<p>kansasdemocrat - Not sure how you get to the conclusion you would have to pay nothing with that amount of merit aid. Not that it isn't great, it is. But the total annual bill from Tulane is similar to Wash U and all these similar schools: 35,000-38,000 tuition and fees, 9,000-12,000 room and board, books, etc. Generally 48-53K, Tulane comes in about 51K. So I think you would still have to come up with some $$. BTW, what is EFC? Sorry to be dense on that, seems like a should know that one.</p>
<p>EFC - Expected Family Contribution</p>
<p>Does anyone know why the Nemerov Scholarship finalists are invited to Wash U at different times than scholars weekend? Do all finalists for each scholarship receive awards, or is this another way to determine which students are actually granted the scholarships? ( I know I am just re-wording a question that has already been asked, but so far there has been no definitive answer.) Thank-you and congratulations to those of you who have been selected.</p>
<p>whodunit-
from what i've gathered, there seem to be several different weekends for finalists to arrive.
one of my friends was named a compton finalist and his weekend is from march 19-22; I am a moog finalist and my weekend is from march 26-29.</p>
<p>Rodriguez is also 26-29</p>
<p>ST2 - I am not "dissing" Wash U's scholarship programs, and I do realize that while Wash U and Tulane are very similar in many ways, Wash U is more competitive than Tulane. Certainly it is ranked higher in the surveys and has higher stats in most of the categories people use to track these things.</p>
<p>I guess having gone through the process with both schools, Tulane's scholarships seem more accessable and less narrowly targeted. What do I mean by that? Well, the partial scholarships ($17K-24K) are given upon admission, no extra applications required. $17K is about half tuition, and while I don't know how many of those and the 20K and 24K are offered, I know a lot that got offered 24K. So that is pretty generous. The other factor, the targeting, refers to the fact that with the Wash U scholarships they are either very focused towards specific areas of study (which seems to me to be a bit contradictory if the idea of a liberal arts education is to explore one's options and find one's passion). or towards minorities. Before anyone goes ballistic, I am not saying that the minority focused schalarships are wrong, I am just pointing out that it is the case. And as far as the Danforth that you mentioned, a student has to be nominated for that, you cannot apply for it. So bottom line, as I see it a non-minority student that thinks they want to study in the humanities, say creative writing or history, essentially only has a shot at one of 4 Mylonis scholarships for full tuition, otherwise the only thing available are partials, some of them extremely minor given the cost of tuition/room & board these days. $3,000 isn't going to do much. Compare that to Tulane, where if that same student is a top candidate, they will certainly get $24K, and they have a shot at 75 full tuition awards based on merit alone. At least I think it was 75 this year, it was 100 last year for sure.</p>
<p>Don't get me wrong, it is what it is and every school has their own philosophy as to how to handle the issue of merit scholarships, and that is a good thing. I was just pointing out the difference in how these two schools do it, at least. There are any number of top liberal arts schools that essentially have no merit scholarships, so I am thankful that these two fine schools do.</p>
<p>fallenchemist - Absolutely no offense taken - just ponting out the numbers. You are right about the Danforth being by nomination only. I would like to see more publicity for the Danforth, but it is what it is. I am not sure that I understand your statement "refers to the fact that with the Wash U scholarships they are either very focused towards specific areas of study (which seems to me to be a bit contradictary if the idea of a liberal arts education is to explore one's options and find one's passion). or towards minorities."</p>
<p>The three largest scholarships in regard to numbers awarded (Danforth, Ervin & Rodriguez) are open to all applicants and are not "minority" scholarships. Prior to 2005, the Ervin and Rodriguez were minority scholarships. That all changed in 2005 and now they are open to everyone and have a wide diversity of Scholars as part of each program. So a student interested in humanities has quite a few options when it comes to potential scholarships.</p>
<p>In regard to ability to "explore your interest", I believe that WashU is one of the easiest schools to do that in. It is very easy to change majors, you can transfer between any schools at WashU very easily, a student can take classes in any WashU school and a high percent of students double major with some very interesting combinations (eg. engineering and a social science). </p>
