We chased merit for both of my kids. This is true - you have to know (1) the merit policies at every school you’ve applied to and (2) which schools only give need based aid. My current senior was in the very lucky position to get a complete full ride based on merit to the #1 school on her list. Top 50 school so not a safety. What we learned is that the school focused a lot on soft factors to dole out merit (obviously among kids who already had top stats). The only kids invited to interview for her scholarship first had to get into the Honors College. Out of almost 60K applicants, less than 400 were invited to interview. And some got complete full rides while others got partial scholarships. Her older sister got into Honors at the same school last year with the same 4.0 unweighted GPA and around 4.94 weighted and got no merit at all! My oldest also earned her IB Diploma but her sister took AP classes. I think the distinguishing factor was the unique way my younger daughter structured her extracurriculars and the story she told throughout her application. My oldest had good extracurriculars but not as unique.
My daughter was accepted to two colleges Wednesday night. One gave her merit aid for her entire tuition, the other one need based aid. They were both good deals for us, and will cost the family roughly the same amount.
Luckily for you, you qualify for need based aid. So many families are in the donut hole so they get no need based aid but cannot afford $90k a year or close to it.
Visit their financial aid websites. Each college has one as well as financial aid officers willing to answer your questions by phone or email. Good luck.
We chased merit for both of my kids. This is true - you have to know (1) the merit policies at every school you’ve applied to and (2) which schools only give need based aid. My current senior was in the very lucky position to get a complete full ride based on merit to the #1 school on her list. Top 50 school so not a safety. What we learned is that the school focused a lot on soft factors to dole out merit (obviously among kids who already had top stats). The only kids invited to interview for her scholarship first had to get into the Honors College. Out of almost 60K applicants, less than 400 were invited to interview. And some got complete full rides while others got partial scholarships. Her older sister got into Honors at the same school last year with the same 4.0 unweighted GPA and around 4.94 weighted and got no merit at all! My oldest also earned her IB Diploma but her sister took AP classes. I think the distinguishing factor was the unique way my younger daughter structured her extracurriculars and the story she told throughout her application. My oldest had good extracurriculars but not as unique.
My daughter was accepted to two colleges Wednesday night. One gave her merit aid for her entire tuition, the other one need based aid. They were both good deals for us, and will cost the family roughly the same amount.
Luckily for you, you qualify for need based aid. So many families are in the donut hole so they get no need based aid but cannot afford $90k a year or close to it.
We were very pleased that our son received $22k Dean’s Scholarship at Santa Clara! We prepared for full private COA so it was a nice surprise!
This video is great! Quick question, how do you research which colleges offer merit vs need-based aid?
Visit their financial aid websites. Each college has one as well as financial aid officers willing to answer your questions by phone or email. Good luck.