My daughter decided late in the game to apply to Pepperdine RD after she initially wrote it off due to a strange drive-thru visit last summer. Well… she went for another tour today and really liked it BUT her AO told her that there’s no merit money for RD applicants. I do not see an application deadline for merit and I’ve read over all of the paperwork we received when were there in August, have looked all over the website and don’t see anything indicating that she had to apply Early Action for merit consideration. The only thing I see is that there is no merit money available for students applying for spring semester admission. I understand that all schools have more money to give earlier in the process, but she took it to mean that RD= no merit consideration, and if that’s the case we would have liked to have known that before spending my $ and her time on the application. SO…were we living under a rock and just completely missed that there is a deadline?? Have previous years’ RD applicants received any merit? I wasn’t there so I’m hoping she just misunderstood. I plan to call tomorrow.
My daughter did EA last year but I don’t recall ever hearing merit was for EA only. (10% or less of highest gpas get into Regents Scholar program - their top merit). Can’t imagine, but maybe they offered them already as the EA pool has become very competitive. Yes, call tomorrow. Also Pepperdine Grants can go higher than Regents and I doubt they’ve exhausted that. Glad she liked it today! Good luck!
My D19 was waitlisted, then offered admission and merit scholarship. I believe the later the admission the less the amount is available but it definitely is available to RD.
I have had some questions regarding award and it is tricky to get someone to contact. The people that answer the phone are student/workers. I escalated a question and got a name and still when I looked them up…a student/worker. Pretty effective web of screening calls. When it comes to these sums of money for education you want decisions made at or near the top.
My suggestion would be to look up/use an email address of someone in Admissions for merit scholarships and another email for staff in Fin Aid for grants.
From their website: University Student Loans | Private Student Loans | Pepperdine University | Seaver College
Merit Scholarships
The George Pepperdine Achievement Award is a merit scholarship awarded to students that qualify at the time of admission. This scholarship is awarded to students who display academic achievement and overall strength as an applicant but were not eligible for a Regents’ Scholars Program scholarship or Pepperdine Grant. This scholarship is renewable for up to four years at Pepperdine, and the scholarship amount remains the same from year to year. Students must maintain a minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA and Satisfactory Academic Progress to continue receiving this scholarship each semester.
No additional application process is required for incoming first-year students to be considered for these merit scholarships. Transfer students must complete the Transfer Student Academic Scholarship Application to be considered for a Regents’ Scholars Program award. There is no additional application required for transfer students to be considered for the George Pepperdine Achievement Award. Because merit scholarship funds are often exhausted in the fall semester, merit scholarships are limited for entering spring semester students. For those students who apply and qualify for need-based financial assistance, the merit scholarship will become part of the financial assistance package, coordinated with other awards. These scholarships can only apply to tuition charges, and they will be prorated if the student drops below full-time status (12-18 units).
For those who do not qualify for merit scholarships at the time of admission but display academic excellence while at Pepperdine, the university also offers a Faculty Staff Scholarship. Learn about our Faculty Staff Scholarship.
Update intended for future applicants: my daughter did receive the Seaver Scholarship (36K) so her admissions officer must have misunderstood her question - we think that he may have thought that she was already admitted Early Action and that she didn’t receive a scholarship package with that admissions offer. So yes, merit money is still available for RD applicants.