Today I just found out that scholarships and financial aid are two different entities; the former being based on academic achievements and the latter on your economic status.
is it true that the vast majority of the ivy leagues and most state uni’s don’t or rarely give out scholarships?
<p>Ivies do NOT give athletic or academic scholarships based merit - all their aid is based on you demonstrated need - they decide how to calculate that need.</p>
<p>Many state universities do give academic merit scholarships, some are only for in-state students, some are open to all comers. Some of the big name state unis, however, are like the Ivies and give mostly or only need-based aid, no merit aid.</p>
<p>You have to look at each school very carefully.</p>
<p>Public schools seem to offer merit aid primarily to instate residents- out of state residents they particulary want to attract and athletes for specific programs.
However it still seems to be relatively rare. My daughter for instance applied to 4 public schools one out of state. She was offered merit aid at the out of state school and at one in state school. She was well above the average statistics at all the public schools, but the merit aid was not enough to make it a factor in the decision.
Frequently competitive schools do not offer merit aid ( wink wink).
They may and probably do offer need based aid- oftentimes they will meet 100% of need ( with grants, loans and workstudy)
caveat- they will often use PROFILE and other info to determine your EFC. THis can work for you or against you depending on how much they want you. I have heard of schools offering need based aid beyond EFC to students they really want- and of schools offering less aid to students that they aren't so set on.
My daughters school only offers need based aid. They did not accept negotiations past her EFC- however they did offer a sizable grant along with her work study and subsidized loan
Always good to have a financial safety- so you can compare packages.</p>
<p>The wisest thing to do is to check the financial aid and scholarship sections of the web pages of the colleges that interest you.There you'll find their policies.</p>
<p>If $ is a concern, typically the first place to look is at your state's public universities, which may have merit scholarships earmarked for in-state residents. In addition, they offer lower tuition rates to in-state residents. </p>
<p>One major thing to keep in mind: State universities may give need-based aid on a first come, first served basis. Thus, applying early can give you a distinct advantage even if the universities accept admissions applications into the summer before entering college.</p>
<p>oooh thanks for all the new knowledge! </p>
<p>but I sometimes hear students with exceptional academic performance who received merit based aids... Do colleges sometimes make exceptions?</p>
<p>cangel, that's not entirely true with the Ivy League. Cornell gives out Phi Theta Kappa merit scholarships, and a few give ROTC scholarships.</p>
<p>as already stated, that depends on the school..the ivies and other elites aren't going to give you merit based aid no matter how good you are</p>
<p>"Public schools seem to offer merit aid primarily to instate residents- out of state residents they particulary want to attract and athletes for specific programs."</p>
<p>Not true in every state. I know in Oregon they give out a lot of merit scholarships, and need based aid. Not that our system is particularly prestigious or coveted or anything...</p>
<p>
[quote]
cangel, that's not entirely true with the Ivy League. Cornell gives out Phi Theta Kappa merit scholarships, and a few give ROTC scholarships.
[/quote]
.. mostly semantics but the IVY league schools themselves do not give scholarships although some students at the schools do receive scholarships. For example, the military branches themselves provide the ROTC scholarships and not the schools (at least that is the way it was in my day). The line between the school and the independent organization providing the scholarship can get pretty fuzzy but I'm pretty sure the IVYies themselves still do not give scholarships directly (other than need based stuff)</p>
<p>Nope, the Phi Theta Kappa scholarships at Cornell absolutely come from the university itself, not PTK. I don't profess to understand it, either, but that is absolutely the case.</p>