<p>Barch programs (top 10) and receiving merit aid/scholarship (no need based) above $12k. Do these students have a high gpa and high sat/act scores? if so, could you give an idea about how high the gpa and test scores are. My D was accepted to top programs but didn't receive much merit aid, so I wonder what is the correlation between high gpa/test scores and merit aid. In case you mentioned portfolio, she got nice coments about her portfolio. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>What schools has she applied to? Different schools offer different merit aid packages.</p>
<p>Many of the top private schools offer no merit aid whatsoever. </p>
<p>And of the schools that offer merit aid, some place more emphasis on academic performance (GPA, test scores) but others place more emphasis on artistic/creative talent (portfolio) so there may or may not be the correlation you are looking for.</p>
<p>It all depends on the school.</p>
<p>thanks for your feedback. I think i need to ask my Q in a different way.</p>
<p>my gpa was 3.95 / 4 unweighted and my sat score was 2170 (with an 800 on math).</p>
<p>I got 10 grand a year Merit from NEU, but thats not really B.Arch. </p>
<p>My GPA is a 3.4 uw with loads of honors + AP’s at a highly competitive private school. </p>
<p>Nowhere else gave me Merit, but i know Syracuse does.</p>
<p>Congrats to OP’s D on her acceptances:D Sorry to hear about the lack of merit money:(, perhaps it’s just a sign of the economy. </p>
<p>I’d like to comment on this subject, but NOT about OP’s D, just the whole merit money for arch students and who gets it and why thing. I’ve often wondered how this really works. Making the decision on how much merit money to offer which applicants must be a very interesting process. -Or maybe it’s not, maybe they pull names out of a hat, lol- OK serious again, when I look at my son’s and his classmates’ merit offers (from selective colleges in general) I believe that it’s not as simple as highest stats get most merit.</p>
<p>I’ve heard lots about how schools try to “build a class” from the applications received, and would speculate that they offer the highest $ to those otherwise qualified applicants that they want the most to “fill a need”, whatever that need is for that year’s class. High stats at first glance seems like the number one factor, but I’m not so sure. Selective schools have a general population chock full of high stats kids, and the arch programs are so small that I bet they often overlook stats of some lower scoring applicants if that applicant has something else. Outstanding portfolio comes to mind, but again I’m not so convinced portfolio alone will bring in the $ offers. There are some very talented artists out there, both natural and trained who may not really be up to the rigors and trials of an architecture program, and I think the adcoms are on the lookout look for that. Freshman retention and graduation rates are very important to schools and I feel that may be something they’re worried about in arch programs. Speculating again I wonder what would be on an application that would indicate a students potential? The schools must have a goldmine of historic data telling then common threads to their most successful arch students. What is that magic mix?</p>
<p>at the most selective schools, they have so many qualified applicants that they select for whom they think will fit the culture of their school and like 4trees said, fill a need at their school. the bigger the need and the better the fit, the more scholarships are given. (of course there probably are gpa and sat requirements i would imagine)</p>
<p>It may help to really study the website and other brochures put out by each Arch School and analyze what their core philosophy is. The more a student fits into this forward thinking groove, the more they will be prized by a particular schools arch. department. If there are merit grants to be given, these kids are the leaders of tomorrow that will be pursued. </p>
<p>My S was offered the Fitzgibbon Scholarship at WashU (B.Arch) last year and went to the interview weekend, meeting the head of the Arch School and so many more. It was eye-opening to this mom, because I could see where his essays and supplemental material fit into their program. In addition, he took some liberties with the way he answered their prompts, breaking out of the box a bit. So it may have been his “creative” approach to the merit scholar application that caught their eye. Who knows? I will also say he had a high GPA and very high SAT and came from a top private high school, but then there were other kids from his HS who applied to WashU (one is now attending) who didn’t get the interview for the Fitzgibbon. Makes me think the essays were really important.</p>
<p>Hope this helps all who apply in the future.</p>