My daughter recently visited MHC and really liked what she saw (and this even though she’s not looking specifically for an all-women’s college).
According to the MHC net price calculator, we would qualify for little or no need-based aid. So I am wondering what her chances for merit aid are.
I understand that there are two merit scholarships, the Trustee Scholarship (TS) and the 21st Century Scholarship (CS). I assume that the TS is extremely competitive and my daughter probably wouldn’t qualify. But I am hoping that she might be in the running for the TS. What has your experience been?
Here are her basic stats:
Unweighted GPA: 4.0
AP courses: 3 (out of 5 available)
ACT: 33
Ethnicity: Hispanic (mom) and German (dad)
Academic interests: Evolutionary psychology, anthropology, cognitive science, something along those lines.
Special talents: She plays both classical, jazz and rock piano (self-taught) and also electric guitar at a very high level, is the leader of several school rock bands, writes her own arrangements, gives lessons to fellow students on both instruments, and is generally known for her musical prowess at school. There are not many kids (or adults) who can play a soothing nocturne by Chopin on the piano followed by a blistering rendition of Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven on the electric guitar. Then again, maybe MHC won’t care. She hasn’t won any prizes or whatever, and isn’t planning on studying music formally, e.g., as a music major or minor, though that could well change.
My twins were both accepted to MHC this year. They have very different strengths, stats, and interests, and they got different merit amounts. Only one of them is actually attending, but it was an interesting exercise for both of them to apply.
MHC isn’t all about the stats, but they still have a healthy respect for them, and your daughter’s stats are attractive. In general, will your daughter have taken a rigorous course schedule, with respect to what was available? That is very important to them.
Pheebers: yes, my daughter is taking a rigorous course schedule, with most of the AP classes offered (though at our small school the total number available is only 5-6).
NEPatsGirl: Your D’s numbers are helpful for comparison. Yes, $25,000 sounds like the Trustee Scholarship.
Since you both have daughters at MHC: How are they liking their experience there?
@OxyAlumn, my D is not attending MHC. But just in case you are looking at other schools I’d be happy to put numbers to a few others for you. For the most part, D received anywhere from $20-$28K merit-based aid from the following schools: Smith, Dickinson, MHC, Simmons, Uscanton, Clark U, and ?? Can’t remember them all, she applied to many schools lol.
My daughter was offered a 21st Century Scholar scholarship, $25,000 per year renewable for 4 years with an ACT of 35. Mount Holyoke offers approximately 25 of the 21st Century scholarships.
My daughter got the Leadership Award with merit aid of $20,000 per year. I think your daughter’s stats are competitive and her ECs would be appealing to MHC. My daughter will attend.
And my daughter was likewise not looking for a women’s college. MHC was the only one she applied to but going to a couple of classes and talking to a professor in a field she is interested in studying clinched the deal.
Thank you very much for the additional replies. All very helpful.
With only about 25 awards each year, the 21st Century scholarships sound fairly competitive. An applicant would have to be in about the top 5%.
Thanks also for mentioning that Smith also awards merit aid, something I did not know, mainly because my daughter has been so focused on MHC. But clearly, she’ll have to cast a wider net. So, if you, NEPatsgirl, could give me your award figure for Smith, that would be great. I will also take another look at Bryn Mawr. With Bryn Mawr and Smith having a little tougher admission stats, it’s hard to see, though, how my daughter would fare better there with merit aid than at MHC. But you never know.
I believe my daughter got $20K/year and an additional $2500/year in research stipend for the STRIDE award. That was merit. She also received about $15K in need-based aid if I remember correctly. I’ve said this before but I"ll say it again :), please do diligent research on the student body, its not a good fit for everyone. My D turned down the offer but was contacted again later in the summer and offered a “trial year”, whatever the heck that is but she had deposited elsewhere of course and we weren’t looking back. Their financial aid office was difficult to work with as well.
@OxyAlumn the Trustee scholarship is a full tuition scholarship that is renewable for 4 years. Like @NEPatsGirl my daughter also received some smaller scholarship amounts in both merit and need based in addition to the 21st Century. Our experience followed hers that the financial aid office was not the easiest to work with.
