<p>This family friend is going to Harvard on a full merit scholarship, frankly I didn't know that Harvard even did that. Regardless his stats are pretty impressive: 2400 Sat (sophomore year), rank #1, 17 AP all 5s, 1500+ Community service.. I dont think he was lying but I thought that Ivy's didn't give merit aid and they were only need base. (judging by the very high class lifestyle that he lives I doubt he qualifies for fin aid.)</p>
<p>No merit aid. Period. The end.</p>
<p>There are no merit-based scholarships at Harvard. Perhaps your friend may have acquired an external scholarship, but it certainly does not come from Harvard’s endowment.</p>
<p>Ivy League schools do not give merit or athletic scholarships. Your friend probably has financial aid or is receiving merit aid from another source.</p>
<p>Or he could be lying to make himself look more impressive. Be a friend to him and tell him you know that Harvard does not award any merit scholarships, period. Tell him that it’s fairly common knowledge and he just comes across as a liar/braggart otherwise.</p>
<p>Excellent advice T2^^^.</p>
<p>One other thought- some of Harvard’s financial aid is termed " the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Scholarship" or other terms, on the finanical aid letter. Parents and students sometimes misinterpret such terminology as merit money rather than need money.</p>
<p>I talked to him and he said that it was a scholarship not funded by Harvard. I really dont think living in a 6500 sq house qualifies for fin aid anyway.</p>
<p>xFocus in your original post you stated that you “didn’t know that Harvard even did that”. Now with you last post and the other comments hopefully it is now clear that Harvard did not and does not.</p>
<p>What about the Harvard National Scholarship?</p>
<p>When I was a Freshman at Harvard there was talk of a very small group of Freshmen who were awarded the Harvard National Scholarship. It is described as follows:</p>
<p>“Harvard National Scholarshipthis scholarship was established in the early 1930s to draw the nations top students to attend Harvard University.”</p>
<p>I do believe (although it isn’t talked about very much) that this is the only merit scholarship Harvard gives. There aren’t many.</p>
<p>Read more: A Guide to Financial Aid Scholarships for Harvard Students - Grants, Student Loans, Fellowships - Federal, Awards, Offers, College, Include, and Fixed [A</a> Guide to Financial Aid Scholarships for Harvard Students - Grants, Student Loans, Fellowships - Federal, Awards, Offers, College, Include, and Fixed](<a href=“http://www.stateuniversity.com/financial-aid-articles/pages/7699/A-Guide-to-Financial-Aid-Scholarships-for-Harvard-Students.html#ixzz12U1KWz7J]A”>http://www.stateuniversity.com/financial-aid-articles/pages/7699/A-Guide-to-Financial-Aid-Scholarships-for-Harvard-Students.html#ixzz12U1KWz7J)</p>
<p>[A</a> Guide to Financial Aid Scholarships for Harvard Students - Grants, Student Loans, Fellowships - Federal, Awards, Offers, College, Include, and Fixed](<a href=“http://www.stateuniversity.com/financial-aid-articles/pages/7699/A-Guide-to-Financial-Aid-Scholarships-for-Harvard-Students.html]A”>http://www.stateuniversity.com/financial-aid-articles/pages/7699/A-Guide-to-Financial-Aid-Scholarships-for-Harvard-Students.html)</p>
<p>GregB777 - I believe the “Harvard National Scholarship” is financial aid rather than a merit scholarship as fauve points out is post #6. Harvard has no merit scholarships.</p>
<p>citdad:</p>
<p>I’m afraid I disagree. Harvard can call it whatever they want to, but the fact is only a very few people are called Harvard National Scholars and get a Harvard National Scholarship. </p>
<p>It could be more of an honorific title, I suppose, in which case we are both sort of right. Perhaps they award financial aid blind, then choose to call some people National Scholars as sort of an honorific. </p>
<p>My main point being, though, if all they award is need-based, why even bother having something called the Harvard National Scholar? At the very least, it does single some folks out as being “better.”</p>
<p>Does someone know the facts behind this?</p>
