<p>Hi,</p>
<p>My D has applied EA to Tulane and is anxiously awaiting word from Gibson. Meanwhile I'm anxiously trying to figure out how to pay for Tulane, should she get in. I read in another thread about the different levels of merit aid (Founders Scholar, Distinguished Scholar, etc.), and was wondering if the National Merit scholarship that Tulane gives NM Finalists would be part of that merit aid, or in addition to that merit aid. In other words, if she got a Founders Scholar award, would she get an additional $2000 for Merit Finalist, or would it be part of the Founders Scholar award?</p>
<p>I hope I'm not sounding greedy or assuming she's going to get in, but her stats are pretty good (2230 SAT, unweighted GPA 3.9, 5 AP courses) and she would love to go to Tulane should she get in and get enough money for us to afford it.</p>
<p>PS - Fallenchemist, your posts have been particularly helpful to read, to someone like me who doesn't know that much about Tulane.</p>
<p>That’s why I do it, Crusoemom! Happy to help.</p>
<p>The NMF $2K is completely separate from those awards (yay!). With your D’s stats, assuming she completed the Why Tulane question and convinced admissions that she really would like to attend Tulane (doesn’t have to be her only choice, but more that she would seriously consider going if she got into a handful of similar schools as well), I would think she would get in and get a very high scholarship. But to stick with your example, if she got the Founders for $22,000 she would get that PLUS the $2,000 for NMF. The NMF is transferred separately to Tulane for the student $1,000 each semester and in the past, at least, the student can either pick up a check or have it applied directly against her Tulane expenses. In my D’s experience, the fall one usually comes around the first of October, the January one shortly after the Spring semester starts, like mid-January.</p>
<p>In addition, her chances for a full tuition scholarship (DHS, Paul Tulane Award) might be pretty decent, at least relatively speaking. They are tough to get for sure, lots of competition for a limited number of awards, but she appears to be a strong student. Certainly worth a shot. If she has strong community service background, there is also an award for that up to $15,000, and that can be added on to the merit money, up to full tuition.</p>
<p>And no, you are absolutely not sounding greedy. These are very legitimate questions and concerns. College is so expensive, and every penny (or one thousand $$) helps.</p>