How common is merit aid & does it stack with need-based aid or replace it (at U of R)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Rochester
,
1

My S24 is very interested in U of R but the NPC says $50K/year. That is too much and higher than almost every other private school we ran the NPC on. (High endowment schools were in the $30s; less selective schools were in the low $40s. Only Tufts and BC got close to $50K, but even they were a bit less.)

I have heard U of R gives merit, and have read what they say about it on their website. But I also see that many people last year were shocked & frustrated at the final cost they were given after admission.

What I cannot find out is whether U of R stacks merit with need based aid or if any merit they give will replace need based aid. If a $7000 or $10,000 merit award is not out of the question, and it stacks with the financial aid, that could bring yearly COA down to a more manageable $40,000. But if it will just replace need-based aid, leaving total COA at the $50,000 forecast by the NPC, it doesn’t make sense to use the time or money for an application (especially because demonstrated interest seems to be very important and the investment of time it would take for that would be significant), even though S24 really loves the programs.

Does anyone know if merit & need-based aid stack, or how we can find out? I guess S24 can email the admissions or FinAid office, but our experience last year with S23 was schools always answered that type of question in an extremely wishy-washy/non-answer way.

2

Did the net price calculator ask for student stats like GPA, standardized test scores, etc? If so, merit might have been included already.

What you need to know is…merit aid at University of Rochester is highly competitive anyway. So there is no guarantee your student would even receive it. This school is trending towards need based aid.

ETA. The net price calculators are currently set for students starting college in fall 2023. That is not your student. And yes, policies do change as well as cost of attendance. I’m guessing these NPCs won’t be updated as quickly as in the last due to the changes to the FAFSA.

@Mwfan1921 your thoughts?

2 Likes
3

According to Rochester’s FA handbook, they do stack aid. Did the NPC estimate include merit? I do agree that anecdotally it does seem that Rochester is less generous in FA than some peer schools, even tho they do meet full need.

On the most recent CDS, it looks like 427 undergrads with need also received non-need based aid H2(g).

It looks like 1,483 undergrads without need received merit, with the average in arts and sciences much less than that in Eastman. H2A (n, o)

I wouldn’t hesitate to call admissions (for merit $ questions) and FA for the bigger aid picture with any questions you have.

FA handbook:

CDS:

2 Likes
4

Thank you, this information is helpful.

The NPC did not ask for student stats, so it was strictly need-based. Looking at the merit scholarships they offer, my son wouldn’t be eligible for most of them. He might only qualify for a couple of the generic “Scholarships in Overall Excellence.”

I guess he is going to have to make a tough decision about whether or not to apply.

1 Like
5

Another word of caution about depending on merit aid at UR. If I’m recalling correctly, there was a poster on CC a few years back whose child’s merit award didn’t carry over and they had to transfer school.

1 Like
6

I think that was @taverngirl…any insights to share?

2 Likes
7

@MAmomto4

Does your kid know your price point limit? He could apply if he understands that if the money is not forthcoming…he will need to drop this from consideration.

1 Like
8

If your kid loves U of R and you’re not using all 20 Common App spots, you can apply but put this in the - it’s possible for the school to get me to my # camp but improbable.

In other words, apply knowing it’s highly unlikely you’ll attend.

If budget is clearly stated up from to your student, it’s ok to have a few Hail Mary schools as long as you have the will achieve cost safeties and there’s a great chance they’ll achieve cost safeties and targets.

But it’s most important your student knows - if it doesn’t get to x cost, it’s gone - period, end of story.

Good luck.

1 Like
9

Yes. We have $35K/year to give him. Anything over that is for him to come up with. He currently has $20K saved & can probably save another $5-10K over the next year, and he can do the federal student loans. His limit (for himself) is $40K/year.

He would have no problem turning down a school that was over his limit, but he would be mad about all the effort he put in that he could have used on something else. So, I’m trying to help him get a good view of what the likelihood it would come in under $40K is, so he can make a good decision about whether it is a reasonable investment of his time.

10

Are you looking for probable merit aid schools also? Some of those might come in under budget if his admissions stats are strong enough.

11

At $35k, depending on where you live and stats, and openness to different geographies, there will be schools.

