<p>^ We checked the FA box in the common app, and Case does not ask for any financial information until later on when we applied for EA. So, I believe financial need does not figure into the decision to give scholarship at all as previously stated in their policy statement. If financial bottom-line has an effect and looked at, why would a very wealthy applicant with no need has priority?</p>
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<p>Does seem very strange. I’m wondering if this is possibly from lack of class rank on transcript.</p>
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<p>Never mind, now I see this. Bet this was the problem. They screwed up, but who knows whether they can do anything about it now. Good luck.</p>
<p>If they screwed up, why can’t they change it now? Surely, they do not give out all the scholarships to EA applicants, it is unthinkable that RD applicants have no chance at scholarships.</p>
<p>Now I’d guess that the application just got mis-stacked, and your daughter will probably receive a merit award. However, if they are waiting for the FAFSA, they might still be planning to do a need/merit split later.</p>
<p>QuantMech, please don’t take this the wrong way, but I wish you really know what you are saying before asserting what the university would do as their policy for scholarship.</p>
<p>Here is an excerpt for their website:</p>
<p>Merit-based aid, or scholarships, are determined according to academic achievement, leadership, artistic talent, or other personal qualities that distinguish you in the applicant pool. Merit-based aid doesn’t consider you or your family’s financial situation, so in other words you could be Bill Gates’ kid and still receive a merit-based scholarship. As a prospective student, there is no additional scholarship application for you to fill out; we evaluate all applicants for merit-based aid.</p>
<p>I agree with ttparentn (post 23). </p>
<p>If Case made a mistake (during the app process), they should review and fix. Surely not all of the merits went out with EA admits.</p>
<p>However, maybe being an EA admit suggested to them that they are the #1 pick, and they don’t “have” to influence you. I have no idea, but from what I’ve read, schools have these “enrollment managers” who have all these formulas that they use to figure out who they want and what they need to do to “tip the scales” in their favor.</p>
<p>I’m guessing that you didn’t check the FA box (or did I miss that info)?</p>
<p>Link on enrollment management: </p>
<p>[Maguire</a> Associates - Services - Strategic Financial Aid Modeling](<a href=“http://www.maguireassoc.com/services/financial_aid.html]Maguire”>http://www.maguireassoc.com/services/financial_aid.html) </p>
<p>The basic idea is that colleges are in an arms race for enrollees, just as applicants are in an arms race for admittances. My son has received “merit” scholarship offers, not specifically applied for, from two colleges that admitted him by the early round announcement deadline. But we are still waiting for full news of financial aid offers from other colleges, and probably won’t be entirely sure what his best trade-off in net price and college value is until he receives his regular round results. It’s early in the race today. There is still a lot more time to get good news. Presumably, the best way to get some good news is to have some other good news as a basis for saying to the college, “We are strongly considering having Junior attend your fine college, but we can’t disregard the great merit scholarship offer we got from Brand X College. Is there anything you can do to reconsider your offer to us?”</p>
<p>If Case is your D’s first choice, then it would be worth it to wait until other offers come in in April. Presumably some colleges will offer your D merit aid. In April, use that info to ask Case to get Case to offer your D something</p>
<p>If Case isn’t your D’s first choice, no reason to be trying to negotiate now when she probably will go elsewhere. Given your D’s impressive stats, it may be that Case is assuming that she’ll go elsewhere, so they’re saving merit aid for good students who are likely to be lured by the aid.</p>
<p>With older S, we learned that some schools only consider for merit aid students who have applied for need-based aid. This happened at Michigan, which appeared to have some scholarships that were merit only. Mich was S’s first choice, and offered him nothing.</p>
<p>They did this after sending him a letter saying he was being considered for one of their merit scholarships, and asking him to submit a FAFSA. When he called and asked if financial need was a criterion of the scholarship (the web page made no mention of financial need being important for that scholarship), the reply was “no,” but after he called after not getting the scholarship, he was told that was because he hadn’t applied for need-based aid.</p>
<p>From that we learned that apparently just to be considered for some merit aid, the student has to act like they feel they need money. Then, even if the school determines you don’t qualify for need-based aid, they may give merit aid to entice you to accept their admissions offer.</p>
