@Intellectual6969 why are you being so judgy to @DiotimaDM? I'm checking it out before I tell my son about it as well to make sure it's legit. You shouldn't be so condescending on CC. People are just trying to navigate the system. You don't know anyone's individual story.
I can back up this claim. I've had an account on Raise.me for a few years and will be heading off to college in the fall. Depending on the school, some colleges do offer more or less money than others. I'll be receiving roughly $1,500 each year ($6,000 for 4 years). There's no requirements that they have told me of to keep in college, but it's still a new program, so it's understandable.
At first, I was iffy about this website, but after receiving help (and it was much more than on my Raise.me profile), it goes to show that this website is truly partnered with colleges. So don't throw it out just yet--it's a small amount, but worth the effort.
Note: 3.8 UW GPA, 27 ACT score, 15+ extracurricular activities(4+ leadership positions), 30+ hours, 8 AP exams, 2 summer programs, 4+ awards
I stumbled across Raise.me while looking into the College of the Atlantic for D2. I was gratified to see that CC parents have test driven it and reported their findings. Thanks for sharing.
I appreciate the report -- I was also wondering about this. My gut is that it's a gimmick, and the merit awarded through this program would almost certainly be some fraction of the money the school would already award the student when he or she applied. But I could see the benefit in knowing a minimum in some cases, and in essentially exposing some of the factors that go into their merit money decisions. I'll get my son to do it. Can they enter achievements retroactively (from a prior year of school), and how are the entered achievements validated by the schools?
All of the information that the student posts on there is confirmed by the school counselor.
My daughter has a lot of money offered to her. The highest amount is $90,000. Several schools offered her $80,000. These schools, of course, are not schools she wants to attend. They are all small LAC that we haven't heard of. To get a $90,000 award a student has to have a very high GPA, high test scores, leadership positions, etc. those high achieving kids are most likely looking at different schools.
If a student needs to find a more affordable school, this would be a good start.
@mary879800 are you willing to share the names of the schools offering such big money via raise.me?
Can they enter achievements retroactively (from a prior year of school), and how are the entered achievements validated by the schools?
To answer my own questions, yes they can enter achievements from prior years, and there is an option for the schools to request validation from the HS counselor.
I'm sorry to be dense but is the consensus that this would be in addition to the merit aid package a school would have offered or more likely a way to determine what that school would have offered anyway? Last year my daughter was offered the max $17000 academic scholarship number from butler and my son is considering it this year with better merit numbers. I'm curious if they would go over that max number.
Erin's DadSuper ModeratorPosts: 36,052Super Moderator
I think that would depend on how much flexibility the school allows in their offers and how badly they want a student. Neither D applied to Butler so I have no idea.
@bulldog25, this program was introduced at my kids' HS this year by one of the GCs at the beginning of the school year. I asked him exactly your question and his response was that it was an "either/or" thing, whichever was greater. So if you run the NPC for a school and get a quote of $10,000 in merit but your raise.me amount for that school is $13,000, you'd get the $13,000. Conversely, if the merit aid you qualify for is higher than the raise.me amount, you'd get the merit aid.
For the person asking which schools offered her the most:
$90,000 College of Wooster
$80,000 Hartwick College, Gustavus Aldolphus College, Presbyterian College, Bloomfield College, Cornell College, Wingate University, Susquehanna University
There are around 8 schools offering in the $70,000-$76,000 range. Then more in the $60,000's.
By comparison, here are a couple of offerings of schools my child would be interested in attending:
Michigan State $26,000 (remember this is total not per year)
Tulane $9445
This seems a little hinky to me. Raise.me has a lot of colleges profiled on their site that do not participate in the micro-scholarship program, only they do not tell you they do not participate until you sign up.
I found this on the FAQ on their web site:
Why do some colleges on the site not offer micro-scholarships?
We have many profiles on the site for institutions that are not yet partnered with Raise.me. This is so students can find new schools that fit what they're looking for, and can consider those alongside the colleges that do offer micro-scholarships.
That's fine, if they disclose up front that a profiled institution does not participate.
My D's GC had her sign up on Raise.me and give her personal information only to find the schools she is applying to, all profiled on the Raise.me site, do not participate in the program.
It looks like you have to sign up in order to even see which colleges participate. I wonder why it is so opaque. Do they make you run thru all sorts of private information during sign up before they even indicate which schools participate. I hate sites like that. They get all your info as you click and fill out then get to the end and find out it is of no use. They of course still have your data to sell and profit from.
Replies to: Raise.me - one parent's report on how it works and whether it's worth it
At first, I was iffy about this website, but after receiving help (and it was much more than on my Raise.me profile), it goes to show that this website is truly partnered with colleges. So don't throw it out just yet--it's a small amount, but worth the effort.
Note: 3.8 UW GPA, 27 ACT score, 15+ extracurricular activities(4+ leadership positions), 30+ hours, 8 AP exams, 2 summer programs, 4+ awards
My daughter has a lot of money offered to her. The highest amount is $90,000. Several schools offered her $80,000. These schools, of course, are not schools she wants to attend. They are all small LAC that we haven't heard of. To get a $90,000 award a student has to have a very high GPA, high test scores, leadership positions, etc. those high achieving kids are most likely looking at different schools.
If a student needs to find a more affordable school, this would be a good start.
To answer my own questions, yes they can enter achievements from prior years, and there is an option for the schools to request validation from the HS counselor.
$90,000 College of Wooster
$80,000 Hartwick College, Gustavus Aldolphus College, Presbyterian College, Bloomfield College, Cornell College, Wingate University, Susquehanna University
There are around 8 schools offering in the $70,000-$76,000 range. Then more in the $60,000's.
By comparison, here are a couple of offerings of schools my child would be interested in attending:
Michigan State $26,000 (remember this is total not per year)
Tulane $9445
This seems a little hinky to me. Raise.me has a lot of colleges profiled on their site that do not participate in the micro-scholarship program, only they do not tell you they do not participate until you sign up.
I found this on the FAQ on their web site:
That's fine, if they disclose up front that a profiled institution does not participate.
My D's GC had her sign up on Raise.me and give her personal information only to find the schools she is applying to, all profiled on the Raise.me site, do not participate in the program.