ricosuave413

Does anybody know the extent to which Washington University offers merit scholarships to Early Decision applicants? I'm a little worried because sometimes finances are an issue with the ED application process. Are the only scholarships Wash U offers those listed in the Scholarships packet they sent out (the ones like Ervin and Rodriguez).

Any help would be great

newprov29

I can only speak for Danforth, whose application date has since passed. Myself included, I dont think more than 6 or 7 of the 40 that were selected during my year were ED students. Considering that it is one of WashU tools for recruiting RD students, I was surprised that there were even that many of us because we already "had to come" to WashU, merit aid or not. Dont use the 7/40 as an actual statistic, but understand that you do have a legitimate chance as an ED student.

Good luck!

ricosuave413

When you say that I have a chance, does that mean there is a possibility that I will be offered some amount of money (I'm just looking for whatever I get because I'm applying ED) if and when I am offered admission?

Don_Quixote

I believe that the same scholarships are available to both the RD and ED groups; i doubt that there are particular merit scholarships reserved for ED applicants (although with the recent scholarship/financial aid initiative this could be changing). So you may have to wait until spring to find out about merit scholarships.

I'm pretty sure that "inability to pay" is considered an acceptable reason to back out of an ED contract, so if you talk to WUSTL about it beforehand, you could probably apply RD to another school or two, in case financial aid and merit scholarships aren't going to be enough... best of luck

fallenchemist

I will take Don's comment a bit further. If you know that money will be an issue if you DON'T get enough from Wash U, then you must apply RD to other schools. Inability to pay is absolutely a reason to not go even if they accept you ED. Truth be told, of course no one can make you go in any case, it is an honor system. They would never take a student to court over it, there are plenty of people ready to take that slot that can pay full boat. Besides, you don't know that you will get in, so there is every reason to apply RD other places.

So make sure you are hedging your bets in any case.

ricosuave413

My issue is not necessarily in ability to pay, but $200,000 for four years is a lot of money regardless of who's pocket it's coming out of. I was just wondering if Wash U gives out money to ED applicants to help assuage the hefty price tag. Not necessarily scholarship money but like grants and loans.