<p>I'm wondering about the merit aid situation at Washington Univ. As far as I've been able to tell, they offer fairly small guaranteed merit scholarships to NMF's of $2000 or $2500/yr. They also have some large named competitive scholarships, but only "up to 10" awards for engineers, probably the only one my daughter might be eligible to apply for. The net price calculator said in red letters "Merit scholarships are available and have not been included." They included the national merit, so...are they talking about some other merit scholarships, or only the "up to 10" scholarships that she is eligible to compete for vs. hundreds of other students?</p>
<p>If you look at the link below, you will a number of scholarships that each academic school within washU offers. However, there are also a number of university wide scholarships. I would look into the Danforth Scholars Program since it’s a university wide program and anyone is eligible to apply for it.
[Freshman</a> Academic Scholarship & Fellowship Programs | Undergraduate Admissions | Washington University in St. Louis](<a href=“http://admissions.wustl.edu/scholarships-financial-aid/Freshman-Academic-Scholarship-Fellowship-Programs/Pages/default.aspx]Freshman”>http://admissions.wustl.edu/scholarships-financial-aid/Freshman-Academic-Scholarship-Fellowship-Programs/Pages/default.aspx)</p>
<p>Agree with Tubacaflaca. WashU has made a concerted effort to entice some of the best of the best away from Ivys, Standford, Duke etc, and they have been quite successful. One of their tactics is to offer a good number of need-blind merit scholarships. Have your daughter apply for Danforth and Stamps scholarships, as well as one of the “honorary scholars” funding. Read carefully though. There are limits on which and how many honorary scholarships your daughter can apply for. Last year, S could not apply for both Compton and Moog honorary scholarships for example. He ended up getting Danforth and Stamps though.
Good luck!</p>
<p>aliciaepiq1, I was wondering what it took to garner the Stamps and Danforth. Would you share your son’s stats, please? Thanks.</p>
<p>Most of the merit scholarships I’ve seen require exceptional community service and/or exceptional leadership. I know the competition is tough and I really doubt she is going to win awards based on her achievements in those areas. While I’d really like to see what kind of merit aid she could get, I don’t feel it’s worth throwing $100 at tons of schools in hopes of getting those types of merit awards. If the university is looking for enthusiastic, talented scholars with broad interests and well-rounded personality, that is where she might win something.</p>
<p>Yes, many of the big scholarships are awarded to students who demonstrate extraordinary community service and leadership, but there are many other full tuition scholarship opportunities. The college and Art and Science itself gives lout about 30-40 full tuition/half tuition scholarships every year and these are based on interest in/research done in particular subjects and overall strength of the application. Even though these scholarships may seem extremely competitive, it’s always worth applying because you never know what’s in store for you. I highly suggest checking out the scholarships page on the WashU website.</p>
<p>Can an applicant apply directly for a Stamps scholarship? If so, how?</p>
<p>Nope, every applicant is considered for the stamps scholarship but It’s given to the top 5 applicants. So it’s given to the best of the best.</p>
<p>Do you know any statstics on the Stamps scholars in previous years ?</p>
<p>Nope, but these are the best of the best applicants. So I’m assuming perfect scores, valedictorian, extraordinary involvement in extracurricular and exceptional essays. Around 30,000 students apply to WashU every year and only 5 get the Stamps scholarship which was only introduced this fall.</p>
<p>Wish myD to get the scholarship same as others wish. :)</p>