<p>Our family income will be above $80,000. My son just finished 10th grade and Rice has come on his radar. I'm trying to research if it is finanically feasible school for us to consider. I know under $80k there is the no loan policy. I know there is the meet full need. I am trying to gather info from recent admits and learn:</p>
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<li><p>Was Rice's EFC close to what College Board calculator shows for EFC? (Rice links to this calculator)</p></li>
<li><p>Is merit widely given or only to the tippy top of the class? I cannot link to recent Common Data Sets.</p></li>
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<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>you’re right about merit.</p>
<p>We had 7 years of great financial aid from Rice. Our income was steady, regular checks (we owned no businesses, no fancy investments or anything like that.) Our Federal EFC was the same as the amount Rice asked us to pay each year, even though they are a PROFILE school. For us, it was the same.</p>
<p>My Rice EFC was a few thousand higher than federal EFC.</p>
<p>Edit: But it was also lower than other private schools of comparable merit.</p>
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<li><p>No, Rice’s EFC was much higher.</p></li>
<li><p>Rice keeps merit aid a mystery and doesn’t make the Common Data Set available. It was the only school that didn’t give S merit aid, but after appealing and showing offers from peer (and higher ranked schools) Rice gave S more money.</p></li>
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<p>Based on my sample size of 3 (number admitted from S’s high school) there was no rhyme or reason to their system of awarding merit aid.</p>
<p>Your expected contribution will be somewhere in between what the FAFSA says and the CSS/Profile or it’s equivalent.</p>
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<p>It is handed out to top applicants who meet the necessary criteria specified for that scholarship (such as research or research potential for Century Scholars etc.)</p>
<p>Antarius, the reason I made that statement was because a truly top applicant from S’s school was passed over while another student with good but not stellar accolades was awarded one of the named scholarship awards. Without getting into specific stats and qualifications, suffice to say that there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the better and more qualified applicant was overlooked. And that is fine since Rice can dole out awards however they want.</p>
<p>Yes, Rice does state that merit scholarships are for students who distinguish themselves scholastically and personally, etc. I was providing our experience and my own observation to the OP since Rice doesn’t make their Common Data Set available, and I feel like some of the statements they make regarding their awarding of merit aid is misleading.</p>
<p>Rice asked us (the parents) to pay our FAFSA EFC; our D was asked to take the usual Rice $2.5k loan and $1800 in work study. We had two in college for the first two years, but will only have 1 this fall. Our EFC ~ doubled this year (because one child graduated) and we expect to pay Rice a lot more this year (x2) - but we haven’t got this year’s award letter yet. Our 2011 graduate has a well-paying job so we should be able to afford the increase. No merit aid given to our D.</p>
<p>We are a two-income middle-class family, no significant assets other than our house, no savings in excess of the FAFSA allowance (<$50k), so a pretty uncomplicated aid application.</p>
<p>Just under 20% of all Owls receive some amount of merit aid from Rice, I was told by a friendly Financial Aid officer, just a little while ago. </p>
<p>That’s a good-sized percentage – but not something to count on when you do the math.
Strong leadership talent can play a role …</p>
<p>As someone noted above, Rice has over 20% National Merit Finalists in each incoming class. All of these students presumably receive the $1000 per year merit aid that goes with this honor. Saying that 20% of Rice students receive merit aid may just refer to this fact.</p>
<p>The significant sources of purely merit aid are the Engineering Scholarships ($5000 to full tuition) and the Trustee’s Distinguished Scholarship (in the $18-25K/year range). The precise number of these awarded each year is more of a mystery. Anyone know the figure?</p>
<p>I asked specifically if the “just under 20% figure” included National Merit scholarships
and he said no – this stat referred to the students who receive Rice grants. I sensed that he wasn’t eager to give me a break-down and didn’t push it. I do know that half of my son’s suite has Trustee Distinguished Scholarships – but that’s not much of a clue…
Maybe talking with an admissions officer could yield more info… Or maybe it’s meant to be a mystery like the number of likely letters mailed out …</p>
<p>many of the major scholarship awardees choose to matriculate elsewhere. hope rice can release the number offered and accepted data.</p>
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<p>Without the numbers, how do we know this?</p>
<p>i meant the scholarships are given to students who would otherwise enroll elsewhere (higher profile schools); it’s an inducement and recruiting tool. all merit scholarships are just that. high value scholarships target students who have the option of choosing more money or better school.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses!</p>
<p>I’m fine with my son keeping Rice on his list, but I am telling him to be cautious since we cannot “guess” the package until after acceptances. Given that we also must consider transportation costs, I just don’t want him to fall in love at this stage.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best as your list comes together. Some Owls stay on campus for Thanksgiving to reduce travel expenses and be with friends. I have no advice for how to resist falling in love with Rice, at any stage –</p>