<p>My son, an NMF with a good GPA and 2340 SATs was just admitted but offered exactly zero in grants or scholarships at CAS. I was more surprised by this than by any of the other odd things in this long strange journey to college.</p>
<p>BU highlights the half tuition “National Scholars Award” which is targeted at NMFs and has explicit rules about designating them with the NMSC, so I inferred they were really trying to attract these students. </p>
<p>He has already been offered substantial scholarships by NYU and UMD with others yet to be heard from, so we are not left in the lurch, but I feel this is close to bait and switch. BU climbed onto our list partly through expectation of significant aid.</p>
<p>Any other NMFs mind posting their awards here – I will be talking to BU next week and some data might be useful. </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>PS There was also no mention of the honors program. Does this follow separately or did my S miss out on this also?</p>
<p>R. Aster, D was in the same position this time last year. She specifically designated them with the NMSC, for the same reason your S did. I can't remember their merit offer was, but it was laughable. For a long time, after MIT (which she was not accepted to...) BU was her top choice. Compared to the "love" that UMD showed to her, it just made her decision to become a Terp that much easier. (and she totally loves it there). PM me if you want more details. I wouldn't waste time w/ BU....it's their loss.</p>
<p>I was also NMF and I designated them as my first choice. I ended up getting Trustee instead! So, because of that, I am definitely going to BU now.
hmmm yeah, I called up BU about a month back though, and they said that (I forget the exact number) they give about 15 1/2 tuition scholarships to NMF students who designate BU as 1st choice. Sooo it's not guaranteed just cuz you are a NMF.
but yeah, I would definitely call them up and ask them if there is any way to appeal the scholarship decision. Good luck!</p>
<p>Hey R. Aster,
I was a NMF, but I did not designate BU as my top choice (GW instead...). I ended up with the University Scholarship (1/2 tuition). Hope that information is somehow helpful. Good luck!</p>
<p>Stoops,
What is the amount of the Trustee's award? And yes, I will be talking to BU next week directly. </p>
<p>There is a lengthy post from a month or so ago here that indicates that about 40 Merit Finalists enrolled last year with 27 getting an award from BU (presumably the little $2k official award). Don't know what to do with that data, but there it is.</p>
<p>Son NMF, indicated BU as first choice, was accepted to CFA and got 10K music scholarship, no NMF or academic notification at all. We're sorry there's no NMF (there's an official 2K? did not see this online but will look into it or wait for mail backup), but happy about the music $.</p>
<p>Our nephew got one of the half-tuition scholarships and the big benefit was living in very nice, quiet housing along the river. If your kid is offered this, take it over the big dorms</p>
<p>Thanks for the info and congrats. I think your story is why I'm a little PO'd about this whole thing -- BU in two e-mails insisted that my S designate BU #1 by 3/1 with NMSC to be eligible for any aid, which caused us some anxiety vis-a-vis NYU which also wants to be number 1. But we did it their way, BU's way, and we get a big zero. </p>
<p>Or to put it another way, we made them #1 and they treated us like #2. </p>
<p>Thanks for the "me too." My sympathy. As I tell my kids often, life isn't necessarily fair, but damned if I know why college admissions and aid should be so spectacularly random! I recognize that BU is a private business and it's their money to give, but this sort of irrational process doesn't serve anybody well.</p>
<p>I'll keep up this thread until I get an answer from BU. Maybe you'll get some nuggets that will help you.</p>
<p>Thanks for the data and congrats on a nice award. </p>
<p>The housing data is of little use at this point, of course, since BU went from near the top of my sons's list to last with this unfortunate decision by BU.</p>
<p>Well, that is excellent johnstoops. You must be very proud and I extend my congrats to you. Doubt that we'll be seeing you around the ole campus what with our difficulties ... but good luck and have fun.</p>
<p>did your son remember to send a copy of the NMF notification letter to BU? I too am a finalist, but didn't realize that was required, although I did designate BU as my first choice.</p>
