<p>Some people do win giant scholarships and do use those funds to attend HYPSM (the one I’m thinking about pays the whole enchilada for undergrad and grad school). Those people can rightly say that they are attending Harvard on scholarship.</p>
<p>Our school has a Senior Awards Night where scholarships are spotlighted and the distinctions that they make are interesting. </p>
<p>Loans do not count as scholarships, which of course makes sense since they have to be paid back. </p>
<p>Money from the federal government (Pell grants, etc.) which don’t have to be paid back, though, are not considered scholarships. </p>
<p>Need based financial aid doesn’t count as a scholarship, unless it is to an HYPSM school, then it is a scholarship–because the school dearly wants to highlight that one of their kids got into HYPSM and the aid given is often large and brings up the numbers.</p>
<p>Schools often have their own agenda when it comes to what to call a scholarship…</p>
<p>I don’t take offense to it, but I wish the media, guidance counselors, etc would not put out false information that need based only schools provide merit scholarships. For example, if a newspaper or GC reported that a freshman got a 230 on the PSAT and was a national merit semi finalist, I would be irked by that too. Not taking anything away from the kid, but the information is absolutely false and can mislead other kids into thinking they can be a national merit semifinalist as a freshman. </p>
<p>Parents and students need to know the difference between need based aid and merit aid so they can apply to and choose schools with realistic expectations of cost and affordability. It doesn’t help a family with a 300K income to think that they’ll be eligible for a scholarship at Harvard, Yale, Brown, etc.</p>
<p>First of all, you can get merit aid from need only schools. Yep. There are certain merit scholarships need only schools have that are given only to those with need. Called merit within need. You can get the “John R Quigley Scholarship” award for excellence. It is possible that only students that demonstrate need are eligible since the school is need only. But sometimes the award is greater than the need. You just have to demonstrate “some” need to be eligible. I’ve seen that scenario.</p>
<p>However, I want to add that there is so much false info out there about every and anything. I’ve heard so many untrue stories about admissions, rejections, waitlists, scholarships, financial aid, that I can’t even keep track of them. You gotta know the facts There may be some strange exception that happens, but if you want to take the path of the most “hits”, you need to go where the things are happening the most.</p>
<p>Some kids can acquire scholarships as a substitute for a grant. It happened to my freshman. She started the year with a merit scholarship that arrived with her acceptance letter. A few weeks later the financial aid office sent her a financial aid award, made possible only because she has an older sister still in college, cutting our EFC from about 55K to half (Her sister is full pay for us at flagship state U). Her financial aid package contained a grant, a loan, and work-study. Half-way through her first semester, she received a letter from the financial aid office that said they were taking away part of her grant and substituting a “scholarship.” They said it was based on academic performance (in HS, because she hadn’t yet earned her first college grades) but was it? The college said academic performance. But it replaced, dollar for dollar, a big chunk of her grant money. Why they bothered to do this, I don’t know for sure, but my sense is they had scholarships available for students who fit a certain profile but not enough of those students enrolled in the latest freshman class. So they went through the rolls of current freshmen, and decided to hand out the scholarship money so they didn’t lose it. Colleges can lose some scholarships if they don’t give them out. </p>
<p>So, does she have two merit scholarships and financial aid (grant, loan, work study)? Or does she have one merit scholarship and financial aid (need scholarship, grant, loan, work study)? Does it really make any difference?</p>
<p>Yes, if you are awarded something called a scholarship why can’t you continue to call it that? If it was need-based and someone said they thought I was misusing the word scholarship then I would go look it up in the dictionary. As we covered early in the thread, my use of the word would be correct, the dictionary makes no distinction about why a scholarship is given, it can be given for merit, need or something else. It refers to money that doesn’t have to be paid back. If someone is mislead because they don’t know what the word means that isn’t my fault.</p>
<p>You can spin this anyway you want, and people are. But the fact of the matter is the dictionary is the final authority on what a word means.</p>
<p>Yes plainsman and if someone is gauche enough to quiz how you can afford to send two kids to college, you say with a smile that your youngest daughter got “a couple scholarships and a grant and life is good.” </p>
<p>Yes pea, if it looks like an apple and tastes like an apple it’s probably an apple. If the college calls it a scholarship and it decreases the amount you pay and you don’t have to pay it back then yes it’s a scholarship. If the college calls it a grant, then it’s a grant and you can call it a grant. Pretty darn simple.</p>
<p>Prefect if a family income es in the $300,000s the family shouldn’t NEED scholarships for Harvard, Yale and the ilk. That income level kid “might” qualify for an industry, community, or special interest/EC scholarship. My oldest got one of those that had specific criteria that merited the award, no financial info was supplied. It, too, was called the blah, blah blah scholarship, it will be applied toward tuition and it does not need to be repaid.</p>
