<p>Hey everyone, I've been wondering about this for a while now. I am planning on attending Vandy in the fall (I absolutely love it!), although when I started the college admissions process it was nowhere near the top of my list. Thus, I didn't bother to fill out the merit scholarship application (stupid decision, I know), not realizing that the application directly pertained to the three major scholarships but was also recommended for the smaller merit scholarships. After sifting through threads on Vandy merit scholarships over the past few years, I was confident that I would receive some type of merit money from the school (despite my lack of a scholarship application). Anyway, that didn't happen, and I will only be receiving $5k/yr for my National Merit standing. Of course, I completely regret not filling out the application and at least giving myself a shot (although I do know that the pool was extremely tough this year). My family doesn't qualify for fin. aid, but we did many years while I was growing up (thus my parents don't have much saved... I also have three younger siblings). My parents have promised to do the best they can to finance my education, but it won't exactly be easy. We already tried "bargaining" with the admission office (I received small merit scholarships from other schools) - they suggested the few scholarships available after freshman year. The Vandy website is pretty vague on this... what is available besides the Ingram scholarship (I don't really consider myself a candidate for it)? Anyone have any experience with this?</p>
<p>We went to the engineering open house, and they said that for engineers there are many options to apply for academic scholarships freshman year. I am not sure about the other schools.</p>