Merit Aid & Athletics

<p>Many of the DIII schools my S is interested in offer generous merit aid (even full tuition) for superior academic credentials. My S is a very good student and probably meets the criteria for consideration for this merit aid at these schools. If he is fortunate enough to get significant merit aid at a school, this would have a major impact on where he chooses to attend. </p>

<p>Question: What is the proper way to communicate this (if at all) to the coach. My feeling is that if a given coach really wants him as a recruit, he could at least mention that fact to the committee that considers the applicants for the merit awards. At best, the coach could have some influence on the merit aid committee.</p>

<p>My daughter was in the same situation academically. She was also not a top recruit–someone people were clamoring to nail down ED and is fortunate to play an individual sport rather than a team sport. When meeting with coaches, she explained that because we felt she was a good candidate for merit aid at many of the schools she was applying to, her parents wanted the opportunity to be able to weigh whatever offers she received, and so she would not be applying anywhere early decision. I was nervous about this, but in her case, it all worked out. Athletic interest in her at the more competitive programs actually increased after the ED deadline (and presumably, better athletes went to Ivies or elsewhere). She received merit aid everywhere it was offered, ranging from the minimal $2,000 a year NMF award, to a full academic scholarship. I don’t believe the coaches had any influence on the merit aid offers at these particular schools, although I do believe their influence helped with admissions.</p>

<p>My daughter just told them she wasn’t prepared to committ anywhere early decision. </p>

<p>She ended up committing to a school where she did end up with an academic full ride. The swim money which had been on the table reverted back to the swim team, I guess, as swim money is not part of her package now. Makes sense as I am sure they did not intend for her to make money, over and above tuition and room/board. I do not think the swim coach had anything to do with the merit aid she got. He had no idea she had the academic full ride until she told him when she called to commit.</p>

<p>It was a backwards way to go about swimming in college and made for a very stressfull year but in the end she is thrilled with her team and thrilled to be going to school for free. Hopefully she still feels that way in a few months. </p>

<p>Also, she has no strings now if she doesn’t want to swim later on.</p>

<p>I not sure she would have been incentivized by the school with the full ride if she had committed earlier. That is just my thought though, don’t really know.</p>

<p>Xwords59 - Would you be willing to share the names of the DIII schools that you’ve found give generous merit aid? My D is interested in continuing her sport at the DIII level, but most of the schools that we’ve considered are need-based (NESCAC). Thanks for any info you can share.</p>

<p>Most of the merit aid I have seen is selective. We too are looking at more competitive schools, where most aid is need based. Here are the schools that are on our list that offer merit aid:</p>

<p>U of Richmond
Washington & Lee
lehigh
bucknell
Emory
wash u
tulane</p>

<p>Note: </p>

<ul>
<li>not all of these schools are d3</li>
<li>level of merit aid available varies by school</li>
<li>some schools only offer aid or scholarships to a small number of students</li>
</ul>

<p>Most of the coaches we have talked to at the D3 level have pretty much just come out and said that they can “help” with the merit scholarship process. We have been upfront with the various coaches and letting them know that we are interested in keeping costs down as much as possible because DD wants to go to medical school and that is expensive too. For DII-DI and NAIA coaches, they have told her what to expect for offer $$$ (a range) and we can plan from there.</p>

<p>Another very good school with a merit scholarship is Lafayette. They offer a $20,000 Marquis Scholarship that is solely merit-based. So instead of costing $55,000, Lafayette “only” costs $35,000. Like Bucknell and Lehigh on the list above, they are D1 and compete in the Patriot League.</p>

<p>If very academic, Washington and Lee gives 40 full ride Johnson scholarships a year. There are a lot of very smart athletes at that school!</p>

<p>Lucky for me, my son is one of them. He is a Johnson Scholar and leaves for his first football training camp in a little over 4 weeks. I think only a few Johnson Scholars are varsity athletes, though.</p>

<p>Among the schools my D is interested in are URochester and St. Lawrence. Anyone have any insights into how merit aid and athletics fit together at these schools?</p>

<p>Bellybones…good luck to your son. The team (and many of the athletic teams) have had great success in ODAC in the last few years!</p>

<p>Also known to have generous merit aid:</p>

<p>Dickinson, Denison, St. Lawrence</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I have heard the opposite about Bucknell.</p>

<p>And the school’s website seems to verify that the vast majority of their aid is need-based:</p>

<p>[Frequently</a> Asked Questions || Financial Aid || Bucknell University](<a href=“http://www.bucknell.edu/x581.xml]Frequently”>http://www.bucknell.edu/x581.xml)</p>

<p>[Scholarships</a> and Grants || Financial Aid || Bucknell University](<a href=“http://www.bucknell.edu/x571.xml]Scholarships”>Events)</p>

<p>D. was offered $17,000 a year at URochester. The coach told her she’d be a good candidate, but I don’t think had anything to do with the amount offered. Interviews are optional at UR, but mandatory if you want to be considered for scholarships.</p>

<p>General rule of thumb for merit aid is to look to be sure your athlete is at the top 25th percentile and above in scores/gpa at a particular school.</p>

<p>I think merit aid for a recruited division 3 athlete also depends on how the admissions department views athletics in general. My son was heavily recruited for track/xc by a pretty selective lac. He had a so so gpa (bad freshman year) but great test scores and a strong rest of his application. He was admitted but received not a penny of merit aid making it impossible to attend. The coach told us that this was the problem facing all of his recruits and I noticed recently that there were no freshman on the fall 2012 xc roster.</p>

I am confused about a presidential scholarship which covers half tuition for all four years that my S received at a
DII school. He is being recruited to swim for their team. He insists it’s a merit scholarship and that if he decides not to swim they will not revoke or modify this award. I am not so sure. How do I find out!

If I were not sure I would contact the school admissions department and ask them directly. Your son may very well have the story straight.

President’s scholarship is merit and will not change if he stops playing.

Schools will usually prefer to use (academic) merit based and need based aid before they award athletic scholarships. By awarding non-athletic aid to recruited athletes they will have more money available to recruit athletes who are not eligible for the other forms of aid.