Places giving little or NO MERIT AID

Parents Forum
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<p>CAVEAT. This list represents the sole opinion and conclusion of a poster and does not constitute an "official" position of College Confidential. </p>

<p>Here they are folks. The places that give predominently NEED BASED aid only. Some may have changed thier policy, if so advise. If you need MERIT money to swing the cost of any of these places... don't waste your time. Also feel free to add any school not listed that does not give merit aid. I just found out about Tufts only yesterday. Some listed here might give merit aid in name only, (2 or 3 scholarships), basically in such small amounts it is not worth the effort to apply. This list was part of a package I found on the internet and apparently is given out to high school seniors by the guidence departments at several public and private high schools nationwide. </p>

<p>All the Ivies
Williams
Amherst
Wesleyen
Amherst
Barnard
Bennington
Bucknell
Colgate
Dickinson
Gettysburg
Lafayette
MIT
New England Collge
Saint Johns
Smith
Tufts
Stanford
Union
Vassar
Art Center of Design
Bates
Bowdoin
Colby
Bryn Mawr
College of the Atlantic
Connecticut College
Dartmouth
Franklin and Marshall
Hamilton
Juliard
Malboro
Pine Manor
Reed
Sarah Lawrence
Springfield College
Trinty (Connecticut)
Wheaton</p>

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<p>Ops.. listed Amherst and Dartmouth twice... sorry.</p>

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<p>Juilliard gives performance scholarships based on auditions. Lafayette also has merit aid.</p>

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<p>Notre Dame & BC. They state that very clearly on their websites.</p>

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<p>Smith has about 10 major merit awards (the largest being half tuition), and more that are engineering-specific. But about 7% of the student body receive STRIDE positions in their first two years. These are paid research positions working with faculty that carry both funds equivalent to workstudy, plus $5k a year. The majority are in the sciences (Smith is a national center for molecular sciences), but there are positions in the social sciences and humanities as well (my d. had one). Some positions are grunt work; others offer very significant research opportunities and training. This year, Smith had 16 Fulbrights awarded to undergrads - more than HYPSM, Chicago, AWS, etc., and the majority are research Fulbrights, who are selected by graduate faculty committees. They had 14 last year - both years the most (for undergrads) in the country. Since the students at Smith are clearly NOT better on paper when they enter than at these other schools, something is happening on campus surrounding research that seems to be working, and I expect that a lot of them are won by the former STRIDE students (who receive merit aid.)</p>

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<p>BC has basically 15 merit scholarships that cover full tuition, and thats it. this means 60 people are on merit aid out of over 9000. Duke also gives very little merit aid, 45 merit scholarships per year.</p>

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<p>Franklin and Marshall definitely gives merit scholarships. From their website:</p>

<p>"Students in the top quarter of the applicant pool are usually recognized by the Admission Committee with appropriate levels of merit-based scholarship, regardless of need. "</p>

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<p>Chicago gives very few merit scholarships.</p>

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<p>Dickinson definitely gives out lots of merit aid. Practically everyone my daughter knows there has either the Dickinson scholarship ($15,000 /year) or the Benjamin Rush scholarship($12,500) On the website it now lists a 3rd tier of merit aid worth $7,500/year. In addition about 25 students per year are given "engage the world fellowships" to use with their scholarships. Basically the $15,000 is about 1/2 tuition. All of these scholarships are given based on GPA, SAT scores. They also give national merit scholarship recipients a supplemental $2000 scholarship per year if Dickinson was named the student's first choice.</p>

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<p>Okay. So lets add BC, Notre Dame, Duke, and Chicago to the NO MERIT AID list. Franklin and Marshall was not on the NO MERIT AID LIST. Until someone points out otherwise, let's assume any school NOT listed on the "NO" list, does indeed give merit aid. As far as BC and other places that give out merit aid only nominally...(60 scholarships for 9000 undergrads), I've got to believe what they do give out goes to steal admits from the Ivies. So.. unless your S or D has Ivy-like stats.. why bother?</p>

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<p>I am not sure about the accuracy and value of this list. Merit aid encompasses more than academic scholarships: athletic and artistic scholarships are also part of what is called merit aid. </p>

<p>Accordingly, a list that includes Stanford as relying on need based aid is highly subject. For the record, this is what anyone can find on the Cardinal web:</p>

<p>How many students at Stanford are on an athletic scholarship? ... Stanford offers about 300 athletic scholarships.</p>

<p>PS "Okay. So lets add BC, Notre Dame, Duke, and Chicago to the NO MERIT AID list." Duke? Coach K without scholarships? Okidoki!</p>

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<p>Not sure which "Dickinson" the list refers to but the one in NJ does give out merit.. not sure about the one in PA.</p>

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<p>Stanford is on the no merit list because the list does not classify "athletic" scholarships as merit scholarships..</p>

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<p>This list is probably no better or worse than our Master List of Merit Awards or the Master List of Schools Known for Good Merit Scholarships. There's just so much grey area, and also a lot of confusion on the part of recipients.</p>

<p>For example my son got a $10,000 scholarship from a school. This scholarship was listed as need based both in the award letter and on their web site and had to be reapplied for every year. However, our EFC was over $65,000/yr - so clearly, this was not based on need. In fact, we had not applied for need based aid. So, how would you categorize that???</p>

