't have a post that is less than 10 characters, so you have to just type lettters to get up to the 10 character floor.</p>
<p>You have to have 10 characters or the system won't accept your response. You can't just post "No." Try it and you'll see.</p>
<p>And I agree - some schools may hold the merit scholarships to woo students who applied RD, since they have more choices. However, other schools give merit scholarships regardess of when you apply - if you meet the criteria, you're considered for the scholarship even if you applied ED. Still others have a separate "pot" of money and consider only ED students for those funds, and have another "pot" for RD students.</p>
<p>The best thing to do is to call your ED school's admissions office and ask. They'll generally be up front. (And in most schools, merit scholarships are administered by the admissions office, not financial aid.)</p>
<p>I think I'd need to know how badly they needed/wanted that merit scholarship. If they were in a situation where the granting or non-granting of a significant merit scholarship had a severe impact on the family's finances, even though it was still "sell a kidney" possible to attend , I'd never think ED was a good idea. You need more baits in the water when you are fishing for something that large and that rare. ;)</p>
<p>So,
what if finances aren't an issue? The family could pay full cost, but obviously would like merit aid if possible. Should that kid apply ED? Is he/she less likely to get scholarship? The school knows he/she will attend, so is there still a need to "lure" them with the aid, especially if the school knows the family can pay full cost?
Cur, your d got full ride at Rhodes, correct? From what I remember in your posts she did not apply ED. Do you think she would have gotten her scholarship if she applied ED?</p>
<p>My daughter received a merit scholarship from Kenyon even though she applied ED. We do not qualify for financial aid and anticipated paying the full price for her to attend. The scholarship she received did not have strict numerical criteria. </p>
<p>My son (who graduated HS in 2002) was a "President's Scholar" at Stanford. This program has now been discontinued, and was not a merit scholarship, but a summer research grant awarded to 200 of the top admitted students. I know that some the other President's Scholars in his class were ED applicants. </p>
<p>In both of these cases, the school's only motive to provide these awards to ED applicants seems to have been fairness - that they would have been obvious recipients for the awards.</p>
<p>The scholarship comp is once a year and late. I don't know the answer. But my gut tightening up tells me which way I'd go. ;)</p>
<p>Different schools do things different ways ... and it's not always easy to figure out what they do! Schools seem to sometimes change things year to year. One of D's schools had a scholarship competition where 4 full rides were to be offered ... 1 was specifically for an ED. Another competition was open to ED, EA, and RD equally (meaning, of course, that it was mid-April before the ED's knew if they had money!). </p>
<p>If there is an ED that's a definite top choice, and if money isn't really a problem ... what is the point of worrying? ED generally gives one a leg up on admission ... and the scholarship, if it did happen, would be icing on the cake.</p>