<p>@myx1995 I got two letters too…</p>
<p>Congrats to those that received the scholarships, it is obviously incredibly competitive and you should be proud of your accomplishments. My son did not receive one - engineering, 4.0 u/w, 35 ACT, 7 AP’s, multiple and varied EC’s, great reference letters etc. Disappointed and surprised that with that record, not one dime of scholarship money. But that’s the way it goes.</p>
<p>He got a decent offer from Illinois, and nearly full ride offers from Ohio State, Miami and Dayton. It seems to me that the message for 2015 students possibly reading this next fall is that if merit scholarships are a key part of the equation for you, keep your eyes wide open when considering Purdue as an option, regardless of how good your record looks on the surface, particularly in engineering. Other majors are apparently not nearly as competitive as evidenced by a prior post of a 29 ACT recipient for business.</p>
<p>We attended an admitted student event in Cincinnati last week. The dean spoke and said that there is a university directive to increase the size of the engineering school by 20% over the next two years. I asked one of the Purdue staff if scholarship money would also increase and the response was a smile and “not likely.” So one can only assume it will only get more competitive.</p>
<p>Again, congrats to the recipients and good luck in your college career and beyond.</p>
<p>@collegedadx4 - My son is the exact opposite - $10k from Purdue, nothing from UIUC. He is OOS, 35 ACT, 3.9 GPA, NMF, First Year Engineering declared major. It seems that it is sometimes hit or miss with offers of merit aid from different schools. But, I am noticing a trend here that many of the prior posters that received awards are NMF.</p>
<p>Collegedad, we are in the same boat as you. My son has exact same stats as yours (except 8 APs) and nothing from Purdue. We were really counting on it and from all I had read before he applied seemed like it was a safe bet. Did not apply to Illinois. He’s got OSU and Cincy left on his plate but neither are as appealing to him. Where do you think your son will end up?</p>
<p>I get the feeling one has better odds for merit money if you are in state. Curious if this is consistent with others for the more competitive engineering schools. Seems to be the case with my son.</p>
<p>My D is oos and got the scholarship with the same stat (ACT 35, GPA 4.0, and NMF too). Purdue blocked the self-report AP scores so I don’t think the AP matter. She did not get any merit aid from UIUC (also oos) so far. I guess the Presidential scholarships at Purdue is very competitive and the CommonApp has attracted more students with good credential to apply this year. They probably have too many engineering students with ACT 35+ and GPA 4.0 that they cannot offer scholarships to everybody.</p>
<p>Interesting. I was expecting something something for my son. 33 ACT. 4.0 Unweighted 4.6 weighted. Eagle Scout. Class Valedictorian. 8AP classes. Rigorous Jesuit High school. Out of state. Based on what I have seen above I am now not surprised. Congrats to all who recieved but Purdue just is not competitive with other schools are doing. But in their defense, it appears that they don’t need to be.</p>
<p>What im confused is HOW I got scholarships from both uiuc and purdue even though I applied during the regular cycle. I thought for purdue you had to apply by November 1st or something to be considered for a scholarship</p>
<p>@yeveat,
Can you give us more information? Like when did you apply and to which school. Also what kind of scholarship you got. Thanks.</p>
<p>Good comments and observations, I agree! Too many good students with limited number of scholarships is the bottom line. And as rocketdamus pointed out, Purdue (or other “top” schools) probably doesn’t need to worry about that at the present time. Nortwestern and MIT, for example, don’t give out any merit based scholarships, even though they call them scholarships. 100% need based.</p>
<p>I think this discussion could help future students and their parents so when they hear Purdue say “those scholarships are REALLY competitive” they know what that means out in the real world. A nearly perfect academic record and a variety of other interests aren’t enough. Whether that’s good or bad is another discussion, but it obviously is the way it is. For us, that would have been nice to know on the front end vs. a generic comment of being really competitive.</p>
<p>So what’s better, being a top student at a top 20 school or be an average student at a top 5 program? Another discussion…</p>
<p>My son is from Ohio. He applied early action to the engineering school. We are fortunate and grateful that he was awarded a Presidential scholarship ($10 K/year). He did a summer one week engineering program this past summer at Purdue. So, perhaps showing interest in Purdue Engineering program helped. He was also awarded the Maximus scholarhip from OSU and Michelson Morley scholarship from CWRU.</p>
<p>@RedYellowBlue
Congratulations to your son! Did he make a decision yet?</p>
<p>@billcsho Thank you. He is going to Purdue. He was probably going to go to Purdue regardless whether or not he was awarded a merit scholarship. That’s why we are grateful for the award.</p>
<p>@RedYellowBlue
Hopefully he will get even more merit aids later on. You know the financial aids are not final yet. There may be some more money particularly after the May 1 decision and many students declined the offers.</p>
<p>@billcsho We are not expecting any more merit scholarships from Purdue. Their website indicates that the maximum President Scholarship for an out of state student is $10K. What other merit scholarships might you be referring to?</p>
<p>@RedYellowBlue
I am not sure how is the merit aids in Purdue. Other schools would allow multiple scholarships (including some with need factors) up to the CoA. The maximum for Presidential is $10k, but they may put in other merit aids. Also, I am not sure what would they do when a Trustees scholarship recipient declined the offer. Will they grant it to someone else? I have heard the school may replace one scholarship with another bigger one when it is available too. So the $10K/year should be the bottom line.
Did your son apply for other merit aids?
<a href=“http://www.purdue.edu/dfa/sandg/schoolaward.php”>http://www.purdue.edu/dfa/sandg/schoolaward.php</a></p>
<p>I don’t believe the Beering and Stamps scholarships have been awarded yet. I think these are only offered after the May 1 deadline to accept admission. I am sure that there is someone here that knows more than i do. Here’s the announcement from June last year:</p>
<p><a href=“10 incoming Engineering students receive full-ride scholarships - News - College of Engineering - Purdue University”>https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/AboutUs/News/Announcements/10-incoming-engineering-students-receive-fullride-scholarships</a></p>
<p>@billcsho Unfortunately, the other scholarships mentioned on the website have a financial need component. We won’t qualify. I am not sure that if a prospective student declines the offer that it will then be offered to another student to replace his/her Presidential scholarship. I have not heard or read this type of thing happening at this CC Purdue website.</p>
<p>@Beaudreau
Isn’t the Bearing and Stamps are by invitation? It is not announced, but those that are not eligible should already know.</p>
<p>@RedYellowBlue
As I said, I don’t know how they manage those declined scholarships at Purdue. I know some scholarships in other institutes have a waiting list (or alternative winner list) like the Bell’s at Umich.</p>
<p>@RedYellowBlue, I sent you a PM. Thanks.</p>