<p>"“I received no merit-aid offers from UW-Madison or Carleton College either. I suppose I am upset about this as I was always told that working hard in high school would net me merit aid, which is not coming through for me nor my friends with similar situations.”"</p>
<p>I know that this is commonly said amongst people who dont know any better, but truthfully, merit is rarely awarded for “working hard in high school.” Yes, a strong GPA is needed, but with so much grade inflation out there (tons of kids with high GPAs), that isnt used for merit awards…test scores are.</p>
<p>That said, many top schools have no need to award merit for top scores because nearly all of their students have top scores…so everyone is deserving. lol</p>
<p>If you wanted merit than you needed to apply to the schools that give merit for your stats.</p>