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<p>This has nothing to do with how they weight the scores. This is because they are concerned that “GPA” and course rigor are more difficult to verify for home schools students, so (like most colleges ranked fairly highly in the US), they require more testing for those students to prove their academic chops in comparison to other students. It has zero to do with how they consider the scores otherwise.</p>
<p>You don’t seem very familiar with the business of college admissions. I have been through this a couple of times with excellent results for both kids (2nd kid was accepted everyplace she applied, older was also accepted at MHC along with several other schools). One of my kids now also works in higher education consulting. There IS a standard way that colleges address many of these areas. You may think it is ‘guessing’, but it isn’t. </p>
<p>Regarding SAT I scores, it is the ONE way a prospective student or parent can quantitatively compare student bodies across colleges. You may not like it, but it is a huge factor in “marketing” any college today. While MHC practices holistic admissions, and plays up their strengths in their marketing materials, they are not fools. College admissions is a business, and SAT scores are big currency in that business. And they request the scores from students upon admission so they can fill out the Common Data Set and report them to sources like USNW. All the more reason why a high scoring kid is important to them, and worth offering merit money.</p>
<p>I am not saying high scorers are the only students getting merit money offers. But you don’t understand college admissions if you think it is not relevant, and probably the biggest pool of students getting those scholarships. Go back over the “accepted student” threads for a few years and see what you find on the stats of kids getting the big scholarship offers. I would be surprised if you found any that did not report scores.</p>
<p>Oh, and I can’t think of a top college that doesn’t give more out in need based aid than they do in merit aid. Not sure why that is relevant to the discussion of how they decide to dole out merit money.</p>
<p>I have no beef with MHC. Both of my kids were accepted there, and I think it is a great school. I recommend it all the time on CC, I think it is one of those “hidden gems” that more young women would love and thrive at if they would give it a chance. But it is a college playing the modern games of college admissions.</p>