<p>Probably. A lot of strong students are beating down the door to go to WUStL as its reputation and yield grow (e.g. eliminating ED II).</p>
<p>"Probably. A lot of strong students are beating down the door to go to WUStL as its reputation and yield grow (e.g. eliminating ED II)."</p>
<p>But that's the whole chicken or the egg conundrum - would WashU's reputation and yield have grown to where it has w/o such use of merit aid?</p>
<p>I am not sure what difference it makes. They are upfront about the merit aid (it is listed on their website and anyone can apply for it). I am sure it has been a major factor in attracting students from other top schools (I know of quite a few who chose WashU over other so called higher ranked schools as a result of merit scholarships). I also know of quite a few students that financially could not have chosen WashU without a merit scholarship. Most of the merit scholarship students that I have met at WashU are financially either middle middle class (if there is such a thing) or below. Too much money for significant financial aid & too poor to afford WashU without mortgaging the parents retirement or the kids future. So where is the problem?</p>
<p>K&S, It seems you put all the financial aid in the same sac, there are not that many merit scholarships for those that do not apply for financial aid or it was denied. Check at the web pages, there are just a few full tuition and a little more up to half tuition but a very small percentage gets something, and the student has to apply for every one of them with more essays and recommendation letters, it is not that easy to get a merit scholarship.</p>
<p>There's a reason why schools known for reserving a large portion of their institutional student aid for merit aid have reduced them recently - the UoRochester recently reduced its merit awards from 40% of institutional student aid to 17% due to criticism by educators.</p>
<p>Before this reduction, 36% of students at the UoRochester had merit awards.</p>
<p>Who knows if WashU's nos. are similar to that at UoR, since WashU refuses to release these figures - but there has to be a reason why the university won't release this info.</p>
<p>k&s: You keep referring to merit aid as though it were a bad thing, something that somehow shouldn't be allowed. Not to be repetitive, but not everyone agrees with that view. Besides, go back a few more years and you could ask that same question about Duke. It's pointless to beat that horse. </p>
<p>I agree with warbler, mainly because my S is a good example. He chose to bring his NMF status, 35 ACT, top 2 percent of the class, credentials to WashU over other excellent colleges (including better visiting locales such as Northwestern and Berkeley) without the enticement of merit aid. He just felt it was the best fit for him and we agreed.</p>
<p>*"k&s: You keep referring to merit aid as though it were a bad thing, something that somehow shouldn't be allowed. Not to be repetitive, but not everyone agrees with that view. Besides, go back a few more years and you could ask that same question about Duke. It's pointless to beat that horse." *</p>
<p>I'm hardly the only person saying that - a lot of educators have criticized the practice as well.</p>
<p>As for Duke, etc. - 20-30 merit scholarships are a drop in a bucket compared to a school reserving 40% or so of its institutional student aid for merit scholarships.</p>
<p>At the risk of being repititious here, when it comes right down to it, WashU gives out only a small number of merit scholarships --about 20 full tuition ,50 half tuition, and 16 $2500-3000. In fact, there is even a CC thread of people bashing WashU because they encourage people to apply for the merit scholarships but have so few of them!</p>
<p>K:</p>
<p>I think you missed my point. Go back some years and look into how much Duke gave out in merit scholarship to improve its student body as part of its own climb out of regional status and into national prominence? Now that it is well established in reputation, and with the Research Triangle as an added attraction, perhaps it does not need to provide the same level of enticement. Perhaps WashU will come to the same conclusion down the road. To me, it doesn't matter. A private institution should use its resources as it sees fit for the good of the university as a whole. If that means using money to give price breaks to top students who might not choose to attend otherwise, so be it. I don't see the problem with WashU rewarding academic merit the way other universities hand out athletic scholarships. And how do you know that a large part of that 40 percent doesn't go to people who have need? As in, they need the scholarship to go to a private college.</p>
<p>It's true what jazzymom just said, many kids need that help; otherwise they are stuck in other schools that offer a better aid package.</p>
<p>WashU is actually in the county of St. Louis, not the city of St. Louis. The city and the county are considered two separate legal entities, each with their own government, police, etc. The greater St. Louis area has much to offer college students. There is a lower cost of living as compared to many other large metropolitan areas, many cultural things to do, great parks, the downtown area is improving all the time. St. Louis has vibrant ethnic neighborhoods and a wide variety of restaurants. Overall, most of the country is not aware of the many good things St. Louis has to offer. Many students that attend WashU for undergrad actually choose to stay in St. Louis for graduate school. Many discover what a hidden gem the city is and stay. WashU is an outstanding school that has only been getting the national attention for a few years, even though is has a long history in the midwest.</p>