<p>The scholarship program has worked very well for WashU and has helped in creating a vibrant and exciting mosaic on campus. It has benefited both the "Scholars" and the university. As you stated, every school has their own philosophy as to what works best for them</p>
<p>ST2 - Thanks for the elucidations. I guess what it comes down to is what you said, Wash U could do a better job clarifying these scholarships. The Rodriguez and the Ervin descriptions are such that it just seems like they are targeting minorities without coming out and saying it that plainly, but I am glad to hear it is more open than that. To someone that is going through the process looking at numerous schools, and is from an area where maybe Wash U is not as well known, or at least as "top of mind", it looks like the Mylonis, Moog, etc. are very targeted to students in a particular area of study. So the contradictory part (maybe not the best word, hmmmm, let's go with seemingly inconsistent) is that students are not supposed to have to declare a major until the start of their junior year. So if you get a Moog thinking you will be a chem major and then decide to study Japanese instead, would you lose it? Probably not, of course. But it just seems odd to have high school seniors having to segment themselves that way when they look at the Wash U "scholarships available" page. Why not take all those scholarships and just have an open competition for them?</p>
<p>Trust me, I am exceedingly impressed with Wash U, it is a marvelous, marvelous school. I would pick Wash U before any of the Ivies, I think, for a number of reasons. I also totally agree with you that it is the ideal type of school to find your calling. I just think the scholarship setup should reflect that.</p>
<p>I wish it were that easy. Scholarships like Mylonis, Moog etc. (named merit awards) were established and funded with certain criteria. As you might immagine it is not easy to change that. As for retaining a scholarship - all merit awards are renewable for 4 years as long as the student is making satisfactory progress. Changing majors does not effect the scholarship. Once you have it, you have it even if you change majors or even if you don't declare a major. I hope that this clears up some of the confusion.</p>
<p>As a mater of interest - You will probably find that most students have changed their initial "major", or what they thought they were going to major in, at least twice before the end of sophomore year</p>
<p>fallenchemist:</p>
<p>About Tulane:</p>
<p>yes, the $24k will not cover the full costs of Tulane, obviously. However, when finaid is taken into account, I will have to pay little/nothing ($1-2 thousand at most); additionally, because of the merit award, I probably won't have to take out loans or do work-study.</p>
<p>"You will receive your Class of 2013 admissions materials from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions within the next few weeks." Does this tag line, towards the end of the scholarship notifications, mean that my son was definitely accepted? He is a Danforth finalist and has been selected as a James M. McKelvey Undergraduate Research Scholar. Both letters have this exact same wording, and neither come right out and say "You have been accepted to the WUSTL class of 2013." What do you think?</p>
<p>Ignore my last post. We found the sentence that says "Congratulations on your acceptance......: HOORAY!</p>
<p>the scholarships that were automatic (meaning that everybody is considered)...</p>
<p>were the decisions for those sent also? or is there still some hope for me?</p>
<p>No, only the merit awards have been notified regarding awards.</p>
<p>i received a letter yesterday from a professor commenting on the strength of my application and encouraging me to attend washu</p>
<p>do all scholarship finalists receive such a letter?</p>
<p>I don't think so... you may be one of the lucky few. I'm a Danforth finalist and have not received such a letter (perhaps it has not yet arrived, but I will assume I'm not getting one), but I was accepted ED, so I don't think there's really a point to encouraging me to come to WashU because I kinda have to? haha. Don't get me wrong... I love WashU. I would attend over any Ivy :) Anyway... my guess is you are of a select few, so congrats!</p>
<p>Does anybody know how many scholarships are given in the college of art?</p>
<p>what i meant is that there were some scholarships that you did not apply for seperately, are the decisions on those out too?</p>
<p>meaning, if i was rejected from the ones i did especially, and didnt get info on anything else, does that mean there are no chances for scholarship for me?</p>
<p>I would guess that they would give you decisions on those scholarships in your finaid package, if you are admitted.</p>
<p>these scholarships don't pay for room and board do they? just tuition...?</p>