Merit scholarships at schools that meet full need?

Paying for College
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<p>Okay, it’s late, I’m tired, and perhaps I’m over-complicating things . . .</p>

<p>But I don’t understand the interplay between need-based and merit aid at schools that:</p>

<p>(1) meet full need
(2) are not need-blind.</p>

<p>And I’m assuming, for the sake of argument, that the applicant has an EFC of zero - so if he’s admitted, he’ll get full FA.</p>

<p>Since the school is not need-blind, though, there’s a risk he won’t be admitted (despite stellar stat’s, etc., etc.).</p>

<p>So, in this scenario, is there any reason to apply for merit scholarships? If he’s not going to get in anyway, then qualifying for the merit scholarship is irrelevant. On the other hand, if he qualifies for the merit scholarship, then he’ll need less financial aid . . . so perhaps his chances of admission improve.</p>

<p>At WashU, for example, admissions applications and scholarship applications are due the same day, so there’s no way of knowing which decisions are made first.</p>

<p>I’m thinking they’d be crazy to deny admission to a kid who’s just been awarded a scholarship. On the other hand, why even bother making scholarship decisions until you know which kids are actually being admitted?</p>

<p>If someone with more functioning brain cells than I have could please straighten this out for me, I’d appreciate it. :)</p>

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<p>Perhaps simultaneously? I.e. admissions might reject, waitlist, admit, or admit with scholarship (the latter presumably being the students they most want to attract).</p>

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<p>So does the zero-EFC applicant submit the additional applications for merit scholarships, or not?</p>

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<p>I would say yes.</p>

<p>I’m going to go with Wake Forest, because that’s a school I applied to in the last cycle that meets full need but is not need-blind (I think). As far as I could tell, the scholarship and need determination process were separate. I was awarded, in one letter, through admissions, a scholarship (that was renewable contingent on participation in a specific event and a GPA). In another letter, I was given my full financial aid package. I received the FA notification first, which had a line item of ‘SUPPLEMENTAL SCHOLARSHIP-$XX’, but the FA notification did not give any indication what the scholarship was for. This is different, because I didn’t apply specifically for the scholarship, but from the way the documentation was handled, I think merit decisions and FA packages are different. Both the scholarship notification and FA package came two weeks after acceptance.</p>

<p>Of course, merit money may also come with nice fringe benefits (research, small group ‘scholar’ type setting). In my case, I decided against going to Wake Forest because part of the merit money being used to meet my full need was contingent on participation in a multicultural program I didn’t necessarily agree with, and that would have been difficult for me (and luckily, I had other options).</p>

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<p>Thank you for replying, purpleacorn. (And it’s nice to know I’m not the only one who’s awake and on CC at all hours of the night!)</p>

<p>Clearly, the award of a generous merit scholarship reduces the applicant’s financial need. So, all other things being equal, I’d think that if there were two equally needy candidates, the need-aware school would be more likely to extend an offer of admission to the candidate who had applied for (and been tentatively awarded) a substantial merit scholarship, because that candidate would be less of a drain on the school’s limited FA resources.</p>

<p>But does it really work that way?</p>

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<p>I absolutely would encourage anyone, and everyone, EFC of zero or 99999 to apply for merit awards if there is even a small chance of getting one. I don’t see how that would make any difference in admissions chances. </p>

<p>The fact of the matter is that it’s impossible to know for certain what the admiissions, financial aid, merit aid procedures are at any given school, and they can change. Some are holistic and give a lot of leeway to the personnel involved. So you never really know what the interplay is.</p>

<p>I suspect at some school where the merit aid is given far, far less, percentage wise to those who get financial aid, than to those who have no need, that the admissions office might practice some management of their scholarship funds when they admit need applicants that they know will get their need met by financial aid, and that the scholarship might just reduce the need and the scholarship funds when it could just as well be met by financial aid money. But still, I know of schools that do give their scholarships, some very nice ones to students with need, and yep, those kids then get their need reduced and still get the self help in the financial aid package. I was astonished when I first saw this and found it that it does indeed happen, such as at Lafayette with their Marquis award. </p>

<p>The way it usually works is that admissions gives out the merit money and then sends the list of accepted students who have indicated they are applying for financial aid to the fin aid office. I’ve spoken to a number of selective school that operate that way. Most all of them say they are need blind in admissions and do not know what the need of an applicant is and do not speculate on that, and they are glad not to have to take that into consideration. They just know who has applied for financial aid, not who is turns out eligible and how much the student/family need is. Now there are schools where same office does both fin aid and admissions, or there is a close working relationship or where the fin aid director is the best friend or sister of the admissions director, but I don’t know personally of such situations. The ones I know flatly say the operate separately and they are located in different buildings and there is often not the greatest relationship between the two offices, much less collusion. I’'ve also known students who have worked in both offices that flatly say there isn’t collusion or sharing of much info other than as said. There is one particular school about which I’ve heard that need does play a role, and I’ve known too many people working in admissions and fin aid there who say they haven’t seen a single sign of it, and they have plenty of not so nice things to say, so it’s not as though they are cheering the school on. </p>

<p>It’s unfair, I think, that if a student gets a merit award from a college admissions or department that the financial aid office immediately applies that to need istead of applying it to self help first as it would often do with outside awards, but that is what happens. Which irks some people quite a bit, and it would bother me if were in that situation, and would be a factor to consider.</p>

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<p>Merit scholarships are NOT dependent on income in many cases. So…if the $0 EFC kiddo’s parents land a great job, inherit money, or otherwise gain income or assets, the merit award will remain assuming the student maintains whatever criteria the college has set forth.</p>

<p>Need based aid is recalculated annually, and if a student’s income rises above a certain threshold, institutional need based aid can very much be reduced…or if a certain threshold of income is exceeded for zero loans, the student could see that.</p>

<p>Merit aid is usually not income or asset dependent.</p>

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<p>Why not (if it is necessary to apply for scholarships separately)? A zero-EFC student at a “meet full need” school may get a net price of $4,000 to $10,000 (typical expected student contribution), but there could at least be the possibility of a full ride merit scholarship, or a smaller scholarship that can be applied to the expected student contribution.</p>