<p>My son has been accepted to 4 of 7 schools and is waiting to hear from the other 3. One school that has already accepted him offered him a large (but not big enough) engineering scholarship with the condition that he has to give them an answer by the end of Feb. He won't hear from the Ivies until end of March. This same school also invited him to apply for the President's Scholarship, but we won't know about that until after the engineering scholarship response deadline. I think I should call the engineering department and see if they will put off the deadline until we hear from the U's FA dept. Anyone else have a similar situation and/or suggestions?</p>
<p>My inclination would be to do this by e-mail so that, if you are successful, you have a written record of the scholarship deferment, and a clear statement of its terms. However, it should be clear that the school is doing this with the intention of getting the student to commit early, so you should emphasize his interest in the scholarship school, inability to commit without comparing offers, etc., and keep them interested. It's a bit of a shell game.</p>
<p>Would he be happy at that school? Could they help prepare him for a career, or can only an Ivy do that? I recommend you consider that this is a negotiation. Yes, they want u to commit quick. You want a bigger scholarship........ hmmm do you see a counteroffer here?
Be polite, and don't negotiate if you don't want this school. Maybe you can come to better terms? Maybe you can seek an extension of time? Is student really interested, but the coa is too high?
If they see him as a particularly valuable student, perhaps they will do better than their first offer?</p>
<p>That's the $1m question. Do I let them know we are waiting to hear from the Ivies, we are waiting to hear from the U Pres Scholarship, or both? He is a National Merit Finalist so that should an ace, but nothing is for sure.</p>
<p>younghoss - He would love to go to this school. We did the proverbial college road trip this summer, visited this school, and put it near top of the list. The two Ivies are his top choices, but this school comes in near the top. It is out of state for us so my S is going to need pretty much a full ride to attend. I just want to make sure I negotiate intelligently so I don't blow it for him. Of course, the flip side of this is that there is no way I can afford to send him there without a full ride (or close to it).</p>
<p>I thought I recalled a discussion of this issue by carolyn. If you are new to these boards, you may not recognize that name; but she is one of the very most knowledgeable of cc's long time posters.</p>
<p>This thread is a couple of years old or more, so you will want to check that it is still relevant. But I believe you have the right to wait for decisions from all schools before having to respond.</p>
<p>Thanks for the tip. I did a quick look at the link and it seems to talk about admissions deadlines. I wonder if things are different for a scholarship deadline. Anyone know? The other problem my S has is that he put undecided on his National Merit App and won't send in his card stating his first choice until we have the FA secured for the college he will list on his NM card. I don't want him to play his cards too early and blow it for a NM Scholarship to another school. This seems like a very tricky game. I would hate for him to lose this eng scholarship opp especially if this opp combined with the U Pres Scholarship would pay his way to this school. Feels like we should tread lightly, but firmly.</p>
<p>Here's the direct link to the "Students Rights and Responsibilities" portion of the NACAC website--which applies to you and your son. The section you need is on page 2 on the left hand side. It does discuss the fact that it applies to financial aid there.</p>
<p>"When You Are Offered Admission:
• You have the right to wait until May 1 to respond to an offer of admission
and/or financial aid.
• Colleges that request commitments to offers of admission and/or
financial assistance prior to May 1 must clearly offer you the opportunity
to request (in writing) an extension until May 1. They must
grant you this extension and your request may not jeopardize your
status for admission and/or financial aid.
• Candidates admitted under early decision programs are a recognized
exception to the May 1 deadline."</p>
<p>Unlike carolyn--and others, I don't know how binding this is for each college--or for the particular college offering you financial aid. Also, I'm sure it isn't binding relative to negotiating for more money.</p>
<p>Okay, I just took a few more minutes to read jmmom's link. Here is what I found out at the NACAC website:</p>
<p> Colleges that request commitments to offers of admission and/or
financial assistance prior to May 1 must clearly offer you the opportunity
to request (in writing) an extension until May 1. They must
grant you this extension and your request may not jeopardize your
status for admission and/or financial aid.</p>
<p>Not sure if this applies to merit-based scholarships, but I will send a request in writing and try to get the eng scholarship deadline extended. </p>
<p>Thanks all for your help!</p>
<p>Thanks also to Calcruzer.</p>
<p>I suspect the school wants to hear from those who will definitely decline the scholarship so that they can reissue the award.
