<p>Does anyone know the range of the merit based scholarships that Oberlin awards?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>From what I’ve seen, John F. Oberlin scholarships are in the $5,000 to $15,000 ballpark. (CollegeBoard.com says the average non-need-based award is $11,275.) Those are for students in the college; I don’t know what merit aid is like for students in the con.</p>
<p>The official page about merit scholarships is [url=<a href=“http://new.oberlin.edu/office/financial-aid/overview/what-scholarships-does-oberlin-offer.dot]here[/url”>http://new.oberlin.edu/office/financial-aid/overview/what-scholarships-does-oberlin-offer.dot]here[/url</a>], if you haven’t already seen it.</p>
<p>I have no idea what the average scholarship amount is. I was fortunate to receive a John F. Oberlin scholarship of $22,000 per year and I am aware of people who received more.</p>
<p>I wonder how the John F. Oberlin Scholarship compares to merit-based scholarships at other LACs? Anyone know? I’ve heard Grinnell is very generous. I’ve heard many LACs don’t provide merit based awards. Washington and Lee has a limited number of Johnson Scholarships that pay full ride. It’s full ride or nothing. Ouch. </p>
<p>The thing that surprised me when my D received a John F. Oberlin Scholarship is that it came without a requirement that she maintain a minimum GPA while at Oberlin. A couple of other schools that offered my D scholarships had miminum GPA requirements, and some schools raised the GPA bar each year. Drop below the bar and your scholarship is gone. </p>
<p>When she told one LAC that was recruiting her heavily but didn’t think she deserved a merit scholarship - oddly, a less selective LAC than Oberlin - that Oberlin had accepted her and offered a scholarship, they asked how much (because they wanted to top it). When she told them there was no requirement to maintain a minimum GPA they were shocked. They said “we don’t do that here.” They couldn’t believe that Oberlin did.</p>
<p>How would merit and need work together at Oberlin? My D has a little need (maybe 8-10k) and is also above the 75th percentile on SAT/ACT scores, top 1%, and has decent essays/recs/activities. Going into science. Would she be competitive for the John F Oberlin and how would that work with her need? Any help greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>My son was awarded both a JF Oberlin scholarship and a need based grant as well. He was also offered a subsidized Stafford loan and work study. He got all of this his first 2 years. When his older brother graduated, our need dropped to 0. The scholarship continued but the other things went away.</p>
<p>quinoa423, plainsman, shennie, and anyone else,
Could you possibly post your/your son’s/your daughter’s SAT and GPA stats? I am trying to get a better idea of the target range for Oberlin’s merit aid. Thanks.</p>
<p>"My son was awarded both a JF Oberlin scholarship and a need based grant as well. He was also offered a subsidized Stafford loan and work study. He got all of this his first 2 years. When his older brother graduated, our need dropped to 0. The scholarship continued but the other things went away. " - Shennie</p>
<p>Oh my gosh! That’s exactly our situation! Actually, my D receive two scholarships, one was JF Oberlin. I can’t remember the other one. They told her half way through first semester. Sounds otherwise like the exact same financial aid package. Soon as her sister graduates in 2011, we’ll be left with Zero need according to FAFSAS, and will only have the scholarship money. I’m trying to figure out where the money will come from.</p>
<p>Marishaun: I’ll be surprised if your D doesn’t get a JF Oberlin scholarship.</p>
<p>OberlinNC93: I think you’re focused too much on numbers. Oberlin isn’t Washington and Lee or some other LACs that do focus almost entirely on numbers. For example, how many schools give merit scholarships that do not require achieving and maintaining a minium GPA as a condition of retaining the scholarship from year to year? I think that proves Oberlin is not numbers obsessed. I don’t really know why or to whom Oberlin awards merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Hey all!</p>
<p>Elizabeth Houston (an Oberlin admissions counselor) touches on this question in her last post on GPA:</p>
<p>[Oberlin</a> Blogs | Blog Entry: “What’s in a GPA?”](<a href=“http://blogs.oberlin.edu/applying/selection_process/whats_in_a_gpa.shtml]Oberlin”>http://blogs.oberlin.edu/applying/selection_process/whats_in_a_gpa.shtml)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I’m going to claim I know how Oberlin merit-aid works, but I got that Oberlin merit scholarship for 29000 per year. I dont know how exactly they determine the amount they give, because apparenly others have recieved very different numbers.</p>
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<p>yeah, I got $4000 per year from the college. I sighed. Closed the letter. That’s the end of my Oberlin chapter of my life.</p>
<p>S received an Oberlin scholarship yesterday for 25K, a small loan, work study and another grant. He received a full ride to U Pitt and a better package from Bowdoin so he will likely pass on Oberlin.</p>
<p>I have been accepted to Oberlin, and recieved a rather large merit scholarship. I assumed that this merit scholarship was not based on my financial need whatsoever. However, on the botton of my financial aid statement, there was still a little message about the award being dependant on the enrollment of my sibling in college. Is the merit aid fixed for the four years, or will it change to meet my future need?</p>
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<p>If it’s dependent on the enrollment of your sibling, then it sounds like need-based aid, not merit aid, to me. You should call the Financial Aid office for clarification, but need-based aid changes year by year, dependent on your financial situation for each year.</p>
<p>dirtychucks, your TOTAL award is dependent on the enrollment of your sibling. The merit scholarship portion is not. In other words, if you also received grant money, a loan, work study, things like that, those things are likely to go away or be significantly reduced when your sibling is no longer a full-time student. Other scholarships could also go away, but not the John F. Oberlin Scholarship. You keep it even if you win the lottery.</p>
<p>oops! My son just opened his “fat” envelope to get their card so he could tell them he’s declining their acceptance. Inside was a letter about the JF Oberlin Scholarship. $15,000 per year! I had my son rethink whether to send his decline.</p>
<p>My daughter was also accepted with the $15,000 Oberlin scholarship. Unfortunately, that won’t be enough to really make Oberlin financially do-able without D having to take out loans, so she sent back the card to decline the school’s admission offer; hopefully, this will help another student get off the waitlist. We feel bad about this, since I really do think that Oberlin is a great school, and the admissions staff there was very responsive and helpful. We were impressed with the academics and intrigued with Oberlin’s campus culture. I do have one more younger child so, who knows, maybe we’ll be back to Oberlin a few years down the road.</p>
<p>Momonthehill, my daughter did the same thing. She was accepted with the 15k scholarship, but Oberlin is still not financially feasable for us. She sent back the card almost immediately. She is enjoying the t-shirt, though :-)</p>
<p>^My D thought the t-shirt was pretty cool, too. Best of luck to your daughter, collegesearchmom…and best wishes to all of the incoming Oberlin students, too.:)</p>
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<p>I know I’m responding to an old post, but…the Net Price Calculator for Oberlin says our net price is $35K. If we got a John F Oberlin scholarship for $15K, does this means our net price would drop to $18K? That would make a <em>big</em> difference.</p>