<p>DS has been admitted Early Admission (non-binding) to 3 schools. These were his safety schools, as much as that term can be used anymore. For 2 of them (one an in-state state U and the other an out-of-state state U), his stats are much higher than the 25th to 75th percentile. For the 3rd (out-of-state state U), he is competitive and in the range although on the high side. Basically, the packages we got were very small without a lot of information, and not any mention of merit aid (although for the 3rd school we do know that he did not make it to the level for consideration for their main merit-based program). All 3 have Honors Programs, which he is applying for, and we know those decisions won't be made for awhile. Literally, 2 of the 3 offers had just a letter and one laminated postcard type enclosure.</p>
<p>My question for others who have been through this process already is will he be contacted with more information? Is it likely that any of these schools will reach out to him in any way to try to influence his decision? Will merit-based aid be mentioned at a later date or should we assume it is off-the-table now?</p>
<p>Many times, the offer of merit scholarships comes with the acceptance. Sometimes, it will arrive a week or so later. You can call the admissions office and they will inform you of the policy for that specific school.</p>
<p>If your son’s stats are much higher than the average, I would call those schools to find out if he would be offered merit aid. My daughter was offered nothing with no admittance to honors program to our state school. When I called with, “what’s up with that?” They looked it up and said, “Oh, her school doesn’t rank, our computer program only select students in top 10%. To be eligible we’ll need a letter from her GC to let us know her approximate ranking.” Her package came soon after. I think if your son would go with higher merit money then they may also be more generous.</p>
<p>He should also receive information about accepted student visit programs. If you call the admissions office, also ask about the dates for those (if they are not already posted on their website).</p>
<p>a good way to check is to look at the individual college forum here on CC. For example, I applied to UPitt, and was able to find out that it’s usually an acceptance, two-three week period, honors college packet, two-three week period, then merit merit money. Also, calling up and asking never hurts</p>