<p>I will probably never get all the WashU hate on this board...but quite honestly, this whole thread has gotten pretty retarded. So they're cutting their class size...so what? I seriously doubt they'd want to bring upon this horrible reputation that y'all have given them even more.</p>
<p>The fact the person who started this thread instantly jumped to conclusions that this was a plan to increase their rank just shows how ridiculous the posters on this board have become.</p>
<p>momstl4, i am almost positive that washu is in proper st.louis. it is right on the edge bordering clayton to the west and u city to the north...even the address is One Brooking Drive, St. Louis MO</p>
<p>it's up two blocks and then a left...</p>
<p>manjaap, Wash U is in St. Louis County (this county goes beyond MO and into IL), not in St. Louis City but in one of its neighborhood cities. As everybody else, I thought the area was horrific until I went there and I liked very much. Clayton is a pretty city with beautiful parks, many good hotels and nice shops and restaurants. Wash U is not the only university in the area. As I tried to explain to redcrimblue, the is no more land to be annexed, just across from South 40 there is another university campus. On the north side, there are many old Victorian homes (every week you could see tours visit them because their rich architecture and beyond that, a street full of restaurants, shops and entertainment.</p>
<p>"Clayton is the county seat of St. Louis County, Missouri, part of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. The population was 12,825 at the 2000 census. The city was organized in 1877 and is named after Ralph Clayton, who donated the land for the courthouse. Clayton has a highly rated public school system, possibly connected to its comparatively high real estate values. Clayton is home to Washington University in St. Louis, Fontbonne University, and Concordia Seminary of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod."</p>
<p>manjaap - WashU is in the county of St. Louis, in all of St. Louis county you can use St. Louis on your mailing address as well as in the City of St. Louis.</p>
<p>"At the risk of being repititious here, when it comes right down to it, WashU gives out only a small number of merit scholarships --about 20 full tuition ,50 half tuition, and 16 $2500-3000. In fact, there is even a CC thread of people bashing WashU because they encourage people to apply for the merit scholarships but have so few of them!"</p>
<p>Is there a source for these figures? If that's the case - I wonder why the administration is so secretive and won't release this information to journalists?</p>
<p>"I think you missed my point. Go back some years and look into how much Duke gave out in merit scholarship to improve its student body as part of its own climb out of regional status and into national prominence? Now that it is well established in reputation, and with the Research Triangle as an added attraction, perhaps it does not need to provide the same level of enticement." </p>
<p>And I have no problem criticizing Duke for having engaged in the same practice (not to mention, a no. of others).</p>
<p>"And how do you know that a large part of that 40 percent doesn't go to people who have need? As in, they need the scholarship to go to a private college."</p>
<p>And how do you know that a large part doesn't go to those people who don't?</p>
<p>For students w/ top qualifications and who come from low to mid-income families - there are better ways of doing making sure these types of students are helped (such as waiving tuition to all students admitted whose family incomes are below say $60/70k)</p>
<p>k&s, apparently not a big fan of using the quotes... (big bold fan)</p>
<p>Well, k&s, this topic has kind of reached dead-horse status for me. But I would like to point out that the 40 percent figure is hypothetical in regard to WashU. I repeated it off a post (yours I think) before realizing that it was originally attributed to a different university and was attached to Washu with no factual basis. So let's drop the 40 percent reference because it simply is not accurate as far was we know.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Well, k&s, this topic has kind of reached dead-horse status for me. But I would like to point out that the 40 percent figure is hypothetical in regard to WashU. I repeated it off a post (yours I think) before realizing that it was originally attributed to a different university and was attached to Washu with no factual basis. So let's drop the 40 percent reference because it simply is not accurate as far was we know.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Uhh, I have NEVER stated that the 40% figure applied to WashU - we just don't know since WashU's admin doesn't release those figures (but that does make one wonder WHY the admin is so secretive about it).</p>