<p>I don’t know much about the merit aid process, but waiting until April seems like a bad strategy to me. If Case has a cap on the number of merit scholarships they award, would that cap not likely be reached by the time the regular admission candidates are admitted?</p>
<p>I see what you mean by waiting until April might not be best either because the available money might be exhausted by then. But asking for a lot of financial aid now may also be looked upon as not in good faith, what if they offer you say 20k, and then you counter with we will let you know sometime in April, that might really put them off. Is Rice or Emory rolling admission? When do you expect to hear from them?</p>
<p>Maybe you should look at your daughters list and help her to add another financial safety that is not contingent on merit aid. You can’t control what Case does…whatever their response to your email is you will have to accept it and move on.</p>
<p>Even if merit aid is offered, the student does not have to commit before the regular date. The exception to this would be ED.</p>
<p>I’ll take a mid-point position: Contact admissions now to make sure it’s not an oversight, but keep it low key. In April, if Case is still a top consideration, present your case in light of other acceptances/merit money.</p>
<p>We had a useless GC. Didn’t even consider putting her in the mix. Personally, I think it’s okay for parents to negotiate aid. The acceptance is in hand. Who are the colleges look to for payment, especially for privates w/ big bucks tuition? DH is a smooth negotiator and worked out a much better deal than DS would have the skills to do.</p>
<p>Hate to refer to rankings but the best merit dollars come from schools outside the top 30 on the National and LAC lists. Given tight budgets, I don’t think there is much flexibility to adjust merit awards, need-based awards yes, but not merit. Merit awards that are declined may not necessarily be offered to others.</p>
<p>^^^
DS was only looking at top schools and was able to negotiate merit money once all the decisions were in. One thing I learned in the process was to look outside the (top) box for big-time bucks.</p>
<p>I don’t know that this is at all relevant to Case, but regarding colleges wanting you to file a FAFSA even if the student is only looking at merit scholarships with no need-based componet:</p>
<p>I believe the scholarship committee is thinking “We choose Suzi Q as someone deserving a full ride. Hmm, but maybe her family is eligible for a Pell Grant and they don’t know it. Let’s make sure the family files the FAFSA. That way, if she IS eligible for a Pell Grant, we can let Uncle Sam pay part of her tuition and thus save a bit on that full ride.” </p>
<p>In cases like this, if you don’t file a FAFSA, you are off the list of people considered for merit scholarships. As I mentioned earlier, I think Brandeis does this, and based on what an earlier poster mentioned, it sounds like Michigan does too.</p>
<p>Yes. I know that Rose-Hulman does this too. They want to make sure if you are eligible for any federal aid, you get that first.</p>
<p>@ttparent, I understand that the “merit” awards are disconnected from the family financial status. However, I have also seen some material from Case before, in which they separately listed “merit” funds that were awarded to applicants who also qualified for “need-based” awards. Really, the “merit” awards anywhere ought to be recognized as “recruiting” awards.</p>
<p>Admittedly, I don’t know for sure about Case, in this instance. However, if spring162’s daughter did not check a box indicating that the family would not apply for aid, then I suspect that Case might well wait to look at the financial data before deciding the “merit” aid. For example, if they had a strong applicant who qualified for need-based aid that met 100% of the costs (not spring162’s daughter), Case might “package” the entire award as need-based, or a very high fraction as need-based–because there are usually different “pots” of money, with different designations, available to the Financial Aid Office. That way, they could reserve “merit” funds for students who might be no more meritorious, but who don’t qualify for the need-based funds. At any rate, that’s how it works near us.</p>
<p>Case says that being wealthy will not prevent a merit award–I am not suggesting that it would, at all. In fact, I suspect that the students who have already received the merit awards may be clearly (to Case) in the “no need” category. I am suggesting that Case might prefer to draw on funds that are available only to students with “need,” when they can–and that therefore, they might defer the merit award until need is determined. Unless there is some indication that the merit awards are all determined in advance?</p>
<p>The stats posted by spring162, in combination with data that Dad’o’two (Dad’o’2?) dug up last year about Case’s financial aid, make me think that spring162’s daughter would definitely qualify for merit aid at Case.</p>
<p>Or maybe the application just wound up in the wrong pile, and they are fixing it.</p>
<p>Just noticed that I am agreeing with MidwestMom2Kids_ and mom2sons. Also what I am suggesting is consistent with Northstarmom’s post #28. (Plus, apologies to Dad’o’2 for getting the name wrong the first time.)</p>
<p>"We had a useless GC. Didn’t even consider putting her in the mix. Personally, I think it’s okay for parents to negotiate aid. "</p>
<p>I think that when it comes to need-based aid, fine for the parents to negotiate because parents understand their financial situation better than students do. When it comes to merit aid, though, it would be best if the student makes the calls because this aid depends a great deal on the students’ character and interest in the school, and the college can best determine these things by talking to the student. If a parent calls about merit aid, the school may think that the parent is interested in the school, but the student isn’t.</p>
<p>In the past (when I applied in 2005-2006), Case definitely did NOT require the FAFSA for merit aid. I think it was likely an administrative mix-up of some sort, and the OP and her D are certainly in the “right” in asking for a second look.</p>
<p>Maybe I am not putting my thoughts clearly.<br>
I don’t think the FAFSA is required for merit aid, at all.
