@lexluthor5 I inquired with Admissions at Bard because I found the language on their site confusing. To qualify for merit scholarships, you must also demonstrate need.
@mamaedefamilia good info. I wonder if I called them in the process. Didn’t think we overlooked any promising schools that give merit aid. I’ll try them again in the am, but I’m expecting to hear the same.
Only 1.8% of students got merit aid at Bard. http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=116 My W’s nephew got some merit aid for math but was stupid enough to NOT take any math courses in freshman year and lost the scholarship due to grades and lack of application.
How’s that info typically match up with the cds for schools where you can find a cds?
In this case, I’d assume that all 1.8% that got the merit aid, got it for the dss scholarship, which my D wouldn’t qualify for.
I’m not sure what you mean. The categories match up perfectly between schools since the criteria are the same.
I don’t know if my wife’s nephew is getting the DSS scholarship or some other one from the school. The fact remains only 1.8% of grads with no need got merit aid at Bard.
Bard gives merit scholarships but the student is less likely to get them if there is no financial need at all. In addition to the DSS awards there is a full tuition economics scholarship, and there are conservatory scholarships for music. But there are also general Bard grants which you won’t hear about until after acceptance. If Bard seems like a good fit, go ahead and apply and see what comes.
Wooster had great merit for my kids, is a terrific school. I personally loved it. They have ea and actually gave my d an earlier answer than that by a month or so. I think the app was also free. The senior year project appeals or doesn’t depending on your kid but it is unique. Food pretty good 
I know almost a dozen very happy Wooster kids.
Denison has great food. I know a similar number of kids there and only 3 are Greek, and only one does a sport.
@“Erin’s Dad” and @SpiritManager
I wonder if there policy has changed? I wrote to Admissions/Financial aid on 31 August, asking in particular about the EEC and DSS awards, and this was the reply:
“Our Scholarships are Merit/Need Based. We do not have just Merit Based Scholarships.”
If this is incorrect, then maybe we should take a second look at Bard?
I called them this morning and got the same answer as @mamaedefamilia. They said that you must have a financial need in order to qualify for a merit scholarship. Bard is back off the list.
This is going to be a long few months.
So with her 2300 SAT, 98 weighted GPA (4.3 on 4.0 scale?), rigorous schedule (mostly APs/Honors) at a good public HS, national merit commended, national research awards (Siemens/Toshiba) and good ECs (both leadership positions and awards), interviewed and lots of interest expressed at all her tops schools (haven’t visited Grinnell or Mac, but did local interviews with the admissions reps), how confident should we be that she’ll get $15-$20K from Kenyon, Dickinson, Grinnell or Macalester? If not those, there’s Denison, Lafayette, Oberlin, Clark, Ursinus and Union. She’s shown (and has) great interest in all but Ursinus and Union. Those 2 both had free apps, so it was worth a flyer. Maybe one of them will express great interest in her and she’ll find she likes them back.
I think we’ll hear back from Ursinus first, then Clark, but not about the LEEP scholarship for a while, then Dickinson, but the rest will all be in March.
Unsinus has Dec 1 notification. Wondering if it’s worth calling them and telling them we want a visit/interview first. It’s really further down on her list, so not ever sure it’s worth the trip, but we could make the round trip in a day and spend an evening in Philadelphia before coming home, so it’s not bad.
Have you been to Ursinus? Muhlenberg would give her a lot. Did she not like it?
No. That’s why I was suggesting it might be worth a visit even though it’s low on her list. Why are you asking specifically? Is there something that may make her like it more or less if we do visit? Or we just let it ride, see what merit they offer without showing any interest whatsoever and then spend the time to visit if it’s a generous offer.
This is just my opinion and my daughter’s opinion but we did a careful tour the same day we visited Scranton.
Ursinus is a dump.
Muhlenberg and Scranton in terms of campus and facilities especially science are absolutely first class. Both also had excellent food.
