<p>If this helps clarify anything: Swarthmore, my alma mater, awards aid solely on basis of demonstrated need. Oberlin, on the other hand, awards 4-year “merit” scholarships, irrespective of need. I’m not sure, but I think a merit scholarship award is indicative of Oberlin wanting to induce a particular student to matriculate.</p>
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<p>…though I applied ED with no financial need (i.e., was guaranteed to matriculate), and got a merit scholarship anyway, as did at least a few other people that I know. So, I’m not sure what their logic is in giving out merit $$.</p>
<p>I don’t know about Swarthmore specifically, but a number of very wealthy (if somewhat less so these days…) supposedly “need blind” schools that do not to give “merit aid” also have lower thresholds for “need” - Harvard, for example, discounts tuition dramatically for those making $180,000 per year or less…that kind of discounting, aimed at attracting more middle-class students, is not all that different from the kind of discounting Oberlin uses with its generally small merit awards in the college, which are aimed not only at middle-class students but at increasing diversity and other goals. On the other hand, Oberlin is very generous to low-income students and has a higher percentage of Pell grant-qualified students than many of its peer schools. In the conservatory, where merit awards are probably usually more prevalent and larger than in the college, it reflects the intense competition for talented musicians, particularly on certain instruments, and it can be a significant factor in a musician’s choice of conservatory.</p>
<p>quaere: perhaps it is to avoid discouraging students with strong applications from applying ED, thinking they might do better in terms of merit aid by applying RD, and then winding up applying widely and not going to Oberlin after all. It is advantageous for schools with ED to get as many good applicants in that pool as possible. And maybe they just really liked you!</p>
<p>Don’t most schools award merit scholarships to students they really want? That’s what I’ve seen. I have to love Oberlin. They’ve awarded one of those four year John F. Oberlin Scholarships to my D even though much less selective schools did not offer her a scholarship. I have to assume that Oberlin really wants my daughter to become an Obie. When my D informed one of those other colleges that she was going to Oberllin and listed the scholarship as one of the reasons, the reaction from one college was shock. They couldn’t believe Oberlin gave her a scholarship because they didn’t think she rated one. The same school then asked my D if she would like to be re-considered for a scholarship. Why didn’t they offer her one from the beginning? </p>
<p>Here’s the other great thing about Oberlin merit scholarships: There is no minimum GPA requirement for each year. The college that backtracked and wanted to “reconsider” my D for a scholarship if she would go there stated all of their merit scholarships require maintenance of a minimum GPA—3.0, I believe—to keep the scholarship from year to year. There is no pressure to do that with a John F. Oberlin Scholarship.</p>
<p>I hope I become rich one day so I can make a massive 7 figure donation to Oberlin College, as a way of expressing my gratitude.</p>
<p>I got 9k in student loans. By far the biggest amount I was offered from any school; not worth it.</p>
<p>I received a 10k John F. Oberlin scholarship, but I doubt that getting it means that Oberlin wants me. If they didn’t give me this, wouldn’t they have to give me another 10k in grants anyway, to meet my need? Or else they could fill it with loans…which would be quite cruel.</p>
<p>Carleton, for example, only gives out need-based aid (except a small amount for National Merit); they say they don’t bother with merit aid since they want to focus on giving aid to the people who need it more. So families who have an EFC that’s slightly too high will probably have the most trouble paying. Oberlin, on the other hand, seem to spread out their aid (maybe leaving less for the people who really need the need-based aid). Look at how many people on the board receiving a John F. Oberlin scholarship.</p>
<p>Well, my parents don’t want me to go to Oberlin, so it’s pretty understandable why they wouldn’t bombard the school with calls. And I don’t have the time or the will right now to do that…</p>
<p>Where do your parents want you to go? By the way, Birdhouse, I read somewhere that Oberlin only gives merit scholarships to 13% of admittees. That puts you in an exclusive club.</p>
<p>Back on the topic of the Oberlin Waitlist, my GC called yesterday and asked for an update. The adcom said that they were currently counting the number of deposits they had received and they still were unsure of what would be happening in regards to the waitlist.</p>
<p>I posted an entry about the waitlist yesterday on Oberlin’s blog site (blogs.oberlin.edu) that you may find helpful.</p>
<p>Elizabeth, who posted above and is one of the members of the admissions committee at Oberlin (and by the way, has been extremely helpful throughout the whole admission process by keeping us updated on whats been going on), just posted this on her blog in response to a question regarding what the status of the waitlist was:
"At this point, we are still very much in wait-and-see mode regarding our waitlist, as we are currently pretty much on target in terms of our enrollment for the fall. We do still hope to take some students off our waitlist, but final availability will be determined over the coming weeks. I’m sorry I don’t have anything more definite for you, but we appreciate your patience as you wait to hear back from us. "</p>
<p>Looks like as of now, no one will be coming off the waitlist, it seems.</p>
<p>^
Only 8 came off last year, according to data posted by BassDad, earlier on this thread.</p>
<p>Do you think many people that commit to Oberlin are waiting on other waitlists? Somehow I feel that many people are not.</p>
<p>I believe Oberlin will use their waitlist. S was accepted there but declined because FA was not enough. During the whole admission process the staff was amazing and at the end even offered to review FA but son had already set his mind for another place. Great school, great people!</p>
<p>My D said “no” to some other great schools after she decided to accept offer from Oberlin. One of the other schools did offer to increase aid if she were willing to go there instead of Oberlin, but like your son, she had made up her mind where she wanted to go. </p>
<p>Before she accepted Oberlin, we did go back and appeal financial aid package, and they increased the non-loan dollars significantly. That sealed the deal for us. It was obvious Oberlin really wanted her as much as she wanted Oberlin.</p>
<p>Anyone heard anything about the waitlist?</p>
<p>Did you call the Office of Admissions?</p>
<p>Nope, sent an email to my regional rep but still haven’t heard anything back.</p>
<p>Heard back from the admissions office. They said pretty much the same thing, I don’t believe they have taken anyone off the waitlist so far and it seems as if right now they are either right on target or even slightly overenrolled. I was told that every year they expect that a handful of individuals will end up backing out from attending Oberlin if they get off of other waitlists, thus opening up potential opportunities for people to be accepted off the waitlist. I don’t know, considering that many of Oberlin’s competitors have already gone to their waitlists, I’m not very optimistic about Oberlin’s waitlist this year. I believe at this time last year, Oberlin had already gone to their waitlist. Honestly, i wouldn’t be surprised if it’s one of those unfortunate years where no one comes off.</p>
<p>At last report, Oberlin was overenrolled for next year. There is always some “summer melt,” but at present there are no plans to use the waitlist.</p>
<p>dave72:</p>
<p>What are the theories being discussed as the reason(s) for this year’s overenrollment? Did this happen last year or the year before? Is the college’s popularity increasing? Is it the economy?</p>