<p>Not mad at you dearheart at all, not really mad at anyone. I understood your point completely. You have to have thick skin to be here sometimes. Some folks don’t see their advice as a putdown, ever and they see it as always welcome. Sometimes it is helpful and hurtful without intent to harm. </p>
<p>I mean, “you’re not going to wear that out in public are you?” is helpful and slightly hurtful, when it’s my wife pointing out I was much thinner around the waist when I first wore my favorite rugby jersey… 25 years ago.</p>
<p>“arguments about inferior vs top tier”</p>
<p>I still strongly believe that the student makes the school and the experiences, not so much the other way around. A great school at “any” tier is not going to pull any student up beyond where they want to be. A great student is going to achieve, at an ivy or a state school. </p>
<p>I know somebody is going to pull some obscure school and attempt to prove me wrong, but I also find that sad. </p>
<p>What kind of parent would I be, if I believed in the school more than I believed in my kids? My kids (and yours) can do anything they really want to anywhere. If you really think about it, how can you think any other way? no?</p>
<p>Opie, I do understand how important is merit aid to some families. When my D was applying to colleges, the only school that we know to give out merit aid was our state university. The award will require her to file a separate application. I persuaded her not to apply because we do not need it. She was, however, honored with an award nonetheless, from an endowed department fund from her intended major. It translated to full ride for four years. I again persuaded her to turn it down before she decided not to enroll there. She was also honored with a Leadership Scholarship from Bryn Mawr, which unbeknown to us has a limited number of these merit scholarships. My D also turned it down prior declining her place there. In both cases, she informed them how honored she felt but the award could be better used for another student. She also turned down two Ivies to enroll in her present school which as I alluded to earlier, is not an Ivy, and I would say that she made the right choice.</p>
<p>Thanks. Yes my daughter told NMS that Harvard is her first choice after switching from Yale. </p>
<p>I just called NMS. On September 4th, they mailed checks for every student who has given NMS their first choice of a college where they will be matriculating.</p>
<p>You D has to inform Harvard as well. I believe that if your D were to receive FA from H then the NM award will be deducted from her FA. That is, you actually don’t get extra FA as a result. Of course, if your D is payig her own way, then, the award will be deducted from your tuition bill, half for each semester.</p>
<p>H has lowered her aid by the scholarship amount that she has received from more than 10 outside scholarships. She is lucky to be admitted. She is still receiving substantial amount in need based aid. Without need based aid there was no way that she would have even attended a college let alone an Ivy League school. </p>
<p>Many wonderful parents like you have been wonderful to a person like me who has a puny little mind. CC has been very informative to us.</p>
<p>“I again persuaded her to turn it down before she decided not to enroll there”</p>
<p>Well, just maybe if you thought about it a bit, this post was about people whom unlike yourself…need that extra merit boost. It’s about families that would like to enroll in one of those 40-50k a year schools. but make too much for need basis, but not enough to really afford that leap. </p>
<p>I mean it’s fantastic that you can afford to turn down scholarships, it truly is. However, I don’t think the original poster, nor myself or many other families are in that boat. The schools that offer merit awards are of interest, especially those that would be finanically out of the question otherwise. </p>
<p>{In general}
So it gets back to my orginal point about coming onto a post like this to tell everyone how you didn’t “need” scholarhsips. That’s where the bully for you comes from. How is making “I didn’t need…” statements helpful to somebody who “needs”? </p>
<p>How is calling somebody’s choice of school and scholarship “second tier” nice? Especially when maybe their family situation would prevent them from even attending that “second tier” school without help? Maybe to that family it’s a blessing? </p>
<p>Both my kids benefited from merit awards and those awards have allowed them to attend small VERY expensive LAC’s and get a great education that honestly, I wouldn’t have been able to afford. Coming up with more than a quarter mil, inside a five year window isn’t something the average family can afford. So getting merit awards and other scholarships were gladly accepted and apprieciated by our family. We weren’t in a position to look down our nose at these offers. </p>
<p>As far as second, third or fourth tier schools. The one that just finished is now in med school. I guess the tier didn’t get in the way. Again college is what the student makes of it, a top “tier” is not a guarantee of anything if the student doesn’t work. It still comes back to the individual. </p>
<p>As every doctor ( around 2 dozen) told my son talked to about the top medical schools?..“what’s the best medical school?” “The one that takes you.”</p>
<p>Opie, I do not believe anyone here mentioned the words “lesser” or tiers except yourself. We do have one post equating paying full cost to frivolous purchases to impress.</p>
And the misinformation continues. Harvard has no loans in our FA package, and many of the Ivies do the same. Some will include loans, but I saw far more of that at the LACS. Don’t discount the Ivies unless you are truly not interested in them. They may surprise you when you see the FA package offered. By the way, most NMS corporate scholarships are restricted to the children of employees. NMS is not a money machine as many assume when they hear about it. </p>
<p>There are only a few free ride NMS schools. They don’t fit everyone. There are other schools that make it affordable also if you bother to ask. Most of the people at the Ivies receive some FA, many receive alot. I consider attending Harvard for less than the flagship state U very affordable.</p>
<p>proudamerican007, If you have access to your term bill online (if I remember correctly your DD will have to set you up as an “actual payer”) you will be able to see when the NMS is credited to her account.</p>
<p>“There are other schools that make it affordable also if you bother to ask. Most of the people at the Ivies receive some FA, many receive alot. I consider attending Harvard for less than the flagship state U very affordable.”</p>
<p>Very true. As several did with us, they offered something based on nmf status, but not directly “tied” to the award. In other words, the nmf status bumped the kids to the top of the list. It was the ace card in the hand. I totally agree it never hurts to ask. In many cases schools “found” ways to be competitive. </p>
<p>This is being said, with the idea that the average NMF is well rounded and not a one test wonder. Most NMF kids live pretty busy lives and when you review their records and ec’s there’s alot to go with the package. Usually it’s a pretty complete kid. I know there are always those for whom the stars alined that day, but how many really is that?</p>
<p>When you review schools incoming class information, even those that don’t offically offer a NM scholarship often will list how many NMS they have. If it didn’t matter in the mix, why put it out there. It matters, not “offically” but it does.</p>
<p>excuse my wording…
so instead of giving a loan in their package, they adjust(lower) your need figure and manage to leave more need unmet…
been on the inside,formerly a finaincial aid officer at three different institutions.Think what you will,you will pay more if they think you can or are willing to.they will give you less unless they really want you for some specific demographic reason.</p>
<p>Just like Opie said -many NMFs are strong enough students to attract other types of general merit aid. Our son was an NMF and got a small one time award at his flagship state U - but lots of other scholarship $ due to his strong overall record. He received strong merit aid offers from other schools - and we were happy to have a number of good choices. We found that you really need to do your research to uncover the different opportunities available at each school - lots of time online helps.
That said, I don’t understand why so many parents and students turn their noses up at schools that offer automatic NMF awards. Arizona State and others are solid schools with great opportunities for smart students. Even if a parent had 200K saved in an account for a child, it seems to me to still may make sense to at least consider merit awards. The money saved could be spent on study abroad, grad school, or as a cushion to getting started in the real world.
From what I’ve seen, the price tag doesn’t always equate to the quality of education received. I always look at “value added”. Yeah, Harvard’s great and might just be worth the $, but is Duke really that much better than Vanderbiilt? Wake Forest at full cost that much better than Lehigh with merit? I can’t help but make these comparisons - given that our family does not have unlimited $. That’s just me though…I think I’m in a distinct minority based on the posts I see on this board!</p>
25 years ago.</p>