<p>If you take areas that are arguably more important than education - food, shelter, clothing - the model is very different. If you have all the money, you can get the most exclusive with little pain; if you have less, you can get the high ticket item at a price such as debt, sacrificing in other areas, etc. If you’re poor, just the poverty alone is not a qualification to enjoy these without any obligations. This is where college financing is very different from most things in the world.</p>
<p>So the point the poster was making was that if you are not rich enough that private college tuition will hurt more than a less desired school, then that fact that you’re poor enough shouldn’t alter the fact that private college should still entail a bigger hardship as compared to a less desired school. I personally feel that the school has every right to price its discounts as it sees fit, but in no way do I feel that the people who complain are whiners - they have a valid point.</p>
<p>kat: Thanks for the story! My university does the same “meet the donors” things for scholarships, and I found it to be really nice.</p>
<p>So… from this thread, I take it I’m the only one from a linguistic culture where “scholarship” implies “merit” or “merit-within-need”? Interesting. I’m honestly surprised.</p>
<p>As to why it matters: Operational definitions (what terms mean) matter a TON. For example, I research X in the context of Y. The only problem is that different researchers define X and Y very differently! Result: we can’t compare across studies and so can’t make a valid conclusion as a whole!</p>
<p>CalAlum
My son was accepted at Willamette and offered a $15,000/yr scholarship, our EFC exceeded the total COA. My conclusion was that the amount offered was therefore strictly based on merit.</p>
<p>If our EFC was $0 and he was offered something more than $15,000/yr I would conclude that the additional amount was based on need.</p>
<p>I suppose as with some things in life if you are very rich or very poor you might get opportunities that those in the middle will not. Those in the middle may only have the opportunity for their child to receive an affordable private college education if they find those schools who give substantial merit awards for their students academic/service achievements. So no matter how smart you are or how hard you work there are no guarantees of a free ride. Even those who do qualify for need based aide often don’t get enough to make it affordable. So apply where you can afford to go (if your lucky to afford anything) and make the best of it. No one said life was fair.</p>
<p>“So… from this thread, I take it I’m the only one from a linguistic culture where “scholarship” implies “merit” or “merit-within-need”? Interesting. I’m honestly surprised.”</p>
<p>psych, no you are not the only one as this is my understanding of what scholarship should mean.</p>
<p>coskat, I think those distinctions are significant, but the tone of the original post was one of exasperation with people for using the term “scholarship” for need-based aid. As I pointed out, that’s what my kid’s college calls it themselves. I understand the difference you and others are making all too well, but I wouldn’t take great issue with people who just use the language their own kid’s college uses, or even that the general population might use. I mean, really…</p>
<p>In your first post, in fact the whole reason you started this thread, was because (in your mind) scholarship means merit based and people were either deliberately misleading with their use of the word or didn’t understand what it meant.</p>
<p>A few pages ago it went to “where you live scholarship means merit based.” Now it is because you come from a linguistic culture you understand what scholarship means. I don’t even know what being from a linguistic culture means but I’m pretty sure I’ve just been insulted.</p>
<p>May I point out that you have offered nothing in the way of a source to support your understanding of what the word scholarship means. I and many other posters have offered definitions from various dictionaries as well as cited the websites of various financial aid sites from various schools that offer only need-based financial aid to support what we think the word scholarship means.</p>
<p>We have supported our position, you haven’t supported yours.</p>
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<p>Well, I’m surprised that someone who understands this would also refuse to let a dictionary be the final arbiter of what a commonly used word means.</p>
I don’t think that was an insult. Instead of meaning “all people from linguistic cultures mean x”, which wouldn’t make sense anyway, I think psych_ meant something along the lines of “am I the only one who comes from a linguistic background in which x”.</p>