But any time you have a budget, and especially when schools have the possibility of merit aid, I’m not sure there’s truly a way to 100% know until you get the answer - especially if aid is stackable. NPCs help but until css is in and evaluated and you get a final offer or some schools will give a pre read, you can’t know for certain.

While full pay, we had a $50k budget.

In the end, if the student applies to and is accepted to more than one school, they’ve exerted unpaid effort because they can only choose one. So that’s a part of playing the game.

One can simply apply to schools with no supplemental essays and then it’s just checking more boxes on common and answering a few school specific questions. It’s quick.

But then they might miss out on a great fit.

So if I were chasing a cost - I’d use more, not less spots, unless it was and I don’t know where you live but his #2 or #3 is an admission safety and will be under budget.

But if he likes Rochester, you will find similar schools, whether it’s for size (tufts, Denver, Emory, Quinnipiac) or open curriculum (try Grinnell, Kalamazoo).

But generally when chasing cost where the need component isn’t getting you to where you need, finding schools that will get you to cost and adding more that have a good chance and then the dream like Rochester - more apps are better, not less. That’s why many apply to 20+.

Good luck to him.

2 Likes
12

I just looked at your other thread. He is home schooled, and has a chance at being NMF…keep on top of that because that will open up some doors financially.

Lots of good suggestions on that thread, and some that would come in at your price point.

1 Like
13

U of R did not stack for us. When they took all Ds need-based aid away, and we begged them to review it, they replaced the $20k need based with $1500 of merit (she’d had none previously). It’s been 4 years since D was there, but I’d probably do some research to see if they’re still shafting the sophomores. It was a thing at the time - unfortunately we didn’t find that out until afterwards. The year my d transferred 3 of her friends had to as well. That’s potentially a lot of students considering she obviously didn’t know the entire freshman class. Hopefully they’ve ended that

1 Like
14

If the COA of a school is 70K and the school gives you 20K in merit, leaving your COA of 50K, then if your NPC is in the low 40’s then that would very likely be all that you receive. You don’t get to double dip from the school. We were in a similar boat with S22. I think our NPC’s were similar (but Rochester not one of them) . What I found to happen was S22 received merit in a very similar amount from pretty much every school - about 22K give or take a thousand. He got that amount from schools including RIT, WPI, Holy Cross, Clark and Macalester. Then every school tacks on the school loan and work study and then the FA document would say your COA is in the mid to high 40’s (but we weren’t going to do loans or work study). Of the north/northeast schools only Macalester and Holy Cross gave us additional significant grants to put the COA in the upper 30’s, a few gave a couple thousand for housing grants. Most gave zero.

Smaller midwest schools threw big merit money had him and had he chosen one of those the COA would have been in the low to mid 20’s. I didn’t bother to send the FAFSA to those schools since I knew he would receive a lot of merit.

2 Likes
15

But correct me if I’m wrong - Mac and HC meet 100% of demonstrated need (however they see it) and WPI, Clark, and RIT don’t.

That’s perhaps why those two gave more …

16

Take a look at this document. UR’s higher relative cost for you in the NPCs is almost certainly due to them factoring in home equity capped at 3x gross income. Other schools commonly use a 1.2x or 2x cap. Treatment of home equity is the largest differentiating factor among schools that “meet full need”.

3 Likes
17

I know that Mac meets full need for sure - they were very generous for sure. I think that is the sweet spot - finding a school that awards merit to a decent number of kids AND meets full need.

1 Like
18

Just to keep on your radar for deadlines, if I recall correctly, merit at UR may involve submitting the RD app early, by Dec 1.

3 Likes
19

Great point - Emory I believe is Nov 1 so important to look at for any school of interest.

1 Like
20

My D23 will attend University of Rochester this fall. We gave her a budget of $30,000/yr. She applied by the early deadline for merit aid. She was awarded $20k merit aid and received $32k FA. Her stats are:
Ranked 6/622
99/100 uw gpa
1490 SAT
NM commended
5 IB; 8 AP; 4 dual college
ECs: member pre-professional dance company and performed at major venues across three states; performed lead in a short film; high school theater and musical; several honors clubs and president of Spanish Honors Society hs chapter; student rep in student government; student ambassador NYCLU
Unhooked

We attended admitted student day where the Dean of Admissions spoke and stressed Rochester’s commitment to diversity including economic diversity and the inclusion of the middle class as an important component of that diversity.

5 Likes