<p>Wow, I was reading the acceptance threads and reading about who got the $12,000 merit scholarships. Almost everyone who posted had lower than my daughter's unweighted and weighted GPA, but they had at least 100 points better SATs. They got $12,000 each, and my daughter got zilch! </p>
<p>Just for the record, my daughter's unweighted GPA was 3.5 and weighted was 4.0. She also had a 3.65 overall GPA in 5 college courses taken while in high school.</p>
<p>Bottom line: The better your SATs, the better the merit aid; GPA doesn't count as much. It could also be that guys are more in demand at Syracuse.</p>
<p>I have no idea how they decide on merit aid. But I suspect it is given to students that they want to get to the school but are afraid they might go elsewhere. It's an inducement to them to attend SU. Also remember that GPA is very dependent on the school your child goes to. An "A" at one school is not an "A" at another. </p>
<p>Did your daughter get any merit award at all? Have you talked to the fin. aid people about the level??</p>
<p>Fingerscrossed, my daughter got nothing, zilch, nada. I even called up the school to inquire if a financial aid letter/ merit award was sent. I told them that she got several scholarships from comparable schools. Their answer was, "we do know that some of our kids get scholarships from other places." No attempt was made to match the offer from other schools, and I really did attempt to give Syracuse the ability to negotiate with me on this.</p>
<p>As for my daughter's school. it is top ranked. She is in a humanities magnet program, which is based on an IB curriculum with a senior research project that had an oral defense element in front of faculty. Her school was also ranked in the top 20 by US News and World Report, and it was fairly high up in the top 20 too!</p>
<p>taxguy, I think Syracuse might also use class rank & portfolio when determining merit $. My d got the $8000 merit scholarship (forget the name) and an additional school grant & some fed $. We were surprised at the time because we didn't know they had these awards. My d received a similar deal at RIT. When we looked up the RIT guidelines, it was clear she had to be in the top 10% as well as have minimum SATs (1200 I think for design majors, higher for other majors). Not sure what GPA was required (my d had either a 94 or 95 out of 100). Design majors also had to be recommended for the scholarship from their portfolio review...perhaps your d fell just below ONE of the cutoffs at these schools. My d didn't get $ at one school because she was 10-20 points below the cutoff, even though her other stats were much higher. She was told there wasn't anything they could do. Students had to meet all the requirements.</p>
<p>You commented in another post on my SAT's before, (2170) but While my unweighted GPA is a 3.34 my weighted GPA is a 4.1, and I'm taking 6 AP classes this year (all with B+'s to A+'s), and took 4 last year (all A's). Needless to say, my freshman/sophomore years were AWEFUL GPA-wise. There is also a HUGE difference between honors and regular-academic classes at my school (far beyond the extra gradepoints), and I'm taking my first regular-level class of my high school career--Speech! I'm also male, that might make a difference. In contrast to SATs, GPA needs explanation beyond the numerical, and few people that have posted state theirs.</p>
<p>i was under the impression my SATs weren't all that high (1730) but i got the Founders Scholarship ($12000) and a portfolio scholarship ($4000)....I'm not sure what they base it on exactly - but SATs cant be the only factor</p>
<p>jerzgrlmom, maybe she got nothing because her class rank wasn't even in the top third. To be in the top 10% at our high school, a student needs a weighted 4.5 ( unweighted at least 3.9).</p>
<p>Even the top third have weighted scores of 4.1 or better.</p>
<p>Our high school assigns an extra point if you take honors or AP courses. Thus, an A in an an honors or AP=5 points. a B=4 points. If they get a C or below, they get the usual points. Thus a C, even in honors, is 2 points.</p>
<p>You know if that is the case then that is good because it means that they are looking at the big picture! I'd like to think they are also considering what you can bring to their schools in other than just SAT and academic stuff. Hopelessly optimistic no doubt!!!!!!</p>