visiting & merit aid

Parents Forum
1

<p>Did I read somewhere on this site that visiting and other contact might diminish your level of merit aid because they feel you have high interest to attend. Revenue management models determine the amount of merit you receive? Is this true for the majority of schools that give merit aid? I'm rethinking our visiting and registering online if this is true.</p>

2

<p>No. Probably not. How would they keep track?</p>

3

<p>No, it’s not true. Just visiting doesn’t tell them anything about your level of interest. Plenty of people visit who have zero interest in the school, but are just passing through the area or are just checking things out in a preliminary fashion. Schools only keep track of that as a way of reaching out to kids they might otherwise miss. They have you register so that they can get you on the mailing list, on the off chance they want you and you want them, they want to make sure you remember who they are. </p>

<p>Applying Early Decision can sometimes decrease your chance of getting merit aid because you’re legally bound to attend if they accept you, regardless of how much money they give you (though there are ways to get out of this, so I’m told).</p>

4

<p>It is true for some schools. Hard to know which. Emory is the name I hear most often tossed around. But if you show too LITTLE interest, they might reject you for being uninterested… a tough line to walk.</p>

5

<p>Think I will post this in the merit or fin aid thread and see if anybody has more information.</p>

6

<p>“Applying Early Decision can sometimes decrease your chance of getting merit aid because you’re legally bound to attend if they accept you, regardless of how much money they give you (though there are ways to get out of this, so I’m told).”</p>

<p>There’s nothing legal involved. If the financial aid is not enough to support attendance, you just say thanks but no thanks, but perhaps after an appeal, which sometimes works at some schools (though with some consortiums you may not get an offer from the others, but it’s moot, since you couldn’t afford them either).</p>

<p>Here is the Common App rule:

<a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>This may be of additional interest:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/education/edlife/strategy.html?_r=1[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/education/edlife/strategy.html?_r=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>I think that at some schools, visiting actually INCREASES your chance for getting merit aid, especially if you interview. If you interview they get a bit of a better idea about you and how much they might be interested in trying to convince you to come.</p>

8

<p>*I’m rethinking our visiting and registering online if this is true. *</p>

<p>I think there is no reason for concern…but if you’re still concerned then register under another name…or a younger child’s name…or your name…or your pet’s name.</p>

9

<p>

Hmmmmmm. Maybe you’d be safe …but what if the college in question is using facial recognition software? Huh? Didn’t think about that, did ya? :wink: </p>

<p>To the OP. Go. Visit. My kid visited a school 5 times and they gave her their top scholarship. Yep. She was “signed in” on the record all 5 times.</p>

10

<p>Ha Ha, I guess we won’t worry about being stealth. We’ll just be ourselves and hope for the best. DS is the youngest so now we are very concerned about merit aid.</p>