<p>I think that you are entrenched in thinking that your definition of scholarship should be the only true definition of scholarship and anyone, whether it is a dictionary or a colleges who have the right to call their money whatever they want are either wrong or just plain annoying you. Someone smart enough to receive a merit sholarship should be smart enough to know that there if more than one definition for the word scholarship.</p>
<p>I don’t think coming from a linguistic background means that someone doesn’t have to defer to what the dictionary says a word means.</p>
<p>I can understand psych_ had the understanding of the meaning of the word that they did. What I can’t understand is that even after multiple posters have cited definitions from various dictionaries psyche_ continues to insist on his or her meaning of the word.</p>
<p>Can anyone understand how frustrating this is for those of us who were willing to entertain the possibility that our understanding of the word scholarship was wrong and so we checked with the dictionary to see what the word really means?</p>
For me my reaction resolves around symantics … not so much the word scholarhip which can be either FA or merit … but typically the the wording locally is something like “won a full scholarship” or “earned a full scholarship” … both of which to me imply something merit based (and the parents do little defuse this impression).</p>
<p>Perhaps it is not the misunderstanding of the word scholarship…perhaps it is the misunderstanding of the word “merit.” And whoops, merit the word doesn’t say anything about being the “best” or “better” than others.</p>
<p>No, I’m saying most people I know (and EVERY university website I’ve looked at) use the term “scholarship” to mean exclusively “merit/merit-within-need aid” It’s pretty useless to use the dictionary definition if a majority of the public uses a different one! </p>
<p>Analogy: In my field people popularly use “developmental disability” to mean “intellectual disability” (aka “mental retardation”). If you look up the CDC definition of “developmental disability,” it’s WHOLE lot broader. The CDC definition may be technically “correct,” but if you’re using the term “developmental disability,” you a) assume people will interpret it as “intellectual disability” or b) you clearly define it by your terms. </p>
<p>Example 2: The word “unemployed” typically is taken to mean “not having a job.” However, the actually definition of “unemployed” is “not having a job and actively looking for one in the past X weeks.” Let’s say you have a major illness and get laid off. You’ve gone 6 weeks without a job and currently not looking for one due to a medical condition? Guess what? You’re not technically “unemployed”!</p>
<p>In sum, diction definition does not always equal the definition used in common language!</p>
<p><a href=“and%20EVERY%20university%20website%20I’ve%20looked%20at”>quote</a> use the term “scholarship” to mean exclusively “merit/merit-within-need aid” It’s pretty useless to use the dictionary definition if a majority of the public uses a different one!
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<p>Look at Harvard’s financial aid website. When I first noticed this thread I thought that I remembered need-blind schools referring to scholarships so I went to Harvard’s site and saw the word three times on their introductory page. Since that confirmed my memory I didn’t look any further. Other posters have said the same thing about other sites at need-blind schools and have also reported receiving award letters using the word scholarship.</p>
<p>I agree with you, the definition only goes so far if everyone is using the word differently. In this case, however, need-blind schools are using this common word to mean what the dictionary says. I also agree with</p>
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<p>It’s dangerous to assume anything, and I think that is the whole problem here. You have assumed other people understand the word scholarship in the same way that you do.</p>
<p>psych…look at more colleges’ sites because where many colleges describe sample need based FA packages, “scholarship” is listed a part of a package. For example, this is true at one of my kid’s schools, Brown. Others have mentioned their FA award letters or college sites that also use “scholarship” to denote need based grant. </p>
<p>DadII, agree with your posts.</p>
<p>I must say that I have laughed out loud at Symantic Ferraro! :D</p>
<p>It seems that for some on here, the “parents doing little to defuse this impression” is the sticky point. It seems really important to make super-duper-darn-sure that everyone knows that little Jimmy’s “Harvard scholarship” is just a reflection of Jimmy’s family’s inability to be full pay at Harvard. That’s where it seems very different from the neutral “I just want to use correct terms and inform people because that’s how I roll.” </p>
<p>FWIW, Wikipedia defines scholarships as falling into 4 categories: merit-based, need-based, student-specific (for particular races, religions, ethnic backgrounds, etc.) and career-specific. They don’t isolate merit-based as the only type of scholarship.</p>