<p>Every university has its prestigious scholarships, which usually but not always require school recommendation. S is applying to several OOS and privates that we cant afford without scholarship assistance. Were one of those middle situations that earn too much for financial aid but cant afford 40K+ per year. Because these OOS and private colleges arent his first choice, his counselor recommends he not apply for the university scholarships because there may be others at his school who want to attend more. So were in a catch-22- Im not sure why hes applying at to anywhere other than his favorite school now, because if he gets in to anywhere else, we cant afford to send him anyway.</p>
<p>Is it unethical for him to apply for scholarships anyway? Is it unethical for the school to pass him over for nominations or discourage him because they know his first choice (he was asked and answered honestly- probably his first mistake)? He's ranked at the top of his class, so he has a good shot. Or maybe not?</p>
<p>No, it is not unethical for him to apply for anything to which he may be legitimately entitled. It's just his counselor's opinion that someone else is more "entitled" to the scholarship. Whether some other kid wants the scholarship more, or is more deserving, or whatever, is not your son's problem. Let the university decide. (It would be unethical, though, if he were to apply for a scholarship and had to "fudge" his eligibility, like lying about a URM status, or applying for an engineering scholarship when he has no intention of studying engineering.)</p>
<p>The school certainly can "discourage" him from applying, but they cannot stop him - if they refuse to furnish documentation to support his application (like a transcript), that would be unethical.</p>
<p>Can't he just tell his counselor that (1) it may not be his first choice now, but who knows come April? Things change; or (2) he may not get into his first choice, and he needs to have affordable options. The scholarships may make this currently second choice his only viable choice come April.</p>
<p>Agree with Chedva. My daughter is a freshman at Tulane. Tulane was on her list of colleges to apply to, but not one of the favorites. </p>
<p>She applied for the Dean's Honor Scholarship, which was a separate application and required an additional recomendation - on their own forms.
One of her recommenders agreed to write a rec specifically for the scholarship. She got the scholarship which is full tuition and $3,000 towards room and board.</p>
<p>This scholarship put Tulane on the "return visit" list, which it would not have been on withouth the scholarship. We visited again and she decided to go to Tulane over her previous favorite.</p>
<p>My point is - because of the scholarship, we revisited and she reevaluated her list. If her recommender had refused to write the additional rec, because someone else wanted it more - she wouldn't have had the chance to reconsider.</p>
<p>I don't like the way this high school is handling things. I don't think he should have been asked to rank his first choice (unless he was going ED). Heck, we spend hours and hours here trying to dissuade students and families from identifying one "top choice." Things can happen. Kids can change. Schools that really want your son (after he applies) can "show him the love." Not just with money, but with contacts and letters from faculty, deans, alums, students. This can all change how a high school senior feels about what schools he liked best.</p>
<p>It happened to ThatMom's D and it happened to my S.</p>
<p>If you have a good relationship with the school/GC (or think you can develop one), give a call or a visit and explain these things. If not, "throw your weight around" (just kidding). But don't let them dictate how your S handles his application process.</p>
<p>For many kids, it is a good idea to have more than one choice come April for oh-so-many reasons. Your S' hs policy seems to put him in the position of only having one financially viable choice. No. No. No.</p>
<p>My S,a college soph., applied for a University wide merit scholarship (at his first choice school, big in-state u) during his senior year. He got a notice in April that he was not selected for the scholarship. What a surprise when another letter arrived in June stating he had been given the scholarship.</p>
<p>I called the scholarship office to see if this was legit. and was told that the person originally awarded the scholarship had decided not to attend Big State U and S's name was the next on the list. Hooray.</p>
<p>So applying for scholarships at non-favorites might not be taking something away from others. If you eventually turn it down it may be given to someone else.</p>
<p>Many of us know that wishes & reality often unfortunately do not coincide. Heck, many of us would send our kids to their favorite U if cost were not a factor, but unfortunately for most of us, cost IS a factor.</p>
<p>At my kids HS, kids are urged to tell the counselor if they have a clear #1 favorite school & the counselor may be able to recommend the student for a special scholarship for that school & let the adcom know or something. My S honestly didn't KNOW which school he most wanted to attend & knew that for us, money was (& is) a BIG factor--all OOS & privates. The school he said was his "safety" is the school that admitted him & offered him significant merit aid & where he happily matriculated this fall. He was never discouraged from applying because he might "take a spot or money" from anyone "more deserving." In fact, I was informed by another school where he got significant merit aid that when he turned them down, they didn't give the money they had awarded him to anyone else (I think they expect a % of those offered merit aid to decline their offer). The two other schools which awarded him significant merit aid made similar awards to ALL students who had the same criteria (NMFs).</p>
<p>I think your S should apply to ALL the schools he's interested in & all the scholarships he qualifies for; to do otherwise would be to shortchange himself & reduce options he has earned the right to have.</p>
<p>"I think your S should apply to ALL the schools he's interested in & all the scholarships he qualifies for; to do otherwise would be to shortchange himself & reduce options he has earned the right to have."</p>
<p>I agree.