<p>I guess my point is that the best you can do is glean information from all the lists on here. Some schools are very open about their merit award scholarships, others are distincly less so. Of course, it would seem that your odds are better at a school that is "advertising" their awards.</p>

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<p>I personally would not include athletic, URM, legacy or special talent scholarships as "merit." All those factors may (and do!) enter into a merit award, but scholarships designated specifically as such seem to be in a different category.</p>

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<p>"This year, Smith had 16 Fulbrights awarded to undergrads - more than HYPSM, Chicago, AWS, etc., and the majority are research Fulbrights, who are selected by graduate faculty committees. They had 14 last year - both years the most (for undergrads) in the country."</p>

<p>Mini, inasmuch as Smith's performance is remarkable and clearly indicates the school's unabated focus on landing this type of awards, the statistics reporting the Fulbright awardees are prone to statistical manipulations. Smaller schools love to present the ratio of awardees to total college body, others like to present the ratio between nominees and awardees ... the various variations being as endless. As such, I believe that your conclusion that Smith leads the nation in the number and ratio of Fulbright sent by instutions is misleading. There are non-LAC schools that have several times more Fulbright than Smith, and among LACs, there are schools that easily exceed Smith performance in Fulbright awards per capita, or ratio of successful applications. </p>

<p>You DO know who they are!</p>

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<p>Marlboro isn't right for being on the list. Well, maybe on little, but definitely not under "NO MERIT AID". In fact, I got a 10k merit scholarship from them (60th Anniversary Scholars or Leaders or something like that).</p>

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<p>I guess there is no accounting for the "creative" methods used by some schools to lure a desired applicant and thus the case with Weenie's S who got need based financing without either needing it (as determined by the college) or without applying for it. I wonder what they told the kid who actually had a low EFC and for whom need based aid was essential. "Sorry we gave it to a kid with a better app. and high EFC.. and by the way that kid.. he never even applied for it like you did. We just gave it to him" I would be interested to know the name of that school. </p>

<p>Since there are over 4000 colleges I think it would be easier for folks to be familiar with the 50 or so schools that DO NOT not give out merit aid, (or tiny amounts thereof) rather than all those schools that do.</p>

<p>Why pay the app. fee, write an essay, and in general waste your time and effort on a school that is not going to pony up the merit you need because.. they don't give merit aid. I suppose you could apply and leverage your acceptence to get more merit aid out of a school the family may actually be able to afford.. with help. I mean that is no less ethical then inferring you give merit aid, like for instance Union College. When I asked a Union College Rep specifically how many merit scholarships are available I was told, "More than one and less than a thousand" I mean they're gaming us .. right.</p>

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<p>Anybody else get merit from Marlboro? How many merit scholarships do they offer.. anyone know? I'll gladly take Marlboro off the list.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Okay. So lets add BC, Notre Dame, Duke, and Chicago to the NO MERIT AID list.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Wrong! Duke does give merit aid.</p>

<p>Merit Scholarships at Duke
Duke University offers a limited number of merit scholarships. All applicants for admission are considered for any available merit scholarship. Specific applications are not available or required. Most merit scholarship programs do not require that the winner demonstrate need; all merit scholarships are based on the student's academic and personal profile. Additional grant assistance will be provided to those students whose need exceeds the value of their merit scholarship. Currently enrolled students are not eligible for merit scholarship consideration.</p>

<p>Merit scholarships for incoming students are awarded through the Office of Undergraduate Scholars and Fellows (OUSF). All applicants for admission are considered for merit scholarships. No additional applications are necessary. If a student receives need-based aid in addition to a merit scholarship, the merit scholarship will be included within the body of the aid award, replacing self-help. If the value of the merit scholarship exceeds the student's need-based aid award the need-based aid award will be canceled and the student will retain the merit award.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.finaid.duke.edu/merit_main.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.finaid.duke.edu/merit_main.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>University of chicago</p>

<p>Merit Scholarships</p>

<p>College Honor Scholarships & University Scholars
Our honor scholarships are among the oldest merit awards in the country. Seeking to recognize applicants for their outstanding academic and extracurricular achievement, demonstrated leadership, and commitment to their communities, the College Honor Scholarship provides full tuition awards to 30 highly qualified entering freshmen. Scholarships are guaranteed for four years.
To be considered for a merit scholarship, simply check the scholarship box on the first page of the application for admission. Also, you should feel free to supplement your file with anything that will allow us to better understand your strengths. However, please send only duplicates of your work, since we cannot return originals to you. Additional materials might include slides of art work, research abstracts, creative writing samples or portfolios, or musical recordings. Scholarship winners who were admitted under the Early Action plan will be notified by April. All other winners will receive notification with their offer of admission. </p>

<p><a href="http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/level3.asp?id=444%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/level3.asp?id=444&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>marlboro College</p>

<p>New Students</p>

<p>Presidential and 60th Anniversary Scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic record, writing skills, standardized test scores and demonstrated leadership qualities. No separate application is required. All accepted students are automatically considered for scholarships by the Admission Committee. Scholarships are renewable each year, providing you have maintained a "B" average. To be considered for additional financial aid, you must have met our March 1, 2006 deadline for application.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.marlboro.edu/admissions/finaid/scholarships%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.marlboro.edu/admissions/finaid/scholarships&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>