I’ve read from previous discussions that recipients of Finalist in merit scholarships are notified in the first week of February that they will flow out for a weekend to interview, etc. Does anyone know if that is the same this year? I’m waiting to hear about the presidential scholarship for debate and am very anxious.
Can anyone CONFIRM that invites have already been sent out for Merit Weekend 2020 ?
I was trying to ascertain the same. There was a poster on another WF thread who says she was invited to finalist weekend already. It’s College Confidential so sometimes the information is valid and sometimes it’s a person who thinks it’s “funny” to post incorrect information. The only thing I can tell you that all the other universities which my daughter applied to have already sent out their invites for their scholarship interview weekends already, and based on when the other poster claimed to have received hers - it was within the timeframe all the other universities were sending out invites as well. Other than that, we are also waiting for information here. Weird because WF was the university sending out by far the most email communication prior to sending in an application and other than some information about summer session, it’s been silent since the application was submitted. Unlike some other universities we are waiting on, WF does not seem to have an admission’s blog to update students on the progress of reviewing applications or scholarships.
@imadetheputt The post I was referring to is in the RD thread by @Tvgirl8900 who says invites were sent out at the end of January. That is precisely the same week others we know received invites for scholarship weekends from other universities and my impression is she seems sincere.
Also, my daughter attended the Summer Immersion program at WF this past summer. She had a professor for who was very honest about the scholarship process there. Only 3% of students are offered merit aid at Wake Forest. That includes the Presidential, which is a partial and was based on an application for debate, dance, the arts, etc. I do not have statistics if you back that one out, and it’s really NOT a scholarship - it’s a recruitment stipend for a certain level of VERY HIGH participation in E.C.'s that is revoked if not met. For example, for debate they said that before a tournament a student might be expected to be involved in debate 40 hours a week - that’s a full-time job on top of classwork! The other scholarships pretty much go to either students they are trying to lure from Ivy League caliber schools (in between the lines, my student did not take or report SAT subject tests because none of the universes she is applying to require them - but the fact she did not report them to WF is a dead give-away to Wake she does not fall into this category.) The rest of the big merit scholarships have traditionally gone to students which fall into an underrepresented category that WF is trying to recruit - first generation college students, etc. Therefore, the chance of getting a significant merit scholarship from WF is very low compared to many other universities. Finally, my daughter CLAIMS that she was told that some scholarships are awarded after a student accepts - I’m not sure if this is true, and if it is I have no idea why such an expensive university would operate this way. We need to know about scholarships before making a decision. We are thinking it’s highly likely that mine did not get merit aid, which puts WF way lower on our list than schools that have already made her offers of merit aid. LOL - that’s assuming she is even accepted there!!! As she applied RD, it will be a wait to find out but I think she is leaning toward another option anyway.
Best of luck everyone!
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@rdrew2 and @imadetheputt After posting my comments above I received several additional reports (private messages) of students already receiving invitations to interview for both the general scholarships, off the application, and the Presidential at WF. Some people don’t won’t to post about such things publicly because they don’t want the pressure of having questions about if they got it or not, if the answer winds up being “not.”
From what these other people are saying, there were always 2 separate scholarship weekends in the past, so it’s possible that there still may be a later interview weekend to come. I don’t know anything about that. However, unless there are an awful lot of people lying about this, it seems like the first wave of invitations for scholarship interviews went out already. Sorry.
@OldTimer1234
Thank you. We have also heard the same via private messages.
I did hear that unlike past years of only 2 weekends of interviews that there is a potential for a 3rd weekend if spots are not filled.
Regardless, a long shot as we always knew it would be.
Wake is a wonderful school (my alma mater) and I just wish it was more financially feasible.
Good luck to all !
Are these candidates for the scholarships all regular decision candidates?
Thank you all for your feedback. I do believe all scholarships heard back besides the presidential regarding finalists. I believe some presidential applicants were reached out to for an interview that have not interviewed prior (I interviewed several months ago). I actually received an email from the presidential scholarship coordinator who said “Departments are still evaluating applicants for our Presidential Scholarship. Presidential applicants will be notified by mail, not email.”
Hello everyone. I called the school today: the first rounds of invites have gone out (2 weekends). There will be a third weekend in March (around 19-21). She said those invites would go out about 2 weeks before that date. Unfortunately, they only notify you if you are a finalist, unlike other schools that tell you either way. Guess another month of waiting!
When you called did you ask about general merit scholarship weekends or the presidential scholarship?
Those who sent me a PM that they received an invitation did not say which admission’s plan they used.
The information my daughter received from a WF professor this summer is that IN GENERAL, the full scholarship offers usually go to students who the scholarship committee feels they are either luring from “Ivy League or similar schools” or “underrepresented classes of students at WF.”