My daughter was offered full tuition at other schools and that trumped what Mount Holyoke was willing to offer so we declined her offer of admission. We decided it wasn’t worth the risk of tuition continuing to go up but the aid remaining stagnant or even decreasing.
Thanks to both of you for the detailed information. This forum is amazing. ^:)^
Though I am not at that point yet, I can easily imagine that working with the financial aid office is key to the whole process. I had a very positive, though very minor experience with the financial aid office at Macalester just a few days ago when I thought their NPC wasn’t working properly. It turned out that the only thing that wasn’t working properly was my brain, but the FA office was very courteous and forthcoming, even offering to go through my actual W2 forms, etc., to make sure that the NPC results were accurate. Sure, some of that is just good salesmanship, but I still thought that they went over and beyond the call of duty. Anyway, good to know that at MHC, there could be potential issues with the financial aid office.
Your point about making sure is the school is actually a good fit in terms of the student body is, of course, an excellent one, one of which both my daughter and I are keenly aware. Basically, all of the LAC’s she will be applying to will be a good or excellent fit academically. Finding the school with the right social fit, the right vibe, is where it gets tricky. I’ll make sure that my daughter spends a couple of days and nights at whatever school she’s inclined to accept. As far MHC is concerned, she was there only for a short visit so far (as is true for several other schools on the East Coast - we live on the West Coast) and really could not possibly have a full understanding of what MHC is really like.
My daughter was offered a $20K leadership award, she is also a music “kid” in HS- marching band section leader, symphonic band 1st chair flute, all districts, etc. Her GPA is a 4.3, 31 on ACT, NJROTC officer, soccer and band stuff for her ECs. She did choose to interview on campus and she felt like that really helped, she had a good repertoire with the interviewer.
Ultimately she has committed to Smith instead, but she really did love Mount Holyoke when we toured it and I really liked the merit aid!
@NEPatsGirl are you perhaps thinking of Smith? They do the Stride Program.
We actually found Mount Holyoke’s financial aid office the most helpful of every school D was accepted to! They were very easy to get on the phone and quick to actually answer questions.
@NEPatsGirl: Yes, I had misunderstood your post about the problems with the financial aid office. Good to know that MHC is easy to deal with. Whew.
Thanks also for the other additional posts. All excellent information.
I had not even thought about interviews yet, but it makes sense that an on-campus interview is best. Alas, we are in California, so I don’t know how many on-campus interviews our daughter could possibly afford to go to.
We are in Seattle and D interviewed with an Admissions Rep who was visiting locally (D did the majority of her interviews that way.) D was admitted with a “Leadership” merit award (not as large as some of the grants mentioned here, but still substantial!) and an equal need based grant (even though our income puts us solidly in the upper middle class.) Hope that helps!
Just to put my two cents in as a student going to MoHo who got a $20k “leadership award”–it’s REALLY important you show interest. I am pretty darn sure that had I interviewed I would have gotten a 21st Century scholar award, but at the time of applying MoHo was positively the last place I could see myself attending. I’m now kicking myself in the foot because I had stats way above the average and fantastic ECs and academic achievements, but I’m pretty sure they saw my app and said “she never interviewed, so she must not be that interested in the school…” Had I had the chance to speak in person with an admissions rep or an alum, I probably could have elaborated on my achievements and stood out as an applicant, not just on paper but in person, and they would have remembered me.
Now know I’m going here I wish I would have put more effort into the application (I got into a majority of my schools so even after the acceptances came through I didn’t think there was a chance in hell I was going here) so I could have gotten a higher merit award. Would have made things easier for my parents and would have left me with less debt post graduation.
Additionally, more than ten Trustee scholarships are awarded- but about ten scholars matriculate. I would say your daughter has a decent chance at all their merit awards, from the 20k leadership to Trustee. I was absolutely shocked when I received the full tuition Trustee in March- I had a 32 ACT, and for the SAT, 800 CR & 730 M (but 680 W). However, it seems like geography might be taken into account when they’re awarding merit (at least for Trustee), as the couple other girls I knew who got it were from Florida or other states that MHC didn’t have many students from. I am from Ohio and their student body seems skewed towards the coasts, so perhaps they are trying to change that.
Then again, maybe MHC won’t care. She hasn’t won any prizes or whatever, and isn’t planning on studying music formally, e.g., as a music major or minor, though that could well change.