decidecollege

I am a rising senior in high school from Florida and have been contacted by several swimming recruiters for various colleges. Northwestern University has contacted me and has offered me a spot on their division 1 team with a 50% scholarship but I must apply ED. Duke University has contacted me and would love for me to be on their division 1 team but they do not offer athletic scholarships. The University does have merit scholarships (which provide a free education as well as a free study abroad) that I feel I am a competitive candidate for. Also UNC Chapel Hill has offered me to be on their division 3 team and they also do not have athletic scholarships but do have a merit scholarship (that provides a free education as well as a free study abroad) that I feel I am competitive candidate for.

Should I apply ED to Northwestern or should I decline the offer and apply to Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, and several other school regular decision?

MBb8T5

That depends... do you know you want to go to NW? If you are sure (or at least you know you'd be happy there), then apply there ED. If you don't know if you would like going there, apply to other schools.

Other notes:
Merit scholarships are extremely competitive, probably harder than getting into HYPS (generally <<100 merit scholarships given per year per school; in contrast, stanford admits >2000 applicants per year!); unless they have merit scholarships aimed towards athletes, it is by no means 'likely' that you will get one unless you're an incredible applicant.

If you are an incredible applicant, then why not apply to HYPS as an athlete? If you get in and are not high-income, they have very generous FA. If you are high income, then while money may be a consideration, it is probably not a 100% limiting factor.

Descartesz

There are too many unknowns here to advise you.

Are these your only options? I would guess that if your a talented enough swimmer to get even a partial scholarship from a Big 10 school you could probably get a full scholarship from a school that competes at a lower level (i.e., a lower DI level).

Have you had such offers and aren't interested or have you not pursued them?

If the first, then is that because you are only interested in premium schools (like NU and Duke)? Why so? And if you insist on a highly academically competitive school then why not also a high level of athletic competition? Are you really indifferent to UNC being a DIII swim school?

If you were accepted at NU, would you require additional need-based FA to allow you to attend? Would it be possible for NU to give you that aid?

I do agree that betting on a merit scholarship from such competitive schools as Duke and UNC is unwise. However I would strongly suggest you visit NU or any other school before you apply ED. For that matter have you visited other schools so that you have some basis for comparison?

happymomof1

How much money do you need to make each of these places affordable? Do they stack need-based aid on top of any athletic or merit-based scholarships? Contact each financial aid office and find out about that.

There also is a sub-forum specifically for athletic recruits. You might get better help if you post your question there.

invader71

Duke actually does offer some athletic scholarships but maybe your sport does not have anymore to give. If I were you I would ED to northwestern as long as you like it and can order to pay the other 50 percent of the tuition.

decidecollege

MBb8T5- I would definitely be happy at Northwestern. I looked into HYPS but their teams are not currently recruiting also I do not qualify for any FA. My parents are giving me 10,000 a year for college and the rest I need to pay for, so it is a limiting factor in that sense.
Descartesz- These are not my only options. The problem is that these are the only DI schools that are actively recruiting that also have large chemistry departments (my intended major). I am interested in a rigorous academic curriculum and a high level of athletics. UNC is a Div III but it competes with all of the DI schools at some point during the season. I do not qualify for any need based FA.
Happymomof1- I do not qualify for any need-based FA. The more aid the better because my parents are contributing 10,000 a year regardless of the arrangement.
invader71-thanks!