What is the average date one would know they got a merit scholarship from schools?
I have a 4.0 weighted GPA (out of 5), 32 ACT, 6 APs, and extracurriculars. Would I get a scholarship to any of these schools?
Univ of Wisconsin, Univ of Minnesota, Indiana University, Marquette, or Boston University?
Moreover, I’ve read that I would likely get around $10k from Marquette. Is that estimate correct?
Thanks!
Visit each school’s financial aid site and see what the criteria for merit is. In general, you will garner more merit at an institution where you are in the top 25% of the applicant pool based on GPA, rigor of courses taken, and SAT/ACT scores. Some schools are looking for the “geographically diverse” candidate, especially if you are paying out of state tuition rates. Also, plug your parents’ financial info. into each school’s net price calculator to see what your prospects are for need based aid. How dependent are you on getting merit aid to fund your college experience? In many cases, you can get a decent estimate BEFORE applying to a school - you should not have to wait for April of your senior year to find out. Where are you from? The Midwest? What attracts you to the schools you mentioned? On another thread, you express interest in business. Is this correct?
Have you checked each school’s Common Data Set? Section H2A should show information about merit scholarships (including the number awarded and average amount). Wisconsin’s CDS is here:
https://uwmadison.app.box.com/s/vcxo3q1826uq6zfjntr773wcmen3x0cx
Apparently about 7% of incoming 1st year students get awards averaging about $5K per recipient.
However, the CDS does not show breakdowns for in-state v. OOS students.
Check the schools’ web sites for policies related to state residency and merit awards.
The amount of merit doesn’t matter as much as “net cost” and will that be affordable.
If you got $10k per year from merit, would your parents pay the remaining $50k+ per year? If not, how much would they pay?
Have you run the Net Price Calculators on the websites?
What is your major and career goal?
What do you need your net cost to be?
Are any of these your instate public?
If not…what is?
BU and Marquette are both very expensive private universities. How much can your parent pay annually?
IIRC, the BU Net Price Calculator does include merit awards.
As suggested by others the best place to go is a college’s recent Common Data Set. The files look clunky but they ahve a tremendous amount of information on them. Then you need to superimpose your stats on the profile of incoming freshman to get some idea of what merit aid might be possible. Merit aid varies wildly from one college to another. We found that most state flagship schools did not give as much as private colleges and state flagships may have an earlier application deadline or specific scholarship applications required. The GPA that matters for college admissions is your unweighted GPA on a scale of 4.0