<p>Why do certain universities and colleges have deadlines (e.g. Nov. 15) that are earlier than the regular admissions deadline in order for students to be considered for merit aid? If the student is applying regular decision, what is the advantage to the university of moving earlier on the scholarship/merit aid front? Thanks.</p>
<p>Maybe the colleges find out</p>
<p>1) which students are more organized</p>
<p>2) which students are more interested in going to those colleges</p>
<p>Thanks, spurster. Anyone else with knowledge of admissions who could shed some light? My son asked me this question, and I did not have an answer other than speculation.</p>
<p>Some merit scholarships include interviews that typically occur in the late winter/early spring.</p>
<p>My kids’ college offers very generous assured scholarships, but they have a Dec 1st deadline for application.</p>
<p>that’s probably to have some kind of control over how many scholarships are offered. This fall, over 500 freshmen qualified for free tuition by applying by Dec 1st. If there weren’t a deadline, who knows what the number would be…probably too many to be affordable.</p>
<p>It may also be that the school gives a more intensive review of the application for merit scholarships than just for admission. You review once for admissions. Then out of that pool you do a second review for merit aid. Takes more time.</p>
<p>^ I agree. My school does even more than that. Admission to programs such as Honors College is also decided (along with much of the merit aid) and almost ALL available admission seats. If you miss the “priority deadline” (Nov. 1) then it can become very difficult just to be admitted.</p>
<p>Agree with all those reasons. Most importantly I think it’s the time it takes to pick the candidates, and to pass those candidates through profs and perhaps if it’s a family endowed scholarship through the family or foundation. If there is an interview those need to be scheduled plus you loose most of December and into January because of holidays. Many short work weeks and vacations taken between mid-November and mid-January. This of course is different than tuition decreases that are automatically granted based on GPA/test scores etc. Real scholarships take time and people to determine.</p>