<p>I know that Brandeis gives away a considerable chunk of merit aid every year, but I’m also fairly sure most of it goes in huge sums to the small group of geniuses at the top of the SAT score range. However, scrolling through the various scholarships on their website, it seems to me that more than a few are targeted at the diverse (rather than brilliant) student who actively participates in his community and who has interests in a variety of things; this is a strength for me, whereas SAT scores are not. </p>
<p>SAT scores: 710 CR, 700 W, 690 M (class rank: 7 of 361). ACT score: 31, possibly 32 soon. Extra-curricularly, I have my Private Pilot’s License (paid for myself), I can juggle 5 balls and have done talent shows before, and I ride my bike 3 miles each way to school almost every day except when it’s below zero, among other things (but I also do traditional things like volunteer a lot and be VP of the Key Club). </p>
<p>So I guess my questions are, 1) does a student with relatively mediocre test scores like mine stand a chance of getting anywhere the $20,000 a year in merit aid he would need to attend Brandeis? 2) Is there a chance that my varied and unique “interests” will land me one of those full-tuition scholarships? 3) Or am I a fool to suppose that colleges would ever consider anything more important than their SAT scores? </p>
<p>Thanks very much. Any comments/answers much appreciated.</p>
<p>If I understand correctly, Brandeis is now scaling back on merit aid and focusing more on need-based aid, instead…? If any student, parents and/or Brandeis staff has any further information about this, I’d appreciate it.</p>
<p>my understanding about shifting more to need based aid from merit aid is the same as momonthehills’ – not that there won’t still be merit awards, but i think that they were less for the class of 2013 than previously – i don’t know any details and can’t recall where i read about it.</p>
<p>and in any respect – even before that – it was pretty much impossible to guess who would or wouldn’t get a generous merit aid from brandeis – people would post here with their stats and it definitely didn’t seem to just be a matter of having a certain gpa and SAT score. </p>
<p>i would urge you to go and visit and interview – i believe brandeis weighs student interest heavily in admissions and that in turn may help in terms of merit aid if you convince them you want to be there and will be an asset to their student body. i know in the past it was not always easy to schedule on campus interviews – you sometimes had to keep checking back to see when dates opened up – but persistence can pay off. availability of merit aid is something you could ask about at an interview.</p>
<p>My s had similar test scores and got a presidental scholarship last year ($25,000/yr). He didnt interview, nor had he seen the campus. So I think you have a chance. Good luck.</p>
<p>You have a chance, but you have to sell yourself in your application, and a lot depends on the applicants against whom you will be competing for limited funds.</p>
<p>My daughter is very interested in Brandeis, but would need significant merit scholarship assistance. Her stats are:
GPA: 4.0, 4.7 (weighted)
SATs: 2320
SAT 2s: 800, 750
AP Tests: received 5’s on 6 out of 6 tests
Other: All-state (4 years) and all-county musician</p>
<p>Does she have a decent chance of receiving a merit based scholarship at Brandeis, even in light of the fact they are decreasing the # of merit scholarships? She has already visited campus. Other than interviewing, is there anything else she should be doing to market herself?</p>
<p>Can folks please respond this post (below and #7 above) It did what sstGO27 suggested and looked at post of folks who received scholarships in the past, but there were only a handful posted on CI, so it is hard to really make a judgement based on the limited response. THANK YOU!</p>
<p>My daughter is very interested in Brandeis, but would need significant merit scholarship assistance. Her stats are:
GPA: 4.0, 4.7 (weighted)
SATs: 2320
SAT 2s: 800, 750
AP Tests: received 5’s on 6 out of 6 tests
Other: All-state (4 years) and all-county musician
Internships: a full-time math and programming interniship at a national reserach institute this summer, and a science internship at another national research institute this coming school year.</p>
<p>Does she have a decent chance of receiving a merit based scholarship at Brandeis, even in light of the fact they are decreasing the # of merit scholarships? She has already visited campus. Other than interviewing, is there anything else she should be doing to market herself?</p>
<p>8805card: FWIW, my D is an incoming first year at Brandeis. her stats were somewhere between your D’s and the OP’s: SAT: 2280, GPA: 3.8 (UW - school doesn’t weight or rank); NMF; Editor of school paper; Pres or VP of several groups.</p>
<p>She applied ED and received no merit aid at all which, I’ll admit, surprised us, since she had been offered significant merit aid at schools to which she’d applied earlier. My sense is that Brandeis is indeed shifting aid $$ from merit to need-based. I also think applying ED hurt her in terms of aid - merit aid is really a recruiting tool and they had no need to “recruit” a student who had already indicated Brandeis was her first choice. (Even though they say they apply merit aid equally between ED and RD.)</p>
<p>In answer to your question about marketing, my D visited, interviewed, and sought out a local alum. She had lunch with the local alum and quoted her in her “Why Brandeis?” essay.</p>
<p>Both of the posters in this thread have presented very impressive stats and I would think that they would be good enough to be considered for merit aid.</p>
<p>That said, it seems that merit aid is distributed unpredictably - if you look at the stats from this past year, many people with amazing stats did not get significant merit aid. This leads me to believe that the admissions people may put a lot of weight on the essay and what contributions to the school the applicant will make in general.</p>
<p>If you want an idea, I received significant merit aid this past year, RD, with an SAT score lower than 8805card’s and PRJ’s D’s, though high ACTs, a 3.8 UW GPA, NMF, and tons of APs and ECs (with a few leadership/founding roles). I did not visit campus until after I applied (it was February, I think) and did not interview at all, but tried to make it clear in my Why Brandeis? essay that it was a top choice. Again, given the information provided by PRJ, it seems a bit random that I would get the aid and others wouldn’t, so maybe they look very closely at the essay/other non-numerical factors.</p>
<p>I applied to Brandeis this year and received a merit scholarship, although not much compared to other schools (I think it was called the Trustee’s for 15,000 or 18,500?). Before I received the award, I talked to people in the admission office, and they said that although they will be giving out merit aid, they will partially base the merit award on need. Two of my other friends from my school (TJHSST) applied and got in with the same merit award - none of us showed need. I think that they set a max merit award for those that don’t qualify for need but deserve some recognition.</p>
<p>I’m not sure the above is 100% true, but based on what I’ve heard and the people I’ve talked to, that seems to be the way it works.</p>
<p>8805: Your D’s numbers are similar to what I remember my D’s to be (she’s entering her junior year this month). </p>
<p>She received a Justice Brandeis scholarship (4 years / full tuition) plus a slot as a Life Science Scholar (special advising, special seminars, and two summers of supported research with a $5000/summer stipend). From the “market herself” perspective, she did submit a video DVD of her working with one of her karate instructors (she’s a 3rd degree black belt). She did not have an interview.</p>
<p>That is very encouraging. Brandeis is, by far, her first choice. Unfortunately, we will not qualify for need-based aid, so we will need a good merit scholarship for her to attend.</p>
<p>She just finished a math internship over the summer at a top research center, and just started a neuroscience internship at one of the top research labs in the country. We are hoping that these internships will help to separate her from other applicants (in addition to being an all-state musician the last several years). She can’t do any better with her grades, and her test scores are near perfect, so we are really hoping that she is considered to be competitive for some of the better scholarships at Brandeis.</p>