<p>I sent them an e-mail when he made finalist and they indicated they did not need the letter but insisted that we did need to designate them 1st choice by 3/1 be eligible for the 1/2 scholarship. So we did. If I understand it right, that caused NMSC to include my son's name on a list sent to BU shortly after 3/1, so they would have ample time to work up a great scholarship package...</p>
<p>D was NM commended (not finalist), did not designate BU as one of her top two, but was offered a 1/2 tuition (University Scholarship) at CAS/undecided. This definitely puts BU in the running, particularly since our EFC is >50k and we will end up paying rack rate wherever she goes. The savings will be huge, and we will have a hard decision coming up, unless D gets accepted to one of her long reaches on Monday.</p>
<p>Did your S get any FA? I believe that CNI did not get any merit awards but got FA that met his demonstrated need. Depending on CNI's circumstances, this may be better than a University Scholarship. Perhaps BU is trying to attract top applicants in two ways --- with merit awards to those with high EFC, and meeting full demonstrated need of those who would benefit more that way. Your message seemed to imply that your S got neither, which is weird. I would definitely call the FA office on Monday and see what the deal is. As usual, start off polite but firm, no sense in antagonizing these people. There may be a good but easily correctable reason for their decision.</p>
<p>My sense of BU has always been of a school yearning to rise in the rankings, very sensitive to demonstrated interest and yield management. Even with two rounds of ED their overall yield is pretty low, around 22% (2011</a> Yield List), which implies that their RD yield is fairly atrocious, probably around 15%.</p>
<p>Since BU was one of D's safeties, I made sure she showed plenty of interest during the application process. We went to at least two local info sessions, one as early as her junior year, and we also visited last summer. She also included a couple of relatively well thought-out BU-specific sentences in her otherwise generic "Why BU" answer. Don't know if that made a difference, but this is the only way I can explain BU's choice to be generous with her. Her SATs are very solid but not spectacular (2190 superscored, 770 on Lit and 740 on math SATIIs), and the same can be said of her class rank (7%).</p>
<p>My son was "offered" $3500 in unsubsidized loans. That was the total FA package. The Merit tab doesn't even appear. The page says:</p>
<p>Your application for financial aid, including your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) has been reviewed. Your eligibility for the Federal Direct Stafford Loan has been posted to your record. Unfortunately, Boston University will be unable to offer you any grant or scholarship aid. Since our resources are limited, funds must be given to students with greater demonstrated need. </p>
<p>Pretty groovy, eh? </p>
<p>As I'm sure everyone can tell by now, I am both mystified and PO'ed by this in light of the nice awards other deserving student have received. Based on various posts here and some offline input, I can only speculate that (1) BU assumes that they are just a safety for my son (which is not the case) and don't wish to bother making him an offer, or (2) that a mistake was made, or (3) there is something not known to us in his application package that is really off-putting to BU, enough to counteract tremendous SATs, NMF status, and good grades (3.63/4.35 at a top public HS). </p>
<p>All three ideas seem unlikely frankly, so the net is that I don't have a clue. Thanks for the support and thoughts.</p>
<p>I'll finish off my own thread. Had a good chat with a senior admissions officer after some polite but kind of mixed up e-mail from the finaid office. </p>
<p>First, not a whiff of a chance that they would offer any aid whatsoever. </p>
<p>Then the person from the AO spent quite a bit of time discussing the process and my son's app, but the information transmitted to me still amounted to: our committee makes decisons based on the whole package / this was a very competitive year / there is nothing at all wrong with your son's application / not everyone can get a scholarship. He was more skilled in very politely evading direct questions than I was in asking them, and I made a considerable effort. The only one I meant to raise but forgot was whether need played any factor in the decision. The web site does not say or imply that, but one wonders.</p>
<p>[Our EFC calculation shows zero need, but as many here know or can imagine, sending three smart kids to good schools with zero aid, a $600k+ proposition, is not very feasable for a middle-class family no matter what the calculations say.]</p>
<p>So. BU financial aid -- "its origin and purpose still a total mystery." Bu-bye to BU. Onward to NYU.</p>