<p>I know that merit scholarships are not very common but I've had a difficult time gauging just what the thresholds for them are. Can anybody give me a sense of where I stand? I would only be able to attend Scripps if I got a scholarship, and I'm just wondering whether or not I should bother to get my hopes up! (I recognize that my application is already submitted and there's not really anything I can do at this point...)</p>
<p>Ethnicity: White
GPA: 3.7 UW 4.0ish W
SAT I:
720 CR 720 M 800 W (2240)
800 CR 690 M 740 W (2230)
2320 is my superscore
SAT II:
740 US History
800 Literature
APs:
10th Grade
European History (5)
11th Grade
US History (5)
Biology (5)
Statistics (4)
12th Grade:
English Literature
English Language
Microeconomics
Government
Art History
French
Primary extracurriculars: News editor of school newspaper, member of Model UN (one of the top teams in the country/I've won quite a few awards at this point/it's a legitimate class that I have been in for 4 years -- I always feel like I need to quantify this), Young Democrats
I have a lot of other things listed on my application, but these have been the most important to me.
Essay: I wrote it about how valuable Model UN has been to me, and how it has given me a different perspective on the world.
Graded Writing Sample: One of my favorite essays I have ever written; it was about the role of religion and satire in Huckleberry Finn. I received a 98/100 and wrote it during junior year.
Recommendations: I have a very close relationship with my guidance counselor and I would be extremely surprised if she did not write me a favorable rec. One from my Model UN advisor, who knows me very well and I think wrote a very unique letter highlighting my strengths and all of the offbeat things I have learned in his class. One from my junior year English teacher, who I got along with very well; once again, I would be surprised if it wasn't very favorable.
Interview: I had it a couple of weeks ago (on campus with an admissions officer) and I think it went okay. I talked mostly about the impact Model UN and journalism have had for me, and about how much I love history and can't wait to study it in college (I referenced specific classes at Scripps that I would love to take -- that's probably overkill but whatevs, that's what I did.) I'm a naturally very gregarious person and I'm afraid I may not have clicked with my interviewer as much, because she seemed more quiet and reserved.</p>
<p>Obviously, a lot of what goes into the application process is completely subjective and nobody can really give me <em>that</em> much guidance regarding those aspects. I'm just wondering if I'm really in the running at all? I love the school but I really don't want to get my heart set on it if I shouldn't, hahahaa. Thank you!</p>
<p>Merit chances are difficult, because it not only depends on you, but it depends on the stats of other people in the merit pool as well. You have great AP scores and a rigorous curriculum and I’d say it’s likely that you’ll be admitted, but merit aid is less than a guarantee. The average GPA for the class of 2014 was around a 4.01 weighted, but Scripps also weights GPAs separately… basically, I’m no help at all in this chancing endeavor. Good luck.</p>
<p>Merit aid opportunities are pretty limited. In the most recent Common Data Set, only 9 first years got merit aid in conjunction with need-based aid, and only 6 got merit aid with no need-based aid.</p>
<p>Probably you’d need to be at the top 5-10% or so of their admitted pool to get merit aid.</p>
<p>Of course, that data, as far as I can tell, only refers to matriculated students. They would have offered more students merit aid in order to get that yield. My year, I believe they offered merit scholarships to around 30-40 students.</p>
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<p>More precisely, you’d need to be in the top percentages of applicants who were able to pull together and submit their application by the early deadline. Plenty of worthy students don’t find out about the deadline until much later, I’m afraid.</p>
<p>You sound like a great candidate for merit scholarships!
I had a quick question though. I submitted my app for merit scholarship consideration also, but I’ve never received anything confirming that my application is complete…(except for the Common App confirmation).
Did you ever get an email or anything after you were done?
Thanks!</p>
<p>On Nov 2, I got an e-mail from Scripps confirming that they got my application and that I was applying for merit-based aid. I also got an e-mail with applicant portal information where I could go on and check the status of my application. Hope that helps!</p>
<p>Ok thanks! That does help!
Oh no…I never got one of those emails though! It even said they downloaded my application on the Common App website.
I don’t know why I’ve never noticed this before.
Were your transcripts and everything sent in already also when they confirmed?</p>
<p>My daughter got an email saying they were missing some part of her application. She emailed them back and told them it had already been sent, and they went and found it. So, if they did not have something, they would have let you know. I would call them as soon as they are back in the office after the holiday.</p>
<p>Oh ok, but I think I would feel better if I even got an email telling me I was missing materials. I’ve just never received any correspondence from Scripps regarding my application
I sent them an email to check after break but I definitely will try to call after the holiday break too. Hopefully it all works out!</p>
<p>I’ve corresponded with the admissions people regarding a few things and they’ve always gotten back to me extremely quickly and have generally been very helpful – I’m sure that they’ll help you get all of this sorted out. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks guys! I called today and they said everything was fine. The email just never arrived in my inbox. Also, apparently we’ll get notified today if we’re finalists or not. Good luck to all of you!</p>
<p>Um, the person at the admissions office said notification today and an admission counselor had told me today. I’m assuming email but I haven’t heard anything either. Don’t know if that’s a bad sign or not. :/</p>
<p>My daughter also got her email. Yay! The time on the email was 4:46 (pacific time).</p>
<p>Last year, in the acceptance thread, someone got deferred who said she was a finalist. We would like to assume she is basically in. Anyone have any idea how rare it is for someone not to get accepted? I wonder if this person didn’t go to the weekend? or somehow managed to alienate someone. </p>
<p>Good luck to those of you who are still waiting! Even if you do not get invited, note there are some additional scholarships being offered this year, that are not part of this weekend.</p>
<p>Also received my e-mail today. I got home really late and just saw it. So excited about it (it’s my first choice) that I finally created an account on here! Hope to see lots of you there. Sorry for the short post and lack of information; I’ll be on more later, finals this week.</p>
