Think about it. Here on CC there is 100% agreement that a great, high stats kid can never “count on” getting accepted to an elite school, however that’s defined. Now consider wanting to get significant merit at a school at, or just a bit below, that level, That’s going to be at least as difficult as getting into those tippy top schools. Who wouldn’t want to get significant $ at a top school?
I’m looking at this situation from diffrent perspectives now, thanks to your helpful responses. Please keep it coming, this thread can be of use for all posters.
@homerdog W&L awards Johnson scholarships to 10% of the entering first-years. So while they are indeed competitive, there are 45-50 for each freshman class.
You can tell something about the number of students who get merit aid and average amounts from the Common Data Set for each school (Google it). @homerdog, odds are pretty good that a high stats kid will get those scholarships at Dickinson & Macalester – they give out quite a few.
He is a top student but no hooks, Nobel prizes or Olympic medals.
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Too bad. Nobel prizes or Olympic medals would guarantee scholarships from schools!
In the interest of adding some anecdotal info: One of my favorite former students was awarded the full tuition scholarship at W&L a couple years ago. He was not in the top 10 of his class, (I think he was around 15th) his super scored ACT was 32 He had a strong GPA, and nice (but not unusual) ECs- Eagle Scout, Drama, Science Olympiad state qualifier etc.
Does W&L have a full tuition scholarship?
It promises to give full tuition awards to those from families under a certain income.
Sounds like your former student got the W&L Promise
It’s merit award is for tuition, room, board and more…
Note that northeastern clearly states NMFS get UP TO $30K. Not every NMF will get that much.
As others have said, merit is tough to obtain at top schools. This kid could get a great and affordable education at a school ranked in the 50s and 60s.
@mom2collegekids - you are correct- it includes room/board etc. His mom was telling me that when he decided to move off campus this year- the school still paid for his share of the house he is living in, which I found surprising
Anyone know anyone who received those BostonCollege full ride awards?
So, depending where the line is drawn on rankings – my kid met some kids who received full tuition merit awards at Denison. They were weighing acceptance to Ivies and Stanford vs. full merit.
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Anyone know anyone who received those BostonCollege full ride awards?
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Is it true that BC’s scholarships have a “need” component? It appears so…
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Donor-Established Scholarship Funds at Boston College
Each year Boston College awards millions of dollars in need-based scholarships to eligible undergraduates. Generous benefactors to the University fund a portion of these scholarship grants through donor-established scholarships. Students who are eligible for BC need-based grants will be considered for a donor-established scholarship once they have completed the standard application for financial aid.
Boston College Grants/Scholarships
Eligibility for Boston College grant and scholarship funds is determined based on the student’s demonstrated institutional need. A portion of these funds is supported by donor-established scholarships. Students who are eligible for Boston College need-based grant funds will be considered for these donor-supported awards once they have completed the standard application for financial aid.
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If BC’s merit has a “need” component then it appears that BC is using donor-established funds to help them “meet need”.
Regarding BC- Full tuition does not have a need component.
Will accepted students receive a scholarship?
Presidential Scholars receive a merit scholarship that covers full tuition at BC, regardless of financial need. If the merit award does not meet their financial aid requirements, Scholars receive additional grant and aid resources sufficient to meet full need. The cost of summer programs is covered by a separate award.
What qualifications must an applicant have to be eligible for the Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program?
There is no minimum GPA or SAT score requirement. However, we are looking for students with outstanding academic records, who hold leadership roles in their school and who are committed to and have a demonstrated interest in community service. Typically, the students selected are in the top 1-2 percent of the national pool of freshman applicants.
How many Scholars are selected each year?
We invite about 15 students to become Presidential Scholars. Once admitted to BC as Presidential Scholars, students remain in the program for their 4 years at BC provided they maintain a 3.5 GPA and remain model citizens of the BC community throughout that time. Presently, there are 65 Scholars in the program.
@scholardad Can you really see how many kids get the merit scholarships on the common data set? I’ll have to look into that. I think we will be most interested in Davidson, Wake Forest, and Wash U…but I think that fewer kids get merit money at those three compared to some others in your post. Plus, our GC told us that merit opportunities can change every year with some schools that give some now (like a Grinnell) may not still be giving as much in two years when we would be interested. Moving target!
Again full tuition does NOT mean full ride!
I like to think that to receive substantial merit based scholarships, one needs to be competing for admission to colleges two tiers up the college at which one is targeting the scholarship. So if you are a likely candidate pursued by multiple Ivies, then you may have a shot for the full scholarship at Duke. If you are a desirable candidate for top 20 colleges, then you have a good chance for a substantial scholarship for some college ranked 50-100. Of course, it’s just a rough guideline. There are exceptions all the time.
I just looked up Wake Forest merit aid and found that 20 freshman last year received non-need based financial aid (out of about 1300 kids) not counting athletic scholarships. It was substantial, though, with an average of $30 K. Wash U was more like 250 kids getting non-need based aid but only to the tune of $11K on average. Interesting!
@panpacific “I like to think that to receive substantial merit based scholarships, one needs to be competing for admission to colleges two tiers up the college at which one is targeting the scholarship.”
I agree based on what we saw with our son and from hearing from other friends. My son received $15k p.a. from Northeastern and $25k from Miami. Other friends’ kids also had money from these schools and others had money from Davidson and Tulane.
Getting merit aid at Wake Forest is tough even for kids with top test scores and graduating #1. I still think they sometimes give it to kids who fill a particular need. I remember reading a year or two ago on CC about a boy who got a significant amount of merit money but was not a top student compared to other kids who applied and received nothing. My daughter did not receive merit to Wake.
My daughter got into schools such as Emory, UVA, UNC (both out of state) and received very significant merit aid to Lehigh, Pitt, and Ohio State. She received smaller awards (between $10,000 and $15,000) to schools such as UMD-CP honors and UConn honors. Getting into top schools is hard enough- her friend was rejected to Duke and NW being top 1% with a 2350 SAT- therefore getting merit is harder and is often based on filling a need.