<p>In general do you feel you got better merit packages from school where you stand out as a top student or from schools where alot of kids have your same stats? I have heard that to get some good merit money it is a good idea to apply to tier 2 schools where you may have stats that are at the top versus applying to top schools where your stats look alot like everyone else's.</p>
<p>My son did better at schools where his stats were way up there. The SATs seemed to be the deal.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I have heard that to get some good merit money it is a good idea to apply to tier 2 schools where you may have stats that are at the top versus applying to top schools where your stats look alot like everyone else's.
[/quote]
Do you understand why colleges give merit-based aid? They do it to raise their 75th percentile SAT & ACT scores. There is virtually no chance of getting a merit-based scholarship at a school where you're not going to bring up that 75th percentile score.</p>
<p>There are some merit awards to encourage diversity, build up a dept, as well as bringing up the scores.</p>