<p>Our daughter, has worked very hard throughout all of her four years of High School and not only did she excel in academics, but she was able to compete and participate in various sports. We were very proud to learn that she was selected to receive the Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished Scholar Award. </p>
<p>While we are extremely happy and proud that she received this prestigious award, our only regret is that she will be unable to use it, as she will not be attending a New Jersey College. Her college of choice and acceptance is in New York City. Does anyone know if something can be done in order to compensate her for all of her hard work and dedication. We believe receiving a prestigious scholarship, which limits her fulfillment of higher education to only the State of New Jersey, is unfair. </p>
<pre><code> While we are not familiar with the rules and regulations of these specific scholarships, we believe a scholarship should be given with the intention of being used at any college of choice that the student wishes to attend any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
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<p>You deserve to be proud of your daughter's wonderful accomplishments. Unfortunately, there is no way to receive the Bloustein money if attending college out of state. The state, which funds the scholarship, can set the conditions as it wishes so long as those conditions don't violate any laws. Tying the money to staying in the state is certainly not illegal. Indeed, this award seems intended to encourage outstanding students to stay in New Jersey for their educations.</p>
<p>While it certainly would be nice if scholarships were awarded on merit alone without any conditions -- like going to a certain school, studying in a certain state, etc. -- many scholarships are not like that. There is no rule saying that they must be, and it doesn't seem particularly unfair for the groups giving out the money to decide the terms under which it is given out.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the Bloustein award is prestigious, and so it may increase the chance of winning scholarships at your daughter's institution or "untied" scholarships offered by other organizations. The best course of action would be to actively apply for such scholarships.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>^^ good advice.
Many states have merit scholarships funded by the state, to keep the best students in the state.</p>
<p>Chances are, your daughter will be eligible for many fine scholarships from OOS universities as well, but you need to look into them yourself.</p>
<p>Check out the websites for the colleges she's applying to and find out the deadlines/requirements for their institutional scholarships/merit scholarships/fellowships. I don't think there was ONE college that my sons applied to that didn't have their big "foundation scholarships".</p>
<p>My daughter also was selected to receive it, but like yours, her choices were out of state. When she got down to her #1 choice, she wrote them a letter explaining the Bloustein and that they were trying to keep the best and brightest in NJ, but that she truly wanted to go to their school. She also enclosed a copy of the letter granting her the Bloustein, plus an offer from Montclair stating that because she got the Bloustein, MSU would give her a full tuition scholarship. Her #1 then increased their scholarship offer to her by $1000 per year and she happily went there. So she can at least make them aware of that offer and maybe they will take that into consideration. S is attending an out of state school that automatically grants oos students a $1000 scholarship if their home state does not have a program like that.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your daughter for work well done. The Bloustein is a nice honor but honestly not earth-shatteringly prestigious; basically it is given to top ten percent of each high school's graduating class if their SAT scores are high enough, and they don't have to be that high. In some high schools every kid in the top ten percent might qualify; in others, fewer because of lower test scores. If you go on the state Web site you will see what I mean.</p>
<p>It is not at all unfair to limit its use to in-state schools; that is pretty standard. That is how NYS Regents scholarships work and probably other states that I am less familiar with. You should also realize and perhaps be comforted to know that the Bloustein is not worth a great deal of money even in state; if a student were to attend Princeton it would account for only a small percentage of the total cost; obviously at Rutgers or TCNJ it would be more significant because tuition is lower and they are public universities that to keep smart kids in-state.</p>
<p>The Bloustein is only a $1000 scholarship, wheteher it is used at a public or provate in NJ. Usually kids who qualify for a Bloustein are eligible for other merit aid at the public colleges. There is also an urban Bloustein which drops the SAT requirement & replaces it with a 3.0 GPA requirement. </p>
<p>NJ has to do quite a bit more if it wants to keep top kids interested in private schools in state. I rarely know of kids who use it, although I'd be interested to know the true stats rather than my little anecdotal experience.</p>
<p>Congrats to the OP's daughter. </p>
<p>Connecticut's Capitol Scholars program is academically based, and yet still tied to FAFSA EFC. </p>
<p>The award maxs out at $2000 per year for instate, public or private. </p>
<p>It drops to $500 max for use out of state.</p>
<p>One nice thing is that the scholarship is renewable for four years of college provided the academic requirements are maintained.</p>
<p>The funding is contingent upon state legislative approval annuallly.</p>
<p>Yes, Stickershock, thanks for clarifying; I know it is only $1,000 and did not make my point clearlyly--it is more relatively significant because at the state universities and colleges tuition is so much lower than private tuition is, so the $1,000 represents a higher percentage.</p>
<p>Incidentally, there are (or were until at least last year) also lower achievement levels of state scholarships the rewards are equally marginal and appply only to state schools, not private colleges in NJ. Kids in the top 15 percent get a little bit of a tuition break at the public schools if their SAT scores are above a certain level--as I recall there is even a breakown of benefits based on what the scores were, with different benefits for over 1500 old-scale and 1400 old-scale. The old-scale Bloustein cutoff numbers used to be in the 1200s I think, making a top 10 percent status of greater relative importance than very high SAT scores.</p>
<p>All 3 of my DK's were Bloustein scholars, and all 3 chose out of state schools. $1000 was not incentive enough to keep them in state. I don't know if that honor increased aid at the schools they ultimately chose, but they received substantial merit aid. When a person or organization offers a scholarship, they have every right to put stipulations on where it can be used.</p>