<p>OP - I believe given your D’s outstanding stats, and the note you received, you or your daughter should call and speak to a Financial Aid counselor ((not the regional rep) to 1) confirm that she was considered for merit aid, and 2) ask why she did not receive a merit scholarship. If you have any other competitive merit offers, you might want to mention that. (Wait until they are open after the holidays.)</p>
<p>token adult…</p>
<p>After reading an earlier article about “enrollment management” and also reading your link, it’s clear that there is a back room strategy that goes on that we just aren’t privy to.</p>
<p>The whole “admit/deny” strategy was an eye-opener for me. It explains why some kids with low EFCs can sometimes receive very bad FA packages.</p>
<p>Mom2sons, I did email admissions counselor and will see what reply I get on 1/4/10 when his away message said he will be back. As I stated in an earlier post he did reply to DD eventhough he was "away’ with the pat answer “try for need aid”. The reply came so fast it was obvious he hadnt reviewed anything for her. I am hoping since I didnt get the same brush off that he will now look into it since in my email I included a brief overview of her stats. I have met this guy on numerous occasions and noted his enthusiasum to be lacking. I was just glad DD had picked Case on her own. If I dont get a good or timely response from him, I will do as you suggest and call Fin Aid.</p>
<p>I would “bet the farm” that those who handle merit scholarships decisions were already gone for the winter break when her late EA admission finally came through. I advise your D to wait until Case is back in session in mid Jan, and then contact her admission’s rep to see if her app “fell through the cracks”. However, if Case is NOT the college that she is most likely to attend, even with merit $$, it may seem awkward to ask for merit money that she is unlikely to use. It IS early in the game as others have said, and colleges DO use merit $$ to try and entice those they truly want AND who they think will matriculate there. So if her essays [or interview[?]] did not leave a STRONG impression of her keen interest in attending Case, the adcom’s may very well have guessed that Case is a safety for her, and is not her first choice. Money is not growing on trees at most colleges these days and Case may be more selective in passing out merit $ than in the past.</p>
<p>It’s best if your daughter is the one to contact them. The college will be assessing her level of interest. If it looks like parents are the only ones who want her to go to Case, that will count against her.</p>
<p>And, again, I don’t suggest her contacting them unless she’s seriously interested in attending. With her stats, I’m sure she’ll get into higher ranked schools and may even get merit aid from some. If Case is her safety and she’s unlikely to go there, no reason to be asking for money at this point. She could wait until April when she’d know what her other options are.</p>
<p>Actually, I think it is well worth your time to follow up on this with a phone call early Jan to get the specifics. If they offer her a good package, even if she decides not to go there, it would be an excellent bargaining chip to show the other schools she might hope to get/increase her aid from.</p>
<p>And the student could potentially not get in anywhere else with sufficient aid–unlikely, sure, but I’ve seen it happen pretty much every year on CC.</p>
<p>The student, not the parent, needs to be the one following up.</p>
<p>Psych, my point exactly. I have seen that very thing happen on CC more than once. I feel it best to keep pushing forward until all the cards are on the table and that won’t be until April. Her favorite schools so far are Emory and Rice and if I have learned anything here on CC it is not to count your chickens before they are hatched. In the search for Merit $$ we had her apply to a range of schools to maximize the likelihood she would get a good offer. </p>
<p>I will certainly have her follow up with the financial aid office if the Admissions counselor does nothing. She has handled all her own stuff so far but I guess it got me miffed when he dismissed her inquiry out of hand! Not helpful.</p>
<p>Anyway, I realize how helpful CC and all you knowlegable parents have been to me over the past year. I have learned so much. I think my DD would have missed out on alot of opportunities if I had’nt read about them here. Thanks so much to all who took the time to give me their advice.</p>
<p>CWR is using good psychology. They don’t need to offer anything to win your D since they get that she really wants to attend BEcause she is applied EA.</p>
<p>If CWR offers $5K now, would she commit and sign by Jan 15?</p>
<p>northstarmom has given the best advice on this thread. Do not act now. You yourself said Case was a safety for her. Negotiating over merit aid now when Case isn’t even one of her top choices just seems so wrong on so many levels. As NSM said:</p>
<p>If Case is your D’s first choice, then it would be worth it to wait until other offers come in in April. Presumably some colleges will offer your D merit aid. In April, use that info to ask Case to get Case to offer your D something</p>
<p>If Case isn’t your D’s first choice, no reason to be trying to negotiate now when she probably will go elsewhere.</p>
<p>Applying EA doesn’t really signal that she wants to attend, only that she’s not applying to any SCEA schools. Case understands that many people apply EA because they want an early safety acceptance.</p>