<p>Hi! I'm a senior in high school and prospective Grinnellian. I've been interested in Grinnell for a while, but although I mentioned it to my mom a few times before, she was never very interested until I told her that they have a nice endowment and I've heard that they have good financial aid. Our financial situation is kind of complicated (hard to explain, but it involves my stepdad having several assets that he doesn't draw income from but that look like a lot of money on tax returns) and we're kind of worried that I won't get enough need-based aid to go to some of the private schools I'm interested in. </p>
<p>So, I was wondering if anyone could tell me about the merit-based aid opportunities Grinnell has. Do I apply for them? Am I automatically eligible for them when I apply to the school (like at Smith)? How easy are they to get? If it helps to know, I'm a female from Pennsylvania with straight A's and a 34 ACT. </p>
<p>My son’s stats were similar and he was offered $15,000 per year for merit aid. We didn’t qualify for need-based. You don’t apply for the merit $$, they just award it. There is no reason not to apply if you’re interested. It is a wonderful school. My son is a very happy senior there.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the response! My mom was very happy to hear it Now I’m almost positive I’ll apply. With that sort of scholarship and a couple of loans it would definitely be doable.</p>
<p>I can’t tell you what they would give you, or even if you would be admitted, though I believe your chances are excellent, but I think it is absolutely worthwhile for you to apply. Smith is an amazing school too.</p>
<p>Need-based aid is unpredictable too. My son had a very strong application in addition to his ACT and GPA. Excellent ECs, great SAT scores, high AP scores, glow-in-the-dark recommendations, an essay everyone seemed to love, etc. So, as I said, I don’t even know if the OP would be admitted, much less whether she’d get merit aid, but it is probably worth the effort of an application to find out.</p>
Now I’m almost positive I’ll apply. With that sort of scholarship and a couple of loans it would definitely be doable.</p>