I know that wfu offers a few highly selective full ride merit based scholarships (Carswell, Stamps, Graylyn, etc.) and wanted to know (if anyone themselves has received one, or if someone you know has) if they applied during ED or RD. It just seems to me that these scholarships would be offered as an incentive for a student to attend the school (but I can also see a school wanting to ensure that they aren’t offering a full ride to a student they aren’t even sure will attend). If anyone has any knowledge about merit offers for wake, or any other school please let me know !
I can help with this. My son is a WF '23 Stamps Scholar. He applied RD. I personally believe that they are more likely to award merit scholarships as enticements to attend than to those who apply ED.
@hello_you Congratulations on your son’s achievement. Outstanding! Perhaps you can share some info describing your son, what made him competitive for the scholarship etc. (if you are comfortable with that) so others can have a barometer to gauge the type of student who might receive merit aid at Wake. If not raw stats, what stood out for your kid? A lot of “Excellent Average” kids attend Wake defined by high stat, vals / sals, class presidents, sports captains, club leaders, etc. These kids are all excellent, so what makes the scholarship winners different?
I agree with post above. My DS ('22) has one of the big 3 as well. Applied RD and also was accepted to a number of other “elite” schools. The big merit scholarships appear to be recruiting tools to bring in kids who would otherwise go to “elite” schools (I hate that term). Basic stats; 36 ACT, 10 APs all 5s, Eagle Scout, athletic captain, student government, valedictorian. He did optional interview and felt after interview that he might be a candidate as interview went exceptionally well. Loves WFU by the way, students are friendly and unpretentious.
To put some context to this for comparison, S’21 did not receive merit aid. He had a 3.9X (don’t remember - 2 B+s in high school) uw GPA, 14XX (I think it was a 1420), Senior class president, 4 yr Varsity Baseball - captain 2 yrs, School Ambassador, Link Mentor, voted best all around student by teachers and admin Soph - Sen yrs. NHS and all that stuff, top 10% of class, took 7 of 8 APs offered and did well on all of them, etc.
He was also accepted into several other great schools (no merit). Was accepted with merit to two schools most would consider next tier down.
He loves Wake. Most of his friends had similar stats. One of them received merit and I believe had a 36 ACT / 4.0. Really friendly , down to earth kids who are self motivated / driven to do well in life.
My DD had a 4.0 unweighted GPA, 1510 SAT, 3 AP’s (scored 5’s), took 100 level class at an ivy and got A+, (HS does not offer many AP classes) extensive leadership positions and volunteer hours, not offered any merit from Wake but was offered 1/2 tuition merit and honors program from 3 other schools, also next tier down.
He was a 36/4.0 white kid (not that it matters - he just isn’t a URM) that had two legit international olympiad awards and a few national awards. When I met the AO, he told me that my son was an great candidate, but he was moved by his writing. It’s anyone’s guess as to why they chose him over some fine candidates that didn’t win. He was accepted to a 5-6 “elite” schools, but with no financial aid. I am very thankful he accepted the scholarship from Wake as he now can use my savings for grad school. He is very happy at Wake thus far - it seems to be a great school.
@hello_you Wasn’t he the one debating between Wake and Stanford?