<p>My d got accepted through the Blue Ribbon App. and she is neither Asian nor of any other "diversity". And she was given a pretty hefty merit/financial aid package.</p>
<p>That's great news, brandeisdad! Sounds as if they had a strong pool with many deserving applicants. You must be very proud of your daughter.</p>
<p>D got her acceptance from Brandeis. No financial aid. Offered $1300 in loans. Pretty weird for a family with an EFC big enough to send 2 kids to a high cost college. We don't need the merit aid, for sure, but here are her stats anyway:</p>
<p>ACT 35/36
SAT II 800, 790, 760
GPA UW 3.96, class rank top 5%
AP Scholar with Distinction (5 AP up to junior year, 6 more this year)
Cum Laude Society
Jeopardy champion
Appeared in Oscar-nominated documentary
EC's music (national recognition), theater, etc. etc.</p>
<p>Ethnicity: Caucasian, non-Jewish though her last name sounds Jewish</p>
<p>I suspect they thought she wouldn't attend Brandeis, so didn't want to "waste" their merit money on her. I guess they didn't believe her when she told them that Brandeis was in her top 3. Ah, well.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I guess they didn't believe her when she told them that Brandeis was in her top 3. Ah, well.
[/quote]
Colleges use merit money to entice kids who they want, but who don't seem likely to attend. A high EFC is just more evidence that you don't need the money and are unlikely to get competing offers from any of the more prestigious colleges that your daughter may be admitted to (bearing in mind that the prestige colleges don't tend to offer much in the way of merit aid). </p>
<p>My son made the mistake 5 years ago of telling his first choice college that they were his #1 choice. Result: no aid.</p>
<p>Look up the phrase "enrollment management" on Google or using the search function of this forum. You'll get the details on this game.</p>
<p>It's really hard to know what to do, because colleges also don't like to be used as a safety, so a high-stat applicant can risk being waitlisted if not enough interest is demonstrated. But I think the best strategy to get merit dollars is probably to somehow convey that attitude that the college seems like it offers the best academic environment for you and it would be a top choice, except it is hard to turn down all those big merit offers coming in from other colleges. </p>
<p>I do believe that Brandeis will negotiate the merit aid when presented with a competing offer from another school, so don't give up. If Brandeis is still a top choice in April, be ready to work the phones and your fax.</p>
<p>Decision: ACCEPTED</p>
<p>Stats:</p>
<pre><code>* SAT I: M 720, V 680, W 680
* SAT IIs: Math II: 670; Math I: 690, Biology: 690
* ACT:
* GPA: 3.9 UW
* Rank: 2/25
* Other stats: AP US History:4, AP Biology:4
</code></pre>
<p>Subjective:</p>
<pre><code>* Essays: pretty good- it was about my summer in Israel
* Teacher Recs: very good
* Counselor Rec: great
* Hook (if any):
</code></pre>
<p>Location/Person:</p>
<pre><code>* State or Country: TX
* School Type: Private
* Ethnicity: White
* Gender: Female
* Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: good grades all around
* Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: I really do not know. It could have gone wither way
</code></pre>
<p>Other Factors:
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: Congratulations to all who were accepted</p>
<p>First, congrats to alicia6988! </p>
<hr>
<p>There seem to be a number of applicants who were hoping for merit awards that did not come through. I was thinking about the credentials that quiltguru's daughter and jlong88 presented. Both had SATs of 2300 or more, with very high gpa and many AP's. Is this a case of Tufts syndrome, not in terms of admissions but in the granting of such merit aid?</p>
<p>Cami215, as always, these are private schools who are free to use their merit aid $$ in whatever way they choose to attract whatever students they choose. Although the admissions office thought enough of my D to accept her, she is clearly not in the category of students they wish to strongly attract this year, so they do not "need" to offer merit money to do so. Why she is not in one of the categories they wish to attract is known only to Brandeis. A "Tufts-like Syndrome" with regards to scholarships is one possiblity. The other is that they have plenty of students they accept with similar credentials who will enroll...i.e., their yield of these super-high students is good enough that they don't need to give them merit money. It is no secret on these boards that my D has been accepted to other schools, one with merit money, one that is need-only. Brandeis would likely have moved near the top of her list if she had received merit money from them. They either didn't believe that or don't need to attract students like her with merit money. With the reported strength of the applicant pool this year, that could be the case. Brandeis won't know if their strategy paid off until after May 1st.</p>
<p>quiltguru- i think you're right
i guess i'm not the type of student to usually attend brandeis so they offered me a scholarship, but the poor social atmosphere of the school still makes me feel iffy</p>
<p>decision: accepted
SAT I: M 690, V 750, W 670
* SAT IIs: Math II: 650; US History: 760
* GPA: 3.82 W
* Rank: 79/680
* Other stats: AP US History:4, AP Biology:3, AP Engl Lang: 4, AP Calc AB: 3, AB Calc BC: 1</p>
<p>Subjective:</p>
<ul>
<li>Essays: ehh</li>
<li>Teacher Recs: good- i assume</li>
<li>Counselor Rec: ok</li>
<li><p>Hook (if any):
Location/Person:</p></li>
<li><p>State or Country: San Fran, CA</p></li>
<li><p>School Type: Public</p></li>
<li><p>Ethnicity: Chinese American</p></li>
<li><p>Gender: Female</p></li>
<li><p>Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: tanked my sopho year</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 2300 (800 CR, 700 M, 800 W)
[</em>] SAT IIs: 800/770/690
[<em>] GPA: 100.8 W, ~96 UW
[</em>] Rank: 34/580
[<em>] Other stats: NM Semifinalist
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays: ok
[<em>] Teacher Recs: one was wonderful; I assume the other was good
[</em>] Counselor Rec: ok
[<em>] Hook (if any): none
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: Texas
[<em>] School Type: Affluent public
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[<em>] Gender: Female
[</em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: test scores and GPA/unremarkable ECs
[li] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: don't really know[/li][/ul]Other Factors:
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: I'm another applicant with high EFC who had been hoping for a merit scholarship but didn't get one. It's leading me to worry about my chances for merit money at other schools too.</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 790M/ 740CR/ 680W
[</em>] SAT IIs:Math IIC: 800, US History: 770, Biology: 710
[<em>] ACT: NA
[</em>] GPA: 4.099
[<em>] Rank:8/270?
