<p>Do you think applying for Merit aid is necessary to show your interest in the school if it's one of your top choices?</p>
<p>No, but you might as well apply. Even if you’re expecting to get a full ride through finaid, a merit scholarship has other benefits and looks good on resumes.</p>
<p>Not really important…Also, they deduct scholarships from your financial aid. If you get 2k for a scholarship, they’ll just subtract 2k from your financial aid so the money you receive ends up being the same.</p>
<p>I didn’t and got in RD in 2011. They gave me a full tuition 4-year scholarship with a summer stipend included.</p>
<p>My friend applied for a merit scholarship when he applied and he was waitlisted.</p>
<p>Applying for Merit aid is important if you know you won’t get that much financial aid and you aren’t wealthy enough to afford paying close to full price for the school. You shouldn’t view it as a guarantee or anything close to that because it’s hard to truly say if you can feasibly obtain a merit scholarship, but I say if you want to try for it, do it…but it is not necessary if you just want to show extra interest in the school. </p>
<p>I applied and got in RD in 2012 and am currently a freshmen and got the Cornelius Vanderbilt 4 year full tuition scholarship, similarly to VandyGillette.</p>