SUNY Stony Brook
Leigh University
RPI
Boston Univesrity
George Washington University
Rochester University
Rochester Institute of Technology
WPI
Do any of these school offer merit aid?
Merit scholarships are typically awarded on the basis of academic, athletic or artistic merit, in addition to special interests. Some merit scholarships also consider financial need, but rewarding talent is the primary objective.
This means you can receive a “merit” scholarship, but it may not necessarily mean that they meet your full financial need or that you will receive a “free ride.” For this reason you might want to look at each school’s explanation. They change over time. The short answer is yes and no. They all say they offer merit scholarships.
This information was from the respective websites on 3/3/18. Click on the these addresses:
SUNY Stony Brook: https://www.stonybrook.edu/search/?q=merit%20scholorships
Leigh University: https://www1.lehigh.edu/admissions/undergrad/tuition/aidtypes/scholarships
RPI: https://admissions.rpi.edu/aid/scholarships-and-grants
Boston University: https://www.bu.edu/finaid/types-of-aid/scholarships-grants/merit-based/
George Washington University: https://undergraduate.admissions.gwu.edu/scholarships
Rochester University: https://enrollment.rochester.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/
Rochester Institute of Technology: https://www.rit.edu/emcs/financialaid/table_merit.html
WPI: https://www.wpi.edu/admissions/tuition-aid/types-of-aid/scholarships-grants/wpi-merit
Some colleges claim to meet financial need. US News list them at:
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2017-09-21/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need. I did not see any of your listed schools on this list.
When schools have a very strong pool of applicants, it is very hard to argue the “merit” of one student over a highly qualified classmate. Lehigh explains it well:
“Scholarships and merit-based awards are gift aid awarded to undergraduate students solely on a merit basis. When awarding merit aid, we take a holistic approach, looking beyond the numbers related to academic talent alone and reviewing what a student contributes outside the classroom as well as considering recommendations and personal essays.”
The key word here is “holistic.” It means it does not reduce itself to just matching numbers. Some schools are looking for a better male to female ratio or better geographic representation Even division III schools want to win a few more football games, but the scholarship won’t be tied to athletics participation.
A classmate in my small Division III school was recruited by the Big Ten for football, but wanted to go to his Dad’s alma mater. After a week of practice he gave up, announced he was not into football at that level and that he would happily continue his engineering studies. He did not loose his scholarship as it was not tied to football. If you are really good at ice hockey, RPI is interested. WPI likes to win, but does not play ice hockey at that level.
There are some schools which offer full tuition to students if they are awarded a national merit scholarship. You might want to read this scholarships article at: http://www.thecollegesolution.com/realities-national-merit-scholarships/
In the process of doing all this work, you may learn more about each of the schools. Best of luck!
:bz
Thank you so much