<p>Someone just told me this last night. I was just curious if it was true. It doesn’t seem fair, especially if you go to a very competitive high school. Anyone else heard this?</p>
<p>I assume we're talking merit and not need-based, need-based not being based on class rank as far as I'm aware.</p>
<p>Here's the list, including what qualifications OSU has specified:
<a href="http://undergrad.osu.edu/merit.html%5B/url%5D">http://undergrad.osu.edu/merit.html</a></p>
<p>I suspect that class percentages are not a hard-and-fast rule but more of a guideline. I also attended a very competitive high school with a lot of APs, where a 4.0 put you around the top 11%... but I would be surprised if that disqualified someone from receiving a scholarship. Notably, my school didn't officially rank because of this fact. Does yours?</p>
<p>Thanks for the link. I just read through it and it appears to be true.</p>
<p>Maximus Top 3%
Morrill Top 20%
Provost Top 10%
National Merit Top 10%
Trustee Top 20%</p>
<p>The only one that doesn't require a top class ranking is the National Buckeye Scholarship. And guess what?! It's for out-of-state students.</p>
<p>Yes - but you didn't read (or mention) the second part of my post, which is that the 20% "requirement" may not be a hard rule. If you have a GPA in the high 3s, which is what is typically required to be competitive for a grade-based merit scholarship, my hunch is that I wouldn't worry so much. Or you could perhaps call financial aid.</p>
<p>This boy's parents did call the fin aid dept. and that was the first time they heard about this "20%" rule. The average ACT score for his small graduating class is 30 this year. He's got good grade. You would think he'd be entitled to some merit money.</p>
<p>I don't think the class rank rules are absolute. From the experience of seniors at my school this year (suburban Ohio), scholarships were mainly based on ACT scores, not rank. Some kids with good test scores but weren't in the top so-and-so% still qualified for more scholarships than kids in the top 10% with below-30 ACTs.</p>
<p>At the Maximus competition, there were a few kids who were sort of confused as to why they were invited because they weren't in the top 3% of their classes. Lisa Abrams (Honors director) said that it was because of how competitive their high schools were.</p>
<p>My brother received one of the mid-range merit scholarships without meeting the class rank requirement. He was close, but apparently because he went to a very competitive high school the requirement was waived.</p>
<p>I'm glad to hear this. That's the way it should be.</p>