<p>I agree that they shouldn’t need the scholarship, but the impression is out there that there are merit scholarships (which of course implies that there may or may not be financial need) at HYP, etc, and that just isn’t true.</p>
<p>So, these people will find it all out soon above. I still maintain that a) the distinction is lost on the average person, who sees “scholarship” as “money given to student to help pay for cost of college” and b) it feels that a lot of this is wanting to take down need-based kids a peg by making darn sure everyone knows it’s because of their need and not because they were just so darn smart. Take a deep breath.</p>
<p>FallGrl - it’s a hs honor. Hs will be long forgotten in just a few months. Your D can have the quiet satisfaction of knowing she did well. Recognition at the hs level is just so not meaningful in any kind of long-term. I know you know this, but it may be helpful to reinforce with D.</p>
<p>I don’t mind this as I think a lot of people are genuinely confused. Heck, it is confusing.</p>
<p>What bothers me is listening to wealthy people complain bitterly about how their student is not getting financial aid. I always encourage them to give their money away, quit their high paying jobs and watch the financial aid roll in! Most people laugh, some are offended. It’s rather a handy tool for quickly figuring out who is worth getting to know and who isn’t.</p>
<p>I don’t know how they can make any clearer that they only give need-based financial assitance. It is the first thing they say on their financial aid website. It was stated quite plainly at our information session at Harvard. Presumably if a student is applying to Harvard they will dig into the information Harvard provides.</p>
<p>In fact, I thought it was weird when someone asked at our information session at Harvard if they give out merit aid. I mean, how smart would you have to be to get merit aid from Harvard. How could you possibly rise to the top of that applicant heap?</p>
<p>I would also find it unnecessary for someone to tell me they got a need-based scholarship to go to Harvard, (as opposed to a scholarship). I would already have known it’s need-based since that is the only kind of financial assistance they give.</p>
<p>We did not file FAFSA, so my son only had the option of some merit-based scholarships to consider. I thought they were very generous, about $10-17 per year. What confuses me is when I see lists of acceptances and wonder how anyone gets a “full ride”. Okay, I understand they have very little cash for college, but why is there such variability?</p>
<p>Here’s a list of schools from another thread. Would this be FA or merit?</p>
<p>It’s very interesting that this conversation is now a major thread almost 4 years after our student was applying/accepting college offers. Essentially, I was called out by many posters for the very same sentiment that seems to be discussed on this very thread. The 'horror" that I might suggest that a scholarship directly tied to financial aid is to be associated with what I would consider to be a scholarship–meaning merit only–no matter what the financial status of parents. Not to mention, many have for years seemed to confused financial aid with loans. Never thought that financial aid was something that needed to be paid back, but I guess many interpret low cost loans as financial aid? Our eyes were opened pretty quickly in that beginning year of the CC forum for us–pure merit aid was pretty slim several years ago–scholarships were awarded only to those who offered demonstrated financial need. I’ve said it before–where has all the merit gone in our country? I’m not interested in “villaging” kids and I am all for awarding someone merit when it is due–whether the need is there or where there is not demonstrated need at all!</p>
<p>Well said, indeed… This is the most hilarious post in all 9 pages, and I read every single one. </p>
<p>I spent many years in Grad School, and I never paid a dime of tuition through getting a Ph.D. Were those need-based or merit-based? Who cares??? I even spent time as a TA and an RA and got paid, while not paying any tuition whatsoever… I received the best education at ZERO cost to me (TA/RA salary paid my living expenses), and I’d like to see my kids get as much education as possible. If a College will provide help, I’ll be thankful and I won’t be bothered if it was need-based or merit-based… Oh yes, we are grateful and very thankful to Pomona who gave my D lots of $$$ to come to the College… even though we had a very high EFC … (my wife (CPA, MBA) and I (Ph.D) make darn good $$$$), but to read it here, we are considered poor since our D got need-based scholarship/aid to attend College…</p>
<p>“Never thought that financial aid was something that needed to be paid back, but I guess many interpret low cost loans as financial aid?”</p>
<p>Yes, when the loan is in the student’s name and no qualification is necessary. Need-aware schools can support 10% more needy students when 10% loans are part of the package. That (imaginary) tenth (eleventh?) student should be delighted to have to pay a loan back.</p>
<p>Haven’t read the whole thread, as I’ve been ill for the past day, but because everyone appears to have skipped the part where I said this, I’ll say it again. I have NOTHING AT ALL AGAINST NEED-BASED AID. IF YOU’RE KID GETS NEED-BASED AID THAT ALLOWS THEM TO ATTEND [SCHOOL X], WONDERFUL! As someone who would have qualified for–and been grateful-- for need-based aid at most private schools, I have NOTHING against it!</p>
<p>It’s just that, at least where I live, scholarship implies merit aid or merit/need aid. It made it worse when the person in question (a HS senior) was telling a HS junior–“don’t worry about cost–you’ll get scholarships [at need-only schools].” Seeing as I highly doubt he knew the specifics of her family’s financial situation, it struck me as a horribly irresponsible thing to say.</p>