<p>My son got one of the $2500 Nat. Merit scholarships. This is a one-off award. THis means he is no longer eligible for the Oberlin-sponsored Nat Merit award of up to $2000 a year for 4 years. Does anyone know how Oberlin handles this? (I can call them next week, but we'd like to know sooner)</p>
<p>I know that Grinnell handles this anomaly by making up the difference with a Grinnell grant that has no official connection to National Merit. Does Oberlin do likewise? It would be a shame to have students lose thousands of dollars because of winning an award.</p>
<p>I don't know for certain. But let's look a the likelihoods...</p>
<p>The money for college sponsored NMF come from each individual college, not from NMF. If your son goes to Oberlin, he gets his $2500 from NMF. Let's assume that Oberlin kicks in the remaining $6000 for the last 3 years. They are still spending less money on him than what they figured they would have to pay if he did NOT get the award. I would be really surprised if the DID NOT continue with the money for his remaining years. </p>
<p>My son is NMF at Oberlin and gets $2000 each year. He did not get the $2500 award.</p>
<p>Last year, they did not make up the difference, but ask. I think it may depend on the overall merit aid.</p>
<p>OK, for anyone who wants to know the answer to this one . . . I had some communication with the F Aid office and the Admissions director. Oberlin doesn't handle the NMF award anomaly in quite the same straightforward way as Grinnell, but it works out the same in the end. The student gets nothing (other than s/he has already been told) from Grinnell, but then appeals that and the appeal is routinely granted. So student ends up with same amount of money.</p>
<p>Well, in our case, Oberlin did not make up the difference; they seemed to have decided that we got enough by way of a merit scholarship. I was irritated about it...but it seemed that they have handled it differently in different years. Also, as I recall, Oberlin says on its website that it awards $1,000 to $2,000 for NMF who don't get the $2,500 from NM.</p>
<p>Really mamenyu??? This seems most unfair and is exactly what i was afraid of. My son is in the same situation re merit aid plus NMF $2500. We were told he had to appeal and then he'd get a grant for the extra yearly amount from Oberlin (though it wouldn't be called NM). Did you appeal and get turned down? If you didn't appeal (and are still a student), maybe you can still appeal for next year?</p>
<p>We called; they first said that they usually make up the difference, but the financial aid office thought otherwise. In a call to the regional adcom, we were told, in essence, that they decided not to make up the difference. There was no mention of a possible "appeal." His merit award was high enough that we just dropped the issue.<br>
He loves it there.</p>
<p>I want to add that I think Oberlin is actually very generous with financial aid considering its endowment; it has a new no-Pell-loan policy for its most economically disadvantaged students, and seems to have a genuine commitment to outreach (programs like Questbridge). It also is one of the few LAC's of its ranking to give merit scholarships (along with Grinnell), which is controversial with alumni, but obviously is used to attract middle class and top students who might otherwise follow the crowds to Amherst, Swarthmore, et al. The conservatory is particularly generous (competing for students with Colburn and Curtis, which are tuition free, and Juilliard, which is not generous with merit aid), and double degree students get merit awards for 5 years.<br>
Not to say that the NM issue wasn't rankling...</p>
<p>I too was getting different messages from adcom and financial aid office. The adcom's email was very reassuring, but we are in a strong negotiating position right now. They definitely want my son and know that they are competing with Grinnell for him (and they know that Grinnell is willing to make up the difference). Maybe after the April dust has settled, it will get harder to win an appeal (if it isn't all settled by then).</p>
<p>I don't mean to dump on Oberlin though. I do agree with you that Oberlin is generous. (Grinnell is too, but their endowment is a lot larger.) Unfortunately, costs are a critical issue. My son didn;t even apply to any no-merit-aid schools. He has money in his own name that was not put in a sheltered Coverdell-type account, so he is treated as wealthy although it's not enough to pay for 4 years of college and we have a fairly low income. This puts me in the position of having to really try to maximize each financial package offer.</p>
<p>Good luck and I hope it works out for you and your son! If he is interested in the coops at Oberlin, it would reduce the costs of dining by about the $1,000 a year, and they seem like a fun option.</p>