Does anyone have any experience with scholarships/merit aid offered through Bellisario School of Communications? The website says there are limited opportunities for incoming students, so wondering if anyone received aid for their first year and/or in subsequent years. Thanks in advance!
In general, don’t count on merit from Penn State. It will only come to the tippy top students.
Could you share stats so we can advise?
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I had heard that about merit at PSU in general, but one of the academic advisors for Bellisario had mentioned potential scholarship opportunities through the School of Communications specifically. My son was admitted last week and really likes PSU but being out of state the cost is significant and we are trying to figure out if there are any scholarships that might help. He is also interested in an interdisciplinary major - journalism/history.
SAT: 1390 submitted
GPA: 3.86 UW, 4.56 W
#of AP Courses: 8 + 10 Honors (total 18 AP/Honors)
Rank: school does not rank
State Residency: MD
Applied date: 10/17 EA
Decision date: 11/16
Major Applied to/Accepted: Journalism
Decision/College: Accepted/ Bellisario College of Communications
Campus applied to/Campus accepted to: UP/ UP
Opted out of summer
Strong essays and extracurriculars (including 4 years on his high school paper and Editor-In-Chief this year)
@AAJ724 solid stats - and maybe he is one of the lucky ones. All in all, though, most people are disappointed with their merit aid.
Did he apply to any specific Bellisario scholarships?
Did he apply to Schreyer? If he made history his primary, he could do Paterno Fellows…
We haven’t done the app for scholarships yet but it sounds like one app for all available, which is then screened by the College for eligibility for specific ones. And that’s what I’m wondering about - what has been the experience of those who have applied for scholarships through Bellisario. In terms of history, he is thinking of doing a double-major.
He also applied to Schreyer and scheduled an optional interview.
Any update wrt scholarship (Bellisario and/or Schreyer)?
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Hi, yes. My son received the provost scholarship and offered Schreyer, which comes with another scholarship. However, he is leaning UMD, which is still, $20k cheaper per year, so hasn’t applied to Bellisario dept scholarships.
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20K cheaper per year would definitely make the decision for me! Did he get into Scholars or Honors at UMD?
No, but invited to CIVICUS which is great for him.
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Sounds like he’s found what he wanted at a cost you appreciate, so 