[</em>] Other stats: Like I would tell you...well i can't member really
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays:probably horrible
[</em>] Teacher Recs: alright
[<em>] Counselor Rec:okay
[</em>] Hook (if any): none, im a boring person
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: PA
[</em>] School Type: Public! Hells yea
[<em>] Ethnicity:Asian
[</em>] Gender: It starts with a f, ends in a male
[<em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses:
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied:[/ul]Other Factors: Im gorgeous duh
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: Hell yea I got the Justice D. Brandeis Scholarship--f yea oh and i was a national merit semifinalist--not that some 16000 peeps arent either</p>
<p>Brandeis really does use money to buy the students they'd like to have, and that's ok. Look hard enough and you'll find a Brandeis Scholar with middling stats and wonder how they got the scholarship. But that's the way it goes in college admissions. Caution with Brandeis Scholarship is the requirement of minimum 3.10 GPA in either of first two semesters and 3.20 cumulative thereafter. You gotta work hard to keep it.</p>
<p>You also have to work to keep that gorgeous body you so heavily endorse.</p>
<p>i'm sorry but what does EFC stand for?</p>
<p>ya i dont know what EFC is either</p>
<p>Estimated financial contribution, I think.</p>
<p>Fafsa gives an estimate of how much money your family can afford to pay each year - schools who give need-based aid will help for paying the rest beyond that amount. Of course, just because your family can afford it doesn't mean they can afford it comfortably...</p>
<p>Re: Zuma - you said that one has to work hard to keep their GPA above a 3.1/3.2 at Brandeis. Is it actually that difficult? Is there any grade inflation at Brandeis? People have made references to the academics here as being rigorous, but to what degree? Would you say it's merely challenging or extremely difficult to keep one's GPA high enough for the contingent scholarship?</p>
<p>jmw, one person's take</p>
<p>Thank you for the link - it was very informative and frank.</p>
<p>Calmom, while it's true that Jewish students are probably less likely to receive merit aide, don't think it's impossible for a Jewish student- even Yeshiva attenders to receive merit aide. I have several friends who were very active members of the Jewish community, and they received merit aide. Ivies like UPenn and Columbia have very strong Jewish communities, so in order to procure the best among the observant population, Brandeis does have to give merit aide. </p>
<p>Brandeis has to attract, what I call, cornerstone Brandeisians. You know, the kids who will lead services. There has to be a good amount of bright Jews, or else Brandeis will cease to exist. </p>
<p>Cami, I'm not sure how observant your son is, but there is NOTHING like shabbos at Brandeis. It is so wonderful, and, frankly, many observant students say that cannot imagine studying anywhere else. See <a href="http://www.booweb.org%5B/url%5D">www.booweb.org</a> for details.</p>
<p>Sulsk, I didn't say it was impossible. But the fact is that there are some Jewish kids who posted their stats who have better grades & SAT scores than some of the Asian kids who posted but didn't get the aid. </p>
<p>All you have to do is go through the postings in this thread and it is pretty easy to see how the aid dollars were allocated to this year's Blue Ribbon applicants. Of course that is based on the assumption that we have a representative sample posting here. And the way aid is distributed among the BR apps may be very different from the ED or RD pools, since BR is clearly part of a strategic outreach plan and is likely to attract a significant number of applicants who do not consider Brandeis a top choice.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Cami, I'm not sure how observant your son is, but there is NOTHING like shabbos at Brandeis. It is so wonderful, and, frankly, many observant students say that cannot imagine studying anywhere else. See <a href="http://www.booweb.org%5B/url%5D">www.booweb.org</a> for details.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Sulsk,</p>
<p>My son is shomer shabbat. Our family attends a modern orthodox shul. Son has been in Jewish day school since kindergarden. His best friend from synagogue was accepted off the Brandeis wait list last April and was able to negotiate a merit package at that point.</p>
<p>Son already has other acceptances (U Chicago EA) as well as the promise of significant merit aid (Rochester). U Rochester has also asked him to interview for the Rennaisance scholarship, which carries full tuition. He has other applications that won't come through till April. All of these are at schools where he'll have access to an orthodox or conservadox service either through Hillel, Chabad, or an independent synagogue. Son is the adventurous type. He spent a summer at Brown and was adopted by one of the nearby synagogues. Whatever happens, I'm sure he'll land on his feet. </p>
<p>Although son has heard many good things about Brandeis and its Jewish life, he had already decided that he wouldn't attend the school unless they wanted him enough to extend at least some aid. We were hoping for something given the fact that a quarter of the student body has traditionally received merit aid, plus his credentials were strong. For whatever reason, this help was not forthcoming, which means that Brandeis is off the list.</p>