As a person who has been on scholarship and internship committees, I hate it when counselors discourage students from applying to things in order to give others a chance. What may happen is that no one from that school gets selected. What also may happen is that a student who considered an opportunity only a safety may change their mind by spring, and very eagerly accept it even over opportunities that originally the student had considered to be better.</p>
<p>We will go ahead and have him apply for this scholarship, which requires several new essays (hes pretty sick of writing essays at this point!). This will be testing the waters, since, I believe, the school can nominate more than one student. If he doesnt get nominated, which hell know, it will be an indication of things to come and he might as well not try for anymore. I dont mean to seem arrogant, but we know the rankings and its a small school, so it will be easy to figure out if hes just getting blackballed or if he was really beat out by someone else. The perils of private small schools! Everyone knows everyone elses business and it can be catty and political at times. The amount of money people end up putting into this school can exceed 6 figures by the time a student graduates, and I do believe theyre doing their best to make everyone happy.</p>
<p>Heres the kicker- his favorite of the day is an in state public safety. So here he is with stats that could get him into some of the best colleges in the country, if we could afford it. Im just grinding my teeth wishing he hadnt told what his top choice was.</p>
<p>In the past, there have been several situations where students from this school have been awarded the crème de la crème university scholarships and then decided not to take them, my oldest being one of them. When that happens, there are a lot of bad feelings on the part of other families, and Im sure the school has heard from them.</p>
<p>Anyway, Ill keep everyone posted on what happens.
Thanks!</p>
<p>Doubleplay, my D was involved in a situation that was somewhat analogous, see if it fits.</p>
<p>Her safety school was a great LAC that she would have been very happy to attend, and has a very prestigious scholarship that requires a nomination from the high school or an alum. I think each high school can only submit one nomination. The next couple of scholarships down are usually given to applicants who have been nominated for the top award, but who do not get it - so not being nominated could decrease your chances of getting any of the highest awards. D's high school almost always sends a couple of students to this particular college, so she knew classmates that were definitely going to attend. She, on the other hand, was going to apply ED to another school, and, obviously would not go to safety school if successful at ED. All these apps had to be in before Dec 1. What to do - she felt badly about asking the counselor to nominate her if she was not going to attend.</p>
<p>This is what I told her - you are free to apply for any scholarships that you want. Since the high school can only submit one nomination, then you ask to be nominated, fill out your part of the app, and leave it at that. It is the HS administration's job to decide if you are the appropriate person to represent the school as the nominee - for one thing, not all the students planning to go to college A were close to being qualified for this particular scholarship, but my D did not know exactly who all would apply, ie who might make a reasonable nominee. I told her to only ask one thing, if she was not the nominee, to be notified soon enough to seek an alum for an alternate nomination. If there was another student who was more likely to attend, and needed the scholarship to attend, then that too was the CC's call, but D deserved an opportunity to seek another way of getting a nomination. Make sense??</p>
<p>Doubleplay: It's not a good idea for your S to fix in his mind now (September) what his first choice will be next year (April-May) (or for you either). A lot of things change in one's senior year in high school, including a shift in the way one assesses possibiities and makes decisions. So he should apply now for scholarships at schools he might attend, so that by April you all can see how things fall out.</p>
<p>Happened to DS last year. School wanted to know his first choice, he very clearly and emphatically said he did NOT have one due specifically to costs and financial aid. Soooooooooo, scholarship committee for school did not nominate him for the big in-state uni scholarship (Morehead). Unbeknownst to them the Morehead committee contacted him directly and asked him to apply- got his name and profile from the uni's med school where he had done research the previous summer.</p>
<p>High school's nominated students applied and were not chosen for the first round. Son was chosen as a finalist. His interviewer ended up being one of the PI's...and they knew from information provided by the summer program where he had been accepted EA. </p>