The professor did NOT say this, but my totally personal (no hard facts backing this) belief is that both of those types of students would be unlikely to apply to WF using a BINDING ED arrangement. The first group, because WF is likely an alternative to a higher ranked university (the scholarship is given to someone who’s stats/accomplishments well exceed the typical student at WF.) The second group would be less likely to sign a binding agreement because they likely need to see a full financial package before committing. This is also the case for the private university that my older student attends, it’s not that they are not looking at the ED students per se, but the type of student they use the scholarships to attract are more likely to be found applying RD. At her university (a T20) the general trend was way more RD students received merit aid than the binding ED students - but the general stats and accomplishments of the admitted RD students at that school, which they published, were higher than those of the students admitted ED as well.
NO idea if “Presidential” at WF follows that patten, other than the professor my daughter spoke with said that applying to that scholarship with a competitive application increases a student’s chance of acceptance to WF, even if not awarded the scholarship.
GOOD LUCK!
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@OldTimer1234 You hit the nail on the head. Doubt any ED candidates get these awards but I also think applying for the scholarship in ED shows extra interest in the school and could be a tiny bump. In the case of our D, who would be applying for the dance scholarship, it would show how she’s likely to contribute on campus and that could help her ED app.
I flat out asked Davidson when S was applying if any of their big scholarship recipients were ED in the last two years and they said yes. Wake and other schools that have very selective scholarships tend to say all candidates are considered on their websites but I still doubt it. Maybe they feel like they have to SAY they consider ED candidates so kids don’t dismiss ED as an option for them. Schools would rather have strong ED candidates than strong RD candidates. If a really strong student thinks they could still get merit via ED according to the website, they will still consider going ED.
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When I called I asked about merit scholarships, so I think that’s what they were referring to, not the presidential scholarships.
@homerdog My oldest attends a private T20. We asked the same question there, and got the exact same answer as you received at Davidson. Again, it’s not that I think they are literally disregarding ED students in their review process, but the students they are trying to recruit for general merit scholarships are just more likely to apply RD.
At the T20, maybe about 1 out of 100 students earning merit aid was from ED. Like Wake Forest, the specific school I’m referring to has two rounds of ED and admit about 50% of their class ED. HOWEVER, since she attends there now I can tell you that when we actually meet the students who received this aid in person either:
- They could have attended multiple higher rated universities - their stats/accomplishments were clearly superior to most ED admitted students - actually all admitted students. One such student had graduated high school an entire year early with a perfect 36 ACT, etc. She had conducted independent scientific research and then toured the U.S. presenting that research at conferences. This wasn't like something B.S. to just boost her acceptance chances; my daughter was working in a research lab with her and said it was absolutely astonishing, here was this undergraduate freshmen teaching the graduate students fancy, new lab techniques. That student applied RD or EA to all her universities and was deciding between Harvard, Duke, etc. and went where she got a full ride. There was no guessing why she received the scholarship - she was/is truly exceptional and still stands out as such on their campus.
OR
- The students were recruited for diversity statistics, but still had really excellent credentials as compared to an average admitted student to the school.
My oldest did apply ED to that T20, because that school was a “reach” for her. She applied for merit aid, but we knew it was a long shot and it did not pan out. However, I can tell you that after meeting recipients of that aid, no hard feelings and I don’t think my students was passed over because she was ED, I think she was super bright but not in the way students were who earned aid through #1 above, and was not looked at for #2 because of our background.
@OldTimer1234 Yes I believe all of that is true. With Wake, though, they have a dance scholarship and I don’t know how many kids are going to have D’s dance experience so I feel like there might be a shot there. Maybe they could find girls who have deep dance experience and also have perfect scores and/or are URM but it’s not just one big pool of students. They have to consider talent.
@homerdog Look, you never know exactly what these decisions consider. I notice you said “girls”, maybe there is a boy applying for the dance scholarship and their male-to-female ratio in the dance program is such that a male would help it be more balanced so that’s who they give it to? I do not have much inside knowledge of Wake’s inner workings other than what was shared with us last summer, so I really can’t tell you what they may or may not be judging for dance - I’m basically just putting it out there because this is not our families first college application experience and I’d hate for your family to think if your daughter doesn’t win the scholarship it is necessarily a lack of ability/talent. Seen it before - that they generally consider all kind of things before making an offer. With that said, I still hope it goes your way!
So did anyone get good news today? The merit scholarship notifications went out late this afternoon.
xxxx
Got reynolds!
How do merit notifications work if you apply regular decision? I believe we hear back regarding acceptance on 4/1 so if my son were eligible for merit would he still be notified prior to admittance? Thanks!