<p>To students: write a thank-you note to the sponsor of your scholarship, even if it’s a giant corporation. It can’t hurt.</p>
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<p>Sure they can be thankful silently and pay back to the society by becoming a good citizen. We raised our kids to be successful and have money left over that we give away hoping the society our kids inherit will be a happy place with many successful people. By donating money you are helping to build a more livable society for your kids. I think that’s the ulltimate reward. You can’ act they owe you something.</p>
<p>Are we confusing merit that is designed for all kids who meet some qualification- eg, top 1% of the freshman class- with merit that is merely meant to get desirable kids to matriculate? My friend’s kid got a “merit” scholarship at a school where he was by no means among the top performers admitted. But, he offered geographic diversity and a particular major they wanted more kids for. Neither factor was “earned.” They were enticing him and it worked. I’d call that “discretionary.”</p>
<p>OP: Both of my sons are receiving scholarships to attend their schools. Believe me, we are incredibly grateful that they receive these scholarships! We definitely view them as gifts from generous donors and sons write thank you letters and attend luncheons with these donors. Yes, the funds come with academic performance and for the music scholarship playing requirements, but we expect our sons to work hard and they know that the scholarship $ are theirs to lose not earn. Thank you for supporting the scholarships that you do and know that the parents and students truly appreciate your donations!!!</p>
<p>^^Wow, that’s very nice of you to put it that way. I don’t think I can ever be that. I wouldn’t say my kid totally deserves it or anything like that but I would not feel personally indebted, either.</p>
<p>I think spending any amount of time on the financial aid thread will give you a skewed view of what students are thinking.</p>
<p>If it isn’t a student wanting to be declared independent so their parents will not have to be full-pay, it is parents who want to claim custody when their child lives with the other parent, or students who think because they have good grades/scores, that they * deserve* to go to an expensive school.</p>
<p>Can give you a bad impression of students who qualify for aid.</p>
<p>Lookingforward wrote: It’s common for some colleges to put big donors together with kids who benefitted- also to ask kids to send a brief, newsy thank you to the originators of that fund once/year (usually, the names on the fund.) The feedback I’ve seen from kids, after they met a donor, was rather sweet. </p>
<p>For a church- wow, a family that needs a holiday basket, toys or warmwear being asked to step forward to people who probably gave a minimum. Just wow. No humility there. </p>
<p>My kid wrote thank you notes to the board of directors for her merit scholarship, and to the donor of a named scholarship.</p>
<p>As far as the church thing: the congregation gave very generously: a new stove, bedding and some electronics for the kids, clothes and stuff to the tune of $1500. It was only the members who organized it that insisted on the face-to-face with the family. It is also the reason I’m no longer at that church because those members were jerks.</p>