<p>My son, who is a junior, is just starting the college process. Our family won’t qualify for financial aid, but son is a good student and I wanted to know how to go about applying for merit aid on college applications. Do colleges just look at the GPA, class rank, and SAT scores and decide merit or no merit, or does son have to fill out a separate application for merit aid?</p>
<p>Depends on the school - some have separate applications, you’ll have to look on each school’s website</p>
<p>Many TOP schools do not give merit scholarships. A few top schools give out a very small number of merit scholarships to a few students who are HIGHLY desirable because they improve the school’s regional or ethnic diversity…or because they have some other very desirable hook. No one should assume that they’re going to get one of those highly prized, highly competitive awards.</p>
<p>Some of the mid-tiers offer two types of scholarships:</p>
<p>Competitive: A pool of high stats applicants are looked over to determine which ones should be offered merit. Usually high test scores and high GPAs first get you in the pool, but other factors come into play for the down-selecting.</p>
<p>Automatic or Assured: A school will list certain minimum test scores and GPAs needed to qualify for these scholarships. If you have the minimum stats, then you get the scholarship as long as you meet application deadlines. Some of these scholarships still require that you submit a scholarship app, even tho the merit is assured.</p>
<p>By far, merit possibilities for incoming freshmen is much higher than they are for transfers. Transfers often do not qualify for much/any merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Take BOTH the SAT and the ACT. Some kids do better on one or the other. For the SAT, most schools ONLY use the Math and Criticial Reading sections to determine merit, so a high Writing score isn’t often useful for merit. </p>
<p>Test scores are usually the main focus for awarding merit scholarships, with a strong GPA required as well. High test scores help a school with ranking. This is how schools often look at the merit award process:</p>
<p>There is a HUGE pool of incoming freshman students with high GPAs because of nation-wide grade inflation and the variety of rigor in course selection. </p>
<p>There is a smaller pool of students with high test scores.</p>
<p>There is a much smaller pool of student with BOTH high test scores and high GPAs. Those are usually the ones awarded merit. </p>
<p>If you need merit to afford college costs, then first you need to determine how much you can pay. For instance, if you can afford to pay about $10k-18k per year for college, then your child will need a full tuition scholarship. That way, the remaining costs of room, board, books, fees, travel, and misc can be covered by your contribution.</p>