Does the letter say that you must reply by the preferred date or the scholarship will be withdrawn?</p>
<p>The letter says, "The College of Engineering requests notification of your acceptance or declination of the Engineering Scholarship of Honor offered to you. Please indicate your decision and return this form by 27 February 2009."</p>
<p>If my S accepts this offer does this mean he is accepting admission to this U?</p>
<p>From another location on NACAC's site, it is clear that merit aid is a sub-set of financial aid, so the student rights would apply in the case of merit scholarship awards.
[quote]
Financial aid packages can contain any combination of the three basic types of aid: loans, grants and work-study:</p>
<p>Loans may come from the federal or state government, from the college itself, or from other sources. They must be paid back by you or your child (depending on the type of loan). One common type of loan, the Stafford Loan, is subsidized by the federal government. As a result, your child doesn't have to begin making payments on this type of loan until several months after he or she is out of college.
Grants or scholarships may also come from the government, the college, or other organizations. They are gifts and don't need to be paid back. Need-based grants are based solely on your child's financial need. Merit-based grants or scholarships may be given to students who have special talents or achievements in some area (such as academics, sports, music, or leadership).Merit scholarshipsare not limited to students who have financial need, although they could make up part of the financial aid package for students who do have need.
**Work-study **requires your child to work part-time at an on-campus job once he or she arrives on campus. This aid is given directly to your child in the form of a paycheck. Usually, it is up to your child to find a work-study job—although the financial aid or other office will often help to place students.
Each college's financial aid package will have different proportions of loans, grants and work-study. You and your child need to analyze each package to decide if it is affordable for your family (details on that later).
[/quote]
A</a> Parent's Guide to Financial Aid</p>
<p>D was offered a merit scholarship to a school to which she was accepted. She had not made up her mind where she would go as yet. The school told us that accepting the scholarship had nothing to do with accepting their offer of admission, and if we did not accept the scholarship in a timely fashion, it would go to someone else. Needless to say, we accepted, then she did not go to that school. Hopefully, someone else was able to use the funds.</p>
<p>
[quote]
there is no way I can afford to send him there without a full ride (or close to it).
[/quote]
Given this, make sure you understand what FA he'd be likely to get at the Ivies he's waiting for since to my understanding, the Ivies don't offer merit scholarships.</p>
<p>If he's interested in engineering, some of the Ivies might not be the best school for him.</p>
<p>My S carefully researched the schools to which he applied, and we visited most of them last summer. Two years ago he took classes at one of the Ivies, so he knows he'll be happy there. He tends toward the research/theoretical side, so the two Ivies he picked will be perfect for him. We've done a financial aid assessment at each school and he should be elgible for a free ride to both. That's what is so funny about all of this. It will be a free ride for him at the Ivies, but we may not be able to get a free ride for him at the state schools. It's not a slam dunk that he will be accepted at the Ivies, so we are trying to cover all bases.</p>
<p>^^ That sounds good and you're right, sometimes a private can be less expensive than a state school depending on circumstances.</p>
<p>I just talked to the eng scholarship office and the U FA office. U FA office said accepting the eng scholarship is NOT accepting admission to the U. Eng scholarship office asked us to send an email requesting an extension. They don't want us to send an acceptance of their offer until we are sure we are coming to the U. Lesson in all of this: Call the U and the College offering the scholarship to find out procedures. Also got a personal email address for the eng scholarship officer, so I know our request for an extension won't get "lost in the mail".</p>