<p>Uzbek21, my next door neighbor is friends with an admission officer at Wesleyan and another lesser known school. He gave us advice when we questioned "fairness". It's true colleges play games, bait and switch, dangling offers, they want the applications, etc. but they also get so many and numbers only are a part of it. It's silly to say I got a 4.2 and this person got a 4.1, I'm better....even SAT points do not seperate students much within a certain ballpark. You never know if it was an EC, essay,rec, the mood of the adcom, etc. that influenced it. Please don't take it personally. My son loved Clark, was above their stats, visited twice, interviewed, but they only gave him a small scholarship and no grants, etc. which he got everywhere else. Why could of been many reasons, but he luckily had another favorite and moved on, but I could tell he was surprised and a bit sullen. That's the way life is and college admissions will always be "unfair" to many.</p>
<p>He (she?) had a 2330 SAT and a 4.2GPA. That's not exceptional, but it's pretty good, and I think it warrants a nice merit award.</p>
<p>Debruns, please note that Uzbek is not talking of small differences such as 4.2 vs 4.1 or SATs in the same ball park. The GPA difference is like 4.2 vs 3.2 and SAT difference is like >2300 and <2000. Big differences in numbers. If such big differences don't count, why should colleges even call them merit scholarships and mislead the students into applying?</p>
<p>I don't know CollegeBound, but I know they want the most applicants applying. In this case, I would of called the school, and politely asked the criteria and disapointment in not getting the award. You never know what they will do. In my son's case, he was told at one school that awards for SAT's over 1300 went on occasion to students with lower if they wanted to do that....the student told us she didn't question hers, but knew it "wasn't by the book", especially if someone else didn't get it with better stats. So many things go into it, but if they say "ALL students with these stats", then you have a beef. And mistakes get made. Marist told my son if he was in a certain group, he would get half tuiton and they sent him an award of 1/4 tuition. We didn't call because he didn't want to go there, but the 2 letters conflicted. I would of called if he did.</p>
<p>my sister, with her 3.4 uw GPA, 60ish out of 180 rank, and 26 ACT score got a 7,500 a year merit scholarship to Luther College in Iowa. I guess they really wanted her.</p>
<p>With the stories of people like yourself, great stats, not even getting accepted to their first choice school...I would breathe...maybe as others have implied, you will be offered even more money in the days ahead as other determine they do not want SMU..then you will have the best of all worlds--your first choice-keep the poster--and a fin aid packet that works for you.Good Luck</p>
<p>uzbek:</p>
<p>you report on another thread that you have received substantially more merit money elsewhere. If so, before you reject SMU, I'd write a nice letter to Admissions/FinAid and ask that they review your case. Make it clear that your first choice has long been SMU, but the net cost of attendance is ~$38k ($45k less $7500) to your family (assuming no need-based aid). In contrast, the net COA of other colleges is only __ since they offered you a half/full-ride. Just let them know that you would love to attend SMU if your family could make the finances work out. At worst, SMU will not increase your offer. At best, they may. If they don't change the award, just say 'thanks for the consideration' and look at the more attractive offers.</p>
<p>Ok, so in the instance of a student who has to turn down a school that she loves and that treated her wonderfully, is it appropriate to send a note directly to the admissions representative with whom she dealt, or should it be mroe generic and included in with the response card?</p>
<p>It can't hurt</p>
<p>Over the past two days, I've received emails and two postcards from SMU, all telling me how much they love having me and inviting me to visit (again) and check the school out. </p>
<p>This is where Dean J's unsolicited courtesy lesson obviously applies. I will take the dean's message to heart. </p>
<p>But like many of you, I figured this process would come down to April 1st and weighing all the acceptances, rejections and financial aid offers, and that's what I have recommitted myself to do. </p>
<p>I think the lessons to be learned here are that admissions offices have a difficult job to do and that they are not perfect. Our disappointments may be real, but we need to temper them and behave appropriately. I am sustained by my true belief that when God closes a door, he also opens a window. </p>
<p>May you all find many windows in the weeks to come.</p>
<p>Just say something along the lines of Thanks, but I respectfully decline.</p>
<p>I had the same thing happen to me at our state school. I had dual-enrolled for two years, and was approaching junior status when I applied earlier this year. I missed the full-ride scholarship because me class rank was .16 short of the cutoff. I asked for an adjustment, mentioning that the ranking was not weighted, but they wouldn't budge. Even though I've spent two years on that campus, I refuse to attend it on principle. I completely agree that games are played in admissions, especially when it comes to financing. The problem is, there are both winners and losers in those games. For you and I, it didn't work out so well. </p>
<p>Just remember: there is always something new over the horizon. Move on and look at your other options. Ten years from now, it really won't matter.</p>