<p>Whoop-de-doo, this article won’t have any effect on 75% of the people who are applying for college right now.</p>
<p>Why can’t people realize that selective college admissions is something that applies to very few people? For its lack of relevance in society, people sure love to bring it up a lot.</p>
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With 1.3 million people taking the SATs and going to college, if it even affects 10%, that means it affects 130,000 people. When you add up all the applicants at the top tier schools and discount for the multiple applications per applicant, it could well be 100,000 or more who are affected, not exactly a drop in the bucket.</p>
<p>Great article, perhaps the most truthful expose I have read recently. Wake up people. Higher education is big business. In the end, most people are purchasing an experience more than anything else. Find the best fit for your child that is the best fit for your wallet.</p>
<p>Some merit scholarships do have a component of need, because they are endowed scholarships & those are the terms of the scholarships. They ARE for merit … but the merit is limited to those with need. In addition, many schools do not have any aid that is not need-based … and even though these schools are very upfront about it, people do not take heed. For example, you may pick up a catalog in which many scholarships are listed. In this same catalog, you may read that the school does not offer merit scholarships. Huh? Well … the scholarships are awarded to students with need, and they may well be the equivalent of a merit scholarship for this group of students. </p>
<p>When I attended elite-school recruitment events, the adcoms did mention that they only have need-based aid. Yet I still heard parents discussing among themselves people they “knew” who got scholarships to this school, so somehow they still weren’t taking the adcom’s words to heart.</p>
<p>interesting read.</p>
<p>kelsmom: My point exactly. No matter what you may hear from others (including guidance counselors), it’s important to do your own research and ask the right questions based upon your particular circumstances. And as far as “knowing” that a student (other than one’s own S or D) received a “merit” scholarship at whatever school, I think it’s pretty much impossible to know what’s actually true versus a fictionalized account. Virtually no one is willing to disclose their true financial circumstances (which is understandable due to privacy concerns) and I would be willing to bet that most people would prefer to have others think that their child’s financial need based “merit” scholarship was actually awarded solely on merit.</p>
<p>Falcon, I have to agree with Erin’s dad. Older son applied last year and was offered several merit scholarships and we didn’t file FAFSA or apply for any FA. Younger son is applying this year and he called/emailed several schools to ask that question. The responses so far have been that the merit scholarships are independent of financial aid decisions. There is no universal policy so it obviously depends on where you apply…</p>
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Correct. And the people that are reading Forbes magazine may be the population whose kids may be targeting these schools.</p>
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<p>This audience here comprises mostly members who woke up a long time ago, and can dissect the so-called truthful exposes to their bare essence. </p>
<p>I hope you will have the opportunity to read a lot more about the subject and learn to recognize the charlatans and shills.</p>
<p>I just joined CC in May of this year so we were blissfully naive as to the whole process with our older son, using our own out-dated experiences from 30 years ago which luckily worked out in the end. Since joining, I have learned the nuances of the admissions ‘game/business’ and we ( parents and applicant) developed a strategy as to how to approach it this time. We’ll know in about six months whether it was successful or not…</p>
<p>Cool stuff. I’m guessing being a URM counts as a hook by the article’s standards?</p>
<p>xiggi-its nice to see you still contributing to CC-I havent been around in a while but I appreciate your input when I do check in.</p>
<p>and falconmom-I suspect you are correct. there were a handful of exceptional abilitied lower income athletes “recruited” to our private HS-they each claimed to their peers to be on scholarship. We absolutely did not do scholarships and they were simply on financial aid. who wants to admit they cant pay their own way?</p>
<p>I do think this is for prestigious colleges, at least the snootier ones. </p>
<p>Take Lawrence University for example. It’s test optional, but not just for non-athletes, for EVERYONE.</p>
<p>So many great schools go ignored because of lower prestige -_-
It drives me insane.</p>
<p>Informative read, thanks!</p>
<p>And my first post is…
That’s what I was thinking. Well said</p>
<p>…there it is…</p>