Scranton is Jesuit so that may not work but if it came down to Scranton, Muhlenberg or Ursinus, Muhlenberg number one, Scranton close number two and Ursinus distant number 3. Your daughter is free ride at Scranton and big numbers at Muhlenberg.
She may love it, but its not on par with the others and that is being kind.
Scranton we removed as a safety for St. Michael’s but Scranton is easily one of the most underrated schools in the East. I would say the science pavilion was one of the nicest I have ever seen.
We visited Muhlenberg. Yes, nice enough campus, but D not interested. Very much appreciate the input, may put off the visit then and see if they offer anything with no interest expressed and deal with it if none of the others hit the target.
Still hoping for some additional feedback on my 3:49pm post. I guess the point of that is to figure out if we should still be scrambling to add some more safeties. She did like Denison and it really is a beautiful campus and she had a great interview there (received amazing feedback from the admissions director interviewing), so I’d be a bit surprised if Denison didn’t hit the target. So, not really sure if we really need to add any more.
Your welcome. I know what you are going through we are in the same situation with stress but does she think Ursinus is a better school than Muhlenberg?
TCNJ would welcome your daughter with the highest merit award bringing the cost to around 30k for OOS. It’s on our list but we are instate and that is an issue for our daughter.
In response to your question, if that much is needed you really should be more conservative with choices. The reason is, they may simply assume she won’t come.
Kenyon awarded about 12k per year to less than 6% of the class. Dickinson’s average award is about 9k.
No, she doesn’t necessarily think Ursinus is better that Muhlenberg, she just didn’t love Muhlenberg for some reason (maybe a bit artsy leaning for her). TCNJ is much larger than she’d like.
I’m sure that none of the top 8 on her list will think she’s not interested. She’s done quite a bit of work in communicating with/getting to know the reps and have attended everything possible. I’d say that most of the reps will know who she is when they read her application.
Ursinus and Union could certainly reject/waitlist her though.
Ursinus won’t because it doesn’t get many applications, Union is a very different school so yeah that can happen.
TCNJ is about 6700. How about Suny Geneseo? The school and town are very nice.
Muhlenberg is religious, perhaps that was it.
The only other really good school I can think of that has large scholarships is St. Lawrence. We had a great visit there and will be applying. The student center is really terrific and just really nice overall.
Your daughter’s list looks quite a bit like our working list, with her current top picks being Oberlin, Mac, Dickinson and Kenyon. I don’t have time to go back through the entire thread (and I may be repeating myself!), but FWIW, our long short list includes St. Olaf, Muhlenberg, and College of Wooster, for the last your daughter would be a strong contender for substantial merit money. We also considered OWU but it seems a bit heavier on the Greek/sports scene - DD is not a fan. I recommend Wooster as a possible safety.
If I remember correctly, merit money at Oberlin, Mac, and St. Olaf tops out in the low 20s, Wooster and Muhlenberg in the upper 20s, Dickinson in the 15-22K range, and Kenyon, a bit lower. Can’t speak to the rest.
Good luck!
Heard good things about SLU, but she doesn’t seem to think it’s a good fit, so didn’t make her list. Yes, she applied to SUNY Geneseo, but that’s certainly a safety.
@mamaedefamilia nice to see similar list. We didn’t make it to Wooster during our Ohio tour and don’t think it’ll make the list yet, though maybe that’s a good one to revisit. My D has Grinnell on her list as well which offers decent Merit aid.
Mac requires at least National Merit Commended for Merit aid? I was trying to figure that out from their page and I think that actually might be the case. They seem to put a lot more weight on that than others in the same class.
I think there’s a very good shot at substantial merit aid from Denison. She definitely liked Denison quite a bit, so if they come through, the ones she doesn’t like as much don’t really matter. I can see the decision coming down to Denison at more merit aid vs one of the top 4 she likes at less merit aid. Will be an interesting/tough decision.