<p>Unless they are awarding some of the Harvard National Scholarships to students that would qualify for no financial aid, then they are indeed financial aid. If you search this forum going back over the years you will see other postings like fauve’s #6. If this was a merit scholarship, then why do they not make any public announcement of the winners? Every merit scholarship I have ever seen has press releases, websites, etc.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I mean it’s pretty cut and dry on the financial aid website FAQs</p>
<p>GregB777, Harvard doesn’t offer merit scholarships. The website you used provided outdated information. Only financial aid is offered. However, some individuals may become “named” recipients - that is, a particular individual’s money is given to them, so their grant is given a name. However, that is still not a merit scholarship.</p>
<p>Harvard only offers need based financial aid. No merit based aid period. </p>
<p>Even recipient of Phi Beta Kappa (top 48 kids who gardaute from harvard College each year) or John Harvrad Scholar (top 5% of graduating Harvard College kids) or Harvard College Scholar (top 10% of gradauting Harvard College Students) do not get any merit base scholarship. Even though it is honor to have these rewards. Many of these still qualify for need based aid. I know few kids with these awards as some of them are close friends of my kid. </p>
<p>However lot of students brings lots of money from merit based outside scholarhip from outside entities such as National Merit Scholar, Simmens, Intel, etc. etc. etc.</p>
<p>Harvard is most generous place for need based scholarships (second to none -princeton and yale are equally good) once a student is admitted.</p>
<p>(About 165 people, or 10% of each Harvard class, get elected to Phi Beta Kappa. As is the case at lots of colleges. 72 of them are elected early – 24 as juniors, and 48 as first-semester seniors.)</p>
<p>(I’m sure Harvard has lots of named scholarship endowments floating around, but if they are administered by Harvard University they are awarded on a need basis only.)</p>
<p>I do not know the current situation. In the old days National Scholars at Harvard got no loans in their fin aid packages. Everyone else on fin aid did. </p>
<p>It was sort of a form of merit aid–designed to get the most desirable candidates to enroll in Harvard rather than take merit money elsewhere–but only students who were eligible for fin aid in the first place were eligible to be National Scholars. Repeating myself, the National Scholars did get a better package than others on fin aid. Thy had no loans to repay. </p>
<p>With Harvard’s recent changes in fin aid, that distinction probably doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>JHS Thanks for correcting me. I did not relaise 24+48+96. I was looking only at 48.</p>
<p>It is listed as follows. </p>
<p>[Eligibility</a> & Election Phi Beta Kappa](<a href=“http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k19082&pageid=icb.page189953]Eligibility”>http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k19082&pageid=icb.page189953)</p>
<p>I think the named scholarships may be the source of the confusion. All kinds of gifts are given to Harvard (as well as other universities) which fund scholarships for students. Some are named and celebrate the givers, so the recipient may receive the “Jones Scholarship.” But “Jones Scholars” are not given Jones Scholarships at H on the basis of any unusual merit - they’re given it because they qualify for a certain amount of need-based aid and they fit those qualifications stipulated by the Jones family when they gave the money. All students who receive financial aid are required to fill out a form showing their extracurricular involvements, area of study, religious affiliation, familial relationships to key people, etc. So Mr. & Mrs. Jones may have stipulated in their gift that the scholarship recipient be a URM from Ohio who’s studying biology or a descendant of a Confederate Civil War soldier. The H Financial Aid office scans all their recipients to see who fits the specifications and gives them the Jones and other scholarships with specific eligibility requirements. Then the other awarded students receive their aid from sources that have no strings attached. Otherwise, a lot of contributed scholarship funds would go unawarded each year.</p>
<p>When did the ivies stop giving merit scholarships?
I’ve read lots of biographies of famous scientists, and /most/ of them attended college on a full scholarship. Some schools had so many merit scholarships that they had separate dorms for scholarship students.</p>