<p>The high school also has their own private scholarship awarded to 6 seniors with 1 top senior getting the largest amount. The students did not need to be nominated initially, just submit first app and then committee chooses. This came after the in-state uni and son did not apply. He was pushed hard by GC and others to do so, so they could correct the "mistake" of the other nomination. Son declined, and in turn applied for several national scholarships that did not require his high school's scholarship committee nomination. He did in fact receive some of those much to the very big surprise of those on the scholarship committee.</p>
<p>We knew that by moving into a small tight-knit southern community and we were NOT southern, and he was a URM that local scholarships might not workout for him. We were right but in turn that forced him to look elsewhere and was somewhat successful.</p>
<p>We cross posted, Doubleplay, ooohh yes the analogy fits! The problem at our school is people getting admitted to Harvard, then gee, Dad figures out that you actually have to pay for it! Wow, who'd a thunk it!</p>
<p>Certainly if the school can nominate more than one person, he should try. And I hear you about turning down the scholarship, D was concerned about that aspect as well. Her school has had at least one winner of this big scholarship that I know of, but she was the person who was forced to turn down Harvard by her parents. Anyway, it worked out for D and the high school, she was admitted ED, withdrew her app and scholarship app at the college in question, BUT, wires got crossed, and we got her scholarship award anyway - she did not get the BIG one, but got one down just one rung - still a lot of money. It did not effect the high school at all, I believe they sent a couple of young ladies out of the 06 class on substantial scholarships.</p>
<p>At least one U I know of allows the HS to nominate/select from among those HS kids committed to attending the U which to awards a merit scholarship for say, leadership. This seems like a nice way for the U & HS to work together & not penalize anyone. Of course, it helps that the HS sends a LOT of students to that U & the U has merit $$$ to awards.</p>
<p>Your S should apply for any scholarship he can get. This is what others are doing as well. It's the way the system works as can be seen by some of the other poster. The scholarships he's offered or not offered can be the deal-maker on which school to end up going to.</p>
<p>There are also a number of schools where several of the scholarships (UC Regents is one) where he's automatically considered when he applies there - he doesn't need to do a separate application.</p>
<p>Ignore the HS counselor and apply. If the GC is wrong on this count, they may be wrong on others counts as well so be wary what this particular GC recommends.</p>
<p>I think it pays to be candid with the GC unless you have evidence that s/he is a total loser. I'd suggest something along the lines of this for your son to communicate to the GC:
"I certainly understand that you don't want to promote "trophy hunting" and kids applying randomly to schools and for scholarships just for bragging rights to places they've no intention of going. I've cast a really wide net right now-- not because I'm indecisive, but because financial reality will play a large part in my decision-making next spring. I hope that you will support me in my quest to get a good education at a price my family can afford, and that we can work together to make that happen".</p>
<p>If the GC won't play ball then you know where you stand..... but a little candor may go a long way in getting some support you won't have if you just ignore the HS. An impassioned letter from a GC added to an application about a kids integrity and ethics can go a long way for a lot of these committees....</p>
<p>I haven't any personal experience with this because I started my educational journey at Community College. </p>
<p>But...</p>
<p>I figure that your child should be able to apply whereever all of you feel comfortable and then also apply for any scholarships affiliated with the schools they apply to. </p>
<p>That is not unethical. It is like playing the lotto, you never know unless you buy a ticket! In your child's case, your ticket is the University Application and any scholarship applications which go along with the University. I just do not rightly see how that would be considered unethical.</p>
<p>My son declined a state scholarship, and a local one, because he wanted to let others have a chance. At the time, he had decided to attend a university which offered him full tuition. In April, he changed his mind, and decided on another school. Those grants would have definitely been helpful! </p>
<p>You just don't know which way the decision will go later in the year. I don't think it fair for the HS to make judgements so early in the process.</p>