<p>I understand that Smith is a pretty competitive school (and that its acceptance rate may be higher than otherwise because of its single sex status) but how competitive are scholarships? Does Smith offer merit aid besides the STRIDE/Zollman scholarships? Could anyone estimate a %age of their aid package that is loans?</p>
<p>Would I be a candidate for merit scholarships (assuming I get in)?</p>
<p>GPA: 3.99/4.2
Rank: 22/350..??
SAT score: 740 CR 730 M 710 W 1470/2180
SAT IIs: Italian: 720 World History: 740 Lit: 760
National Merit Semifinalist</p>
<p>etc.</p>
<p>I applied with an interest in Italian and History if it matters. </p>
<p>I'm not really sure how the selection for merit aid goes down. Since a lot of my friends (and me) had similar stats to yours and some of us got STRIDE and some of us didn't (I did not), and it all seemed a littl arbitrary as far as I'm concerned, maybe someone else can fill you in on the procedure if they know. </p>
<p>Smith doesn't offer merit aid outside of its listed scholarships and STRIDE as far as I know (again, if they do, man am I missing out). I would assume that since outside STRIDE, smith doesn't offer many merit-based scholarships, the ones they offer are very competitive, but again, that's just an outside observation. </p>
<p>The percentage of any aid package that is loans differs by need, so not everyone's is the same. So other people's loan level may not neccessarily be reflective of what you'll be rewarded. </p>
<p>One source of merit-based income you can apply for at the end of each school year are the Smith prizes, which are awarded in nearly all departments for a variety of different achievements (best paper by a first year, best collection of poems, best research project on the vocal chords of toads, etc). They can vary from a few hundred to several thousand dollars and while they don't amount to much when stacked against the total smith bill, they can at least help with some of your expenses. But you have to be enrolled already in order to apply, and you have to wait until the end of the year, so it doesn't help you at the outset.</p>
<p>The Mary Maples Dunn scholarship is (or was) $3500 a year. You can't apply for it -- it's offered when you are accepted. If you don't get a Stride, you certainly sound like a desirable enough candidate on paper for a MMD, although I'm not sure exactly what Smith is looking for in their MMD awards.</p>