<p>Mominsearch, I used to live in Pittsburgh for many years, and Cleveland before that. During that time I knew many kids who applied to Case Western Reserve, and many who received scholarships. There was a period of time when there was a big to-do about the number of kids who would lose those merit awards that Case would give. Being the type of school that Case is, if your student is an engineering or math/science type major, it is is not easy to keep the gpa required to keep those scholarships. At one type the gpa threshhold was as high 3.25 or 3.2, I believe. It had gone down to 3.0, still not easy to maintain in the the technical majors, by the time I left the area. Here on the east coast, I don't see as many Case kids, so I am not as up with their scholarship requirements as to know the exact threshhold and rules. Personally, my D was dating a Case student who lost his scholarship in a bad semester, and also felt he lost his chance at med school--he left the school for personal reasons, and from what I can gather has some emotional and psychological issues to address. The stress of his full merit scholarship along with his very heavy course load and his ambitions to go to med school contributed somewhat to his problems, though, who knows, the seeds of any mental illness or neurosis do tend to sprout right about at college age, and he might have had problems elsewhere. To add to his stress, my D is premed at a much easier school with grade inflation, a heavily supported , nurturing premed program with tie ins to a med school, and this inferior track looked much surer to get to that ultimate goal, something that did not help his mental state. There were many things he could have done to alleviate the problem, but as a high achiever, he did not want to give an inch. </p>
<p>My friend's daughter who is now a successful engineer graduated from Case with a slew of loans as she lost her half tuition merit scholarship. Her grades fell enough that she could not hold onto the award, and it did cause a lot of problems in the family as she chose the school over WVU and Pitt and Penn State where she could have gone for free, and there were 2 more siblings to go. She is nearly 30 now, and freely states that it was a mistake for her, as she has colleagues in her field that completed their degrees at any of those schools and any number of schools where they did not have the loans she did. She is still paying them off and though engineering pays well, starting out with your peers with that loan over your head does give you a financial disadvantage.</p>
<p>All said, however, my next son will probably apply to Case. It is an excellent school, and I hold it in high esteeem. But if the merit award is important to you, certainly you must find out exactly what the situation is in losing the awards and what percent of the kids in your son's major have been losing the money for not maintaining academic standards. As to what numbers make you and S uncomfortable, that is a personal thing.More than half the kids who graduate from Case end up with loans and the average amount owed is over $20k. Those numbers are comparable to those of CMU's. Neither school guarantees 100% of need to be fulfilled through financial aid though most of it is. </p>
<p>Just offhand, I do know of over a half dozen kids who lost their Case scholarships, with about half of them kids whose families I knew pretty well, and I can tell you that there was much stress that went with the situation. I , too, lost a merit award many years ago, but went to a school where the financial aid situation was such that the money was replaced by financial aid and other resources (some loans) but the amounts back then were not that big and it was not such a trauma for my family. Don't even think my parents found out. But these days with such huge numbers, it can make a difference. And a kid with less than a 2.5 average has bleak prospects in transferring into the state engineering program. He is pretty much stuck where he is and needs to get through. My friend's D tried to transfer to Pitt where she was told she would have to go full pay there and not in engineering, and then reapply for any aid or scholarships when she was offered the Chancellors Scholarship right out of high school. </p>
<p>So getting specific numbers and situations, your son and you should know exactly what line he will have to toe in order to keep his award, and the risks that go with it. I don't believe in being afraid of challenges in life, but I do believe one should be as aware and prepared as possible when embarking on them. Anyone who is dependent on merit money needs to know exactly what terms those awards have. Simply a gpa is not good enough--over what period;is it cumulative, is there a grace semester, or is it an immediate cutoff? How many kids in specific majors keep this award? Can you get it back after you lose it, if you bring up your gpa? Would a semester leave of absence mean losing the award? Would changing your major mean losing the award? Would going under a number of credits mean losing the award? Would courses taken at another school count towards the gpa and credit count to keep the scholarship? These are some questions I would ask. And really any other situation that you can think about. Can your student go abroad, do a semester at another school? Many are so thrilled to get a scholarship, they do not read the terms which may not fit the particular kid's situation. I, for example, had a specific major stipulated for my award. Though I sort of knew it, I didn't really think about it. To keep my money I could not change majors. Could not take a semester off. In addition to performance requirements. Also, if you can talk to someone who currently has the same scholarship awarded to your son, it might be helpful as he could give you the inside current scoop of how it works and who he knows that has currently lost their scholarships and how. Sometimes the fin aid office is not aware of the nitty gritty details or are not about to divulge them the way a student will.</p>