Well, if the only schools that are getting apps are the TT that give merit, it is very possible that the student doesn’t get into any of those schools, or doesn’t get enough money to attend even if accepted.
I think the idea is fine as long as it’s part of the plan. Not the whole plan.
I’ve seen it several times where student and parents are so focused on the super reach school that they don’t get around to applying to that sure things school till later. Sometimes too late. If you are applying for an engineering seat at StateU, once those seats fill up, Einstein even gets turned down and they often fill up fast. Money also can run out. Get that sure thing nailed down early. Not easy because sometimes students want no part of a club that wants them at this stage of the game.
OP …top 20 schools are a reach for everybody. Needing merit in order to attend makes them out of reach for most. What is it about your child’s profile that makes him/her not only a candidate for acceptance, but also for merit?
I think it’s fine to apply to a few as long as there are realistic options as well.
These days, of your original list, only Rice, JHU, U of C, Vandy, Duke offer large scholarships (that are almost impossible to get and generally go to HYPSM cross-admits).
NU only offers small merit scholarships including a couple thousand for NMF.
As per school’s Naviance and GC, auto-admit at state flagship and NMS full rides rides at non flagship state schools are guaranteed insurance policies for DS’s resume.
" NMS full rides rides at non flagship state schools are guaranteed insurance policies for DS’s resume." @Riversider
ONLY you apply by their scholarship deadlines. Many have early Dec deadline dates. Miss them and you are out of luck for merit $$.
So be sure to check the individual college websites and have those applications submitted first.
"non flagship state schools "
is he going to visit those colleges? will he be happy going to one of them if he does not get into and receive merit $$ from one of his T20 colleges?
there is practically nothing worse than a hugely disappointed applicant and his angry parents come April 1.
yet we see it happening more and more every year.
If he has no other choice, he’ll attend state flagship, full ride schools are for “insurance purposes” only. Flagship is huge but it’s a good school and affordable too.
@twogirls It’s an overall great resume, high achievement in academics, dedication in activities, likable personality, strong character.
So you are good to go! Absolutely take that Top whatever list and apply to all of the schoolsyour son likes, that fit what he wants! Leave out the ones that have no chance of merit money unless you feel they are worth breaking the bank for. Cherry picking these school will be fun.
Then comes a more difficult part of the process: finding the “bridge”schools. The ones that are not on that top list, but your son still likes them and they give out money. Statistically better in terms of getting the awards. Something he prefers to the state options. You can leave out this step if State U leaves no such gap.
Also keep in mind that there’s a big difference between merit at a schools like Grinnell, Kenyon, Hobart etc. where the awards are pretty much stats based, and merit at schools like Duke, Vandy, W&L, where the awards have a leadership component and some an interview process and are scholarship competitions.
The NMFs I know at our school did tour USC and met with the rep when she came to town. These are kids who got accepted to places like Vanderbilt and Duke RD. And they were denied at USC. Just saying it’s not a gimmee!
My kids would have been happy at almost any school, but certainly had a preference for location, size, course offerings, etc. It always surprises me when a student applies to Ivies, any Ivy, and wants to go to Dartmouth or Columbia as they are so different in almost every way
If you want the prestige of saying you went to a top 20 school, you’ll have to pay for it.
OP likely has a very strong guarantee school like a UC Berkeley or UTAustin or UVA , as long as his son gets his apps in on time. Those who have flagships like those or UMich don’t have much of a prestige gap as long as large schools are good for the student.
My brother is fretting about the UCs due to size. His kids have been in small schools with small classes and personal attention, and to make that transition to a UC can be quite a jump.
My state schools have no guarantees of admissions as some do, but the admissions to them is overall more favorable to a larger number of students. I do wish there were a flagship with the name recognition here. In our case, there was a quite the gap in selectivity between the sure thing schools and the top reach ones.
“OP likely has a very strong guarantee school like a UC Berkeley”
FYI- there is NO guarantee for ANY student of an acceptance at Berkeley these days, unless he is a recruited athlete.
@Riversider From your list, for the class of 2022 (they release a list of all scholarships), since that of class of 2023 is not yet out, here are kids who got merit money from that list. To give you some idea of the chances of a kid who applies getting a scholarship:
University of Chicago - two Viola K. Bower Memorial Scholarships (4 attending, 6 accepted, 42 applied)
Cornell University - Tanner Dean’s Scholarship (2 attending, 4 accepted, 18 applied)
Oh, because everybody is talking about USC for some reason, two got scholarships to USC, one President’s scholarship, and the other a University scholarship.
D who is not URM is attending Vandy with one of those full tuition scholarships. As a NM scholar, she also got NM scholarship from Vandy the other three years. She applied to a bunch of schools on the OP’s list. She was Robertson Finalist at Duke, got $20k merit from U Chicago when she negotiated with her MIT admission.
Yes, she cast a very wide net. I would suggest OP to do the same. College admission is very unpredictable, D was waitlisted by Wash U and USC, which she applied due to merit possibilities. Scholarship is even more unpredictable. The schools want to have a most diverse class of scholars, and you might not be unique or diverse enough for them. When you get to finalist stage, all the finalists have great resumes and credentials and all admitted to multiple top schools. Who gets the scholarship depends on your interviews (absolutely the best speaker and orator), and your uniqueness.
A kid from our HS received a full tuition scholarship this year. Not URM, but he had national level accomplishments in two areas. Turned it down initially for a higher ranked non-HYPSM, but was taken off the waitlist for a HYPSM.
There is nothing wrong with applying to reaches and hoping/trying for merit aid. My DD did just that and was very successful. And she is not a minority, a hardship case, a first generation applicant, a recruited athlete, an Intel award winner, etc., though she did have a couple of fantastic summer internships. My rule was that she start her applications early (summer prior to senior year) and that she spend time on her safety and match applications and not rush through them. Then I encouraged her to reach–though we were seeking merit, so that limited the reach colleges to which she applied (we do not qualify for financial aid and DD 's goal was to get a significant merit scholarship at a great school). She applied to a lot of schools since we were fishing for merit and we knew that many of the schools were super competitive for admission, especially since she only applied EA or RD. It was very time consuming.
What is interesting about the award of the CV scholarship at Vandy is that there is no interview. In DD’s case, it was decided by a team of faculty in the school to which she applied (the engineering school). So, I assume the same applies for Art & Sciences, etc. My DD had not visited Vandy prior to receiving the CV, nor did she show any interest other than putting herself on its mailing list and maybe asking her admissions counselor a question.
And for her USC application, she showed no interest other than putting herself on its mailing list. So, it is possible for an unhooked, NMF applicant to be admitted without showing interest, though I’d recommend showing as much interest as possible to those schools that track interest. DD just did not have time to visit USC prior to her application. Though she made sure she really researched USC prior to writing her essays.
So, do not be deterred from reaching, even if your son is “unhooked”. Yes, there are no guarantees and the odds may be slim for all applicants, but it paid off big time for my DD. All is cost her was her time and it cost me the application fees, but it was so worth it.