A student who indicates that he/she will not apply for financial aid might receive merit aid.
However, if the application shows that the student may be applying for financial aid, a university might wait to see the “need” level, before making a merit award, in addition to the “need-based” award. This becomes most relevant when the typical size of a merit award may exceed the gap between the need and the full cost of attendance. Almost no place will actually pay a student to attend.</p>
<p>It would seem as though I’ve succeeded in receiving one of the merit scholarships from FSU. I just have to call to verify that they have my new SAT scores on Jan 4th. I emailed about it a week or so ago and received a call telling me who to speak to and when.</p>
<p>I dont really feel I am “negotiating” anything at this point. All I asked was that her application be reviewed to make sure it wasnt overlooked. I just found out my good friend’s D was offered 15k at Case. She has a 5 poiint lower ACT and a minimum number of AP’s. Just doesnt sem to add up to me. If they come back and say she still gets nothing I will leave it at that since it isnt a number 1 choice. Some things happen for a reason.</p>
<p>Psych, Case still does not require FAFSA for merit aid. People speculate here as if they know for sure what Case is doing while in fact that is not the case at all. I guess this a forum, so it comes with the territory.</p>
<p>How do I know that this is the case? If you go to the Case board, there are numerous posts from many newly accepted students and already got scholarships. Maybe they all checked no FA, but I doubt it. And FAFSA cannot be filed until a few days from now. BTW, my son got the Trustee scholarship and we definitely checked that we wanted to file for FA, and so far Case has not required us to file FAFSA. And her kid’s raw stat seems to be a little bit better than mine.</p>
<p>QuantMech, I don’t mean to shut you from making your speculations, but I think your assertion is wrong and it is sort of a little unfair to Case to misinform people like that. I know that in your world, a particle has finite probabilty (no matter how small) to leap from one end of the universe to another, but it is also a leap to suggest without knowing the facts that in this case they are waiting for sprint162 FAFSA. There is really no evidence to support that.</p>
<p>ttparent, I admit my comments are speculative. Maybe someone could post on the Case forum asking for clarification about the timing of merit/need based awards, and a Case admissions rep would answer, thus clearing it up.</p>
<p>In my experience, awards not connected to need come in several varieties. Some are offered to top students with no regard whatever to financial circumstances. A number of full ride scholarships fall in this category. Some are stats generated, and again, are not linked in any way to need. In some cases, the merit award winds up reducing the financial need-based award. The merit awards may reduce the loan component of the need award, or reduce the work/study component. In some cases, the merit awards are directed at the gap between the “need-based” award and total cost of attendance. This varies a lot by school, and I have no recent info on Case.</p>
<p>I do know that some universities do not like to leave unused any need-based funds that they could potentially offer.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your son’s Trustee scholarship award, ttparent.</p>
<p>(I don’t mean to be unfair to Case! My spouse thought I was defending Case.)</p>
<p>QuantMech, not to worry. From the way I see it, you are sort of suggesting that Case is basically not telling the truth (lying) with their official statement on merit scholarship. Maybe there are things that happen behind the scene that we don’t know about, maybe you are right, but then again you could very well be wrong.</p>
<p>Thank you for your kind words on my son’s fortune.</p>
<p>I just re-read mom2collegekid’s post #6, and see that Case seems to be unambiguous about putting the merit award info in the acceptance letter. So I go back to the “wrong stack” theory, since spring162’s daughter seems to be well qualified for a merit award from Case. </p>
<p>ttparent, some of my comments were based on your earlier post that a student could be “Bill Gates’ kid” and still receive merit money. Agreed. However, that statement by itself didn’t say what conditions might apply to merit aid for a student who did have or might have financial need. (I was overlooking the info in the earlier post #6–sorry.)</p>
<p>My spouse and I set up scholarships at our alma mater, and had to go to some length to ensure that the students who won them didn’t just see a shift in their out-right grants from one source to another, but instead obtained some true, additional benefit from the scholarships. So at some colleges at least, we know that there can be tricky interactions between need and merit awards. It seems that Case is not one, after all.</p>
<p>I believe most scholarships usually offset away FA grant, but usually the loans and work study get taken away first. It seems terribly unfair, so I applaud you for doing what you are doing.</p>
<p>I take it that you are a Physicist? And one that endows scholarship? Very impressive.</p>