<p>How generous is SMU with merit based financial aid? </p>
<p>My son already has a full ride to a couple of schools a little further down the food chain, (Ole Mis and University of Alabama) and a generous though now quite full package from Baylor.</p>
<p>He should be a slam dunk for admissions with a 33 on his ACT, reasonable but not fantastic grades (3.63), and a strong EC package (two sport varsity letterman, worship leader in school and church, raised $15,000 for a local ministry by founding a 5K race.)</p>
<p>We aren't really sweating admission, but unless the numbers get at least comparable to Baylor, I think he'll be headed to Waco instead of Dallas. Any idea of the ranges they normally offer?</p>
<p>This is a great question. As I’m sure you well know, the more academically competitive a school is, the more competitive scholarship awards become. At SMU, the merit-based scholarship process is automatic*, which is great for students. The Scholarship Committee will review all admitted students for scholarship and make their awards based on the academic profile of the applicant pool. Last year, SMU awarded more than $88 million in scholarships alone and typically the top 40% of admitted students academically are qualifying for merit-based scholarship. The average scholarship and grant package last year was nearly $27,000.</p>
<p>SMU lists a number of their scholarship programs online, although the list is not exhaustive: </p>
<p>Cornerstone - $11,000 per year through 4 years
Founders - $15,000 per year through 4 years
Second Century - $20,000 per year through 4 years
Hunt Leadership - Full tuition and fees, less the cost of tuition and fees at the leading public university in the student’s state of residency through 4 years
President’s - Full tuition and fees through 4 years</p>
<p>SMU may not offer the exact same amount of scholarship as Baylor, but their offer might make the cost of attending SMU, arguably a more competitive and academically rigorous school, more affordable. Certainly there are long term advantages to investing in the kind of valuable degree and extensive alumni network that SMU provides its graduates.</p>
<p>Peruna – thanks for the response … I don’t think I have seen it explained nearly as clearly as this before. This also explains why SMU follows a traditional acceptance process versus a rolling one as SMU needs to see the whole applicant pool for a given cycle in order to apply whatever formula/algorithm is used (which I’m sure is hightly confidential!)</p>
<p>Just to let you know they awarded at least some of the second century scholarships and give an option to compete for presidential for at least me. I am declining the offer since I got a full ride (room and board included) to my top choice (Texas Tech). </p>
<p>That’s awesome you got a full ride at Tech! If you’ve made your final decision, be sure and let SMU (and any other universities you applied to) know that you are attending TT and are not planning to pursue their offer of admission.</p>
<p>If an applicant was accepted EA but did not receive a merit scholarship notification in the package, is it still possible he/she might be offered one later in the spring?</p>
<p>While SMU is very generous with Merit, It is nearly impossible to get a full ride at SMU. The Hunt is about your only chance. My son a few years ago had full rides also at other schools, the same ACT, intense ECs and higher grades than your son and did not get the Hunt. It’s gotten even more competitive since then. He did, however, end up with about 50% scholarship via various awards. Best decision he ever made - he’s now got a Wall Street job months before graduation making even more money than I do and SMU was key. Be sure to look at career placement and not just Aide when making your final decision. Good luck! </p>
<p>@jc40 It is possible that applicants may qualify for additional scholarship later on in the process, although this is not commonplace. If you have any major changes to your academic profile (the criteria that SMU uses to determine scholarships - test scores and GPA), consider contacting your admission counselor and updating them on your progress.</p>