Would you all please be willing to give me some advice? My student attended a scholarship weekend and
was awarded a scholarship. The scholarship needs to be accepted in January, and it requires a promise to enroll
in August, 2015. My student really wanted to wait until all options were in which will be much later in the spring, but
without accepting the scholarship and signing that he promises to enroll-- that school would be off the table. The school
refused to extend the deadline when he called. Help! We want to be honest but also want to keep this school as an option. Any suggestions?
All you can do is ask if it can be deferred until April… but it sounds like you understand that the scholarship is a type of inducement to close the sale. Many small colleges “missed” their enrollment targets last year and will be working very hard to seal the deals this year. Another option would be to accept the scholarship then welsh if a better financial deal comes through. Messy and morally repugnant, but possible.
‘Welsh’ or ‘welch’ is a racist expression.
Along the lines of ‘gypped’ and ‘Jewed down’.
Never heard that before Madison…
cheat, rip off, chisel - deprive somebody of something by deceit;
My kid got,a similar offer when she applied in 2006. She called and said she was not prepared to make a matriculation decision until end of April and asked for an extension to that date. It was granted.
My oldest had one of those also and they reluctantly extended it until April but it took alittle back and forth (on my part.). Ironically he ended up not attending that particular college.
^^^There’s no irony here, @momofthreeboys. If his heart wasn’t set on that school, it made sense for him not to accept. The main reason schools that offer these scholarships have deadlines is so that they can offer the scholarship to another student if the original student declines. The money might make a big difference to another student.
You can’t have it both ways. The school doesn’t want to be your back up prom date, ready to take you if a better offer doesn’t come along. They want a yes or no based on what they are offering. If you aren’t ready to commit, then you have to let it go. If it is still there in April (probably won’t be), you can try to get it back.
I don’t see this as different than ED. The offer is made, and you can take it or leave it without knowing what else is out there.
I would have no problem saying yes to the scholarship (assuming you are genuinely interested) - and later canceling when all offers are in.
I’m sure they would like to lock you in, and want a definitive answer - but things change. Most schools when asked would allow you to answer later.
Schools know this will happen which is why there are waitlists. This is what happens if an offer comes in later that a student accepts.
Setting aside the ethical issues involved for a moment…
Does the college involved notify the high school? I know that some colleges requiire that the high school sign off on an ED application. Unless you turn down an ED acceptance when you get the fin aid package, you are committed to attend the school. The high school agrees not to send your transcripts to other colleges UNLESS you notify the college you are NOT accepting the offer.
Before thinking of accepting the offer and then waiting to see the outcome of other applications, make sure you high school isn’t bound by the agreement. (It may have to “sign off” that it won’t send your final high school transcript to any other colleges unless your S turns down the offer.) it is not unheard of for this to happen.
This is another example of the way the whole college game is played. Is it right or wrong? It doesn’t matter. College X is generously choosing to offer $$ scholarship to a few, select students. It is their money, their right to impose their rules.
The next step belongs to your student. Accept the known scholarship, or decline and wait for other college offers. Now is the time to weigh pros and cons. If student will not be able to attend college without a huge scholarship, you may need to go ahead and choose what’s been offered. If finances are such that you could juggle tuition with a lesser award to a school higher up on student’s list, then you graciously decline and move on.
We don’t always like the choices we are forced to make, but the great news is there are lots of good colleges out there where your student can succeed.
Best of luck to you as your student decides.
That’s one way to look at it. The other is that the college is “generously” agreeing to let you keep more of your own money by offering an unusual price discount – but only if you buy the car … ummm, I mean enroll in the college … today. The question is whether the deal is so good that you are willing to forgo further shopping. And the secondary questions are why the salesman won’t hold the price on long enough for you to shop some more and whether that might cause one to question the product.
@SomeOldGuy, well, the problem with that analogy is that a car salesman doesn’t really care who buys their cars, but many schools do care about the students that their scholarships reel in.
In that sense, this is more like a firm offering a job. Even if a job is a good one, a company may for good reason not want to wait several months for a candidate to accept their offer.
It seems that an extension is off the table so it really depends on your student’s personal circumstances.
How close is this school to the top and why? Why does your student really want to wait? What are his goals? How sure is he of them? What does this school offer? Why might other schools be better? How much does the money matter? What is the best safety and how far is this school from that one?
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/welsh says:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/welsh says:
Whether or not the actual origin of the word is based on an ethnic insult, you may want to be aware that it can be interpreted as such.
Did anyone read my linked article? Britain’s (now former)Secretary of Education caused a kerfuffle in a speech to Parliament when he used the ‘welshed’ expression.
Not surprising, since the Welsh ethnic group mainly lives in the UK. Perhaps there may be less awareness of such in the US.
The OED clearly does not associate the verb “welsh” or “welch” with any characteristic of people from Wales. It dates back much farther than 1905 – there are lots of examples from the mid-19th-century – and seems to have referred originally to bookmakers who absconded with the money wagered rather than paying off winners. That’s why the most common use is “welching on a bet” – failing to pay after losing a bet. It never occurred to me that this had anything to do with Wales or the Welch, although I suppose someone could have thought so at some point.
The OED is much more clear on the derivations of “jew” and “gyp” as verbs.
I don’t think non-ED schools are allowed to require acceptance by May 1st…and that includes those with merit offers.
Since they’re not playing by the rules, you can either accept and then decline later …or ask them for an extension by quoting the guidelines that their institution likely has agreed to.
Agreed. They are breaking the colleges rules (in the already stacked deck). Go up the chain and ask for an extension. Otherwise I’d accept the scholarship.
My daughter looked at several schools with top competitive scholarships offered to a select few. We read the invitation and information carefully, and I believe several schools stated that students would be notified of awards by XX date, and would have until YY date to accept or decline the award.
Again, it is the school’s money, and they are using that money to guarantee top students with top stats for their incoming freshman class. Very different from “regular” merit aid that can be doled out just based on stats alone, the school has invested time, energy and money to interview students and pick the ones they most want at their school.
It seems scary to decline a top award, but holding out until a better offer comes along keeps someone on a waiting list for that award from having that opportunity.