We are applying FP, but all of the schools we are applying to offer Merit Scholarships. I was wondering if you receive any notification of whether you’re being considered for one of these prior to March 10? They mostly say that you have to have your application in by the application deadline to be considered and no special paperwork is necessary. I’ve noticed that some mention you may be given the opportunity to express your interest in the school if you qualify. Any experience with this? Thanks! 
For Choate, they are notified of the Merit Scholarship at the same time as the acceptance letter.
When my older daughter was selected as a finalist for a merit scholarship at SPS, we found out about 2 weeks in advance of M10…as she had to interview. She was not ultimately selected for the scholarship, but was told when they contacted her in Feb. that she could consider herself admitted.
DS received a merit scholarship at one school. The first we heard of it, it was on the portal with his acceptance on M10.
DD received merit at a couple of schools and it came with the acceptance package on or around M10. It was an invitation to be part of the scholars program.
Is the application for merit different then the PFS, I’ve looked on the Choate website and could not find it.
Same application. Nothing extra and no special boxes to check.
For a merit scholarship that includes an interview as part of the selection process, you will be notified prior to M10 so you can complete the interview. For a merit scholarship that doesn’t require interview, you’ll be notified on M10 with your admissions decision. The only merit scholarships with interview that I know about are offered by SPS.
DS was offered a merit scholarship by one school; it came via a separate email on M10 from the admissions director. We didn’t do anything special on the application or apply for FA.
Son received scholarship from Choate. But he didn’t find out about this until after the packet arrived a few days later. We didn’t apply for Financial aid, so were quite surprised. No mention either during interviews or afterwards.
SevenDad - Re SPS had you applied for financial aid?
We applied for FA at all schools. DD received a merit scholarship from 3 schools and FA package from the others. There was no separate application process for the merit scholarships. Scholarship notifications came together with the admission decisions, except for SPS, which notified us in early March (around March 4-5, I think).
@TheSwami: Yes, and despite not being selected for this merit scholarship (which was specifically for a certain geographic region) she received sufficient FA to make her attendance possible. In the end, she did not attend SPS.
@SevenDad Thank you.
For those merit scholarships that require FA applications we are sorting through the decision to apply for FA although the estimators say we are a FP family. I’m sure the answer is simple but if the merit scholarships require a FA application does that mean they are “need aware merit scholarships” and if you are projected to be FP do not apply.
@TheSwami: I don’t know if I’d make that assumption (so much depends on the school, the applicant, the scholarship). This is one that I would ask directly to an AO at the school.
Some of the merit scholarships are regardless of need (i.e. no impact of FA vs FP), others are for those that require FA. In our experience, schools indicated the qualifications for each scholarship. In addition, those that FP students qualified for seemed more of a recognition and provided a one-time stipend for a unique experience geared toward the particular scholarship.
@TheSwami, DS received a merit scholarship and was FP. So yes, it varies from school to school.