Are you referring to when people say their child received a “full ride” and the reason for the full ride is at least partly due to their financial profile?
Count me in! That would be very helpful.
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I think the terminology does fly right by most people, and there are many who definitely don’t know about no-merit-aid schools.
I knew a parent who knew better, but still said her kid got a scholarship. I pressed, gently, asking “Oh? I didn’t know School A gave merit aid, that’s great!”
And she said, “scholarship, grant, financial aid, they call it whatever they want, but it still works out to half off the price.”
tbh, she’s not wrong.
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Im in.
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Same here. He simply could not do another essay. But luckily he got into his ED1 with a $24.5k/yr scholarship
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I am interested:)
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Yes I am interested.
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That’s awesome! Congrats!
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I’ve created College Confidential Parents of Class of 23 Facebook Group for all that are interested. I’ll message those that have already said they are interested with the details of joining!
If you’re interested, comment here or send me a DM: @stencils
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Yes, a few years ago my daughter told me her good friend got a full ride to NYU and I just went with it. She knew his family struggled but don’t think she understood the extend of it and the financial limitations of his single mom. And he’s extremely talented so he definitely got merit for musical theatre, just probably not a “full ride” in the way she thought. We were just thrilled he was able to attend his dream school and he made the most of it and is doing well now after graduating.
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I’m interested. Thanks!
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I’m interested!
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I’m interested!
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No - to me a full ride means “you’re not paying” and since money is money regardless of the source, it doesn’t matter if it is FA or scholarships (though I think most people think “full ride” means “totally paid by merit-scholarships”). I meant that at times FA grants are confused with scholarships, and sometimes scholarships are only available for those with need at certain schools. It doesn’t matter to me - it’s all money. College is too expensive - I hope everyone gets all the $$ they need.
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To me, “full ride” means a merit scholarship that covers all expenses. I realize need based financial aid that meets full need works out the same, but it’s not the same thing in my mind. The former is a direct result of the kid’s achievements, the latter is an outcome of the family’s financial situation (and applying to a school that meets full need).
I agree families don’t necessarily need to make that distinction - money is money. But if you’re going to brag publicly, then I think it’s disingenuous to misrepresent the situation.
For example, a couple of years ago someone I know posted on our neighborhood social media group: “Excited to announce that (son) has decided to attend xyz school. They threw a lot of money at him. Guess they really wanted him! Lol”
That school is known to not offer any merit aid. So they didn’t “throw money at (kid)” - they met his full financial need. And as an aside, he didn’t “decide to attend” - it was an ED acceptance so he was already committed to it. 
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I am interested!
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Hi! I’ll send you a direct message with the link!
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I get the point, particularly if there’s bragging going on. But even then there are lots of distinctions to draw, and it depends on the school. Some schools have endowments large enough to meet need as best they can. In such a case, the university really is throwing money at the kid to come, and it’s not associated with a particular merit-based scholarship. It is, however, associated with admission, and at such schools (ones that make the attempt to meet need) admission is itself a merit-based accomplishment. But this is clearly different from receiving government or state grants, such as Pell, which have nothing to do with merit at all.
I don’t fault the parents, in any event - most do not get into the weeds on all this stuff, and don’t have the time. It’s complicated stuff - they just see $X coming in, and don’t draw distinctions.
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When I see someone celebrate their child’s success, I see it as a celebration and nothing else. I do not see it as bragging and I am genuinely happy for the family. I silently bless the child and hope that the kid continues to shine. Thats just me. In the past there was no social media and everyone lived in small social bubbles. I see social media as a larger community interacting and collaborating to make it better for everyone. Also some statistician minded folks are analysing this info and data to present some projections on forums such as CollegeConfidential, its all good to me.
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I feel the bragging thing goes under the “It’s not what you say, but how you say it” category. I’m genuinely happy when I hear about a friend’s child achieving success in something they care about - sports, academics, robotics, World of Warcraft, whatever. But there is a point where it can be annoying – usually when I get the sense that it’s either about the parent themselves, or feels like a superiority thing – which is hard to define, but like pornography I know it when I see it.
My kid has requested total social media silence, so that’s what we do. I texted my family and that was it.
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