candyman92486

Hello joinville,

Congrats to your son for being admitted ED! You must be so proud of him (and relieved that the process is over, if only for a short time).

These are some really great questions that required me to stop by the admissions office earlier this morning. As you might already have found out from previous posts, I was given a Marquis Scholarship after applying RD. I know many other Marquis/Trustee Scholars, and off the top of my head, I honestly do not think ANY of them applied ED.

Interesting, huh?

Well, after doing a bit of snooping, I found the exact statistics for these scholarships over the past few admission cycles. It turns out that the merit scholarships are given out in a MUCH higher percentage in the RD round (I really don't think I should be sharing any specific percentages, though). I have taken into consideration the fact that the ED group is much smaller, and took the time to calculate actual figures for both rounds of applicants in terms of scholarships per student. In this way, the size of each round is negated (obviously the RD round is larger and should receive more scholarships, but proportionally, RD applicants get the bulk of the scholarships).

Why might this be so? Why are ED applicants given the short end of the stick?

If an applicant is admitted ED, they are BOUND to accept Lafayette's offer of admission. Even if they don't receive a dime in merit/need-based aid, they really have no choice...we got them to commit. Why would any college use up their limited number of scholarships on those applicants not in need of persuasion? Sadly, as I found out today, this is common practice at almost all ED/RD colleges.

The merit-based scholarships are meant to entice top applicants to come to Lafayette. These types of students usually get many great offers from many great schools, but we hope that $8,000/year or even $16,000/year might be just enough to turn the tides in Lafayette's favor.

Also, the school is always hesitant to give out many of the scholarships ED because they never know how the overall quality of the RD applicant pool will be. Maybe many RD applicants will be stellar students, or maybe it will be a "slow year". Admissions needs to keep the bulk of the scholarships on hand just in case many applicants from the RD pool prove to be exceptional students (at least on paper!).

Although this practice may not seem fair, since when has the admissions process claimed to be fair? Just asking...

I hope that answers your question. Maybe we'll be seeing each other on April 23, as I will most likely be leading tours that day.

All the best,

J