I keep seeing that they give generous merit but everything I see on their website says needs.
According to Section H of their latest common data set, 20 out of 565 enrolled freshmen received non-need based aid (merit aid).
Nearly all of them also qualified for need-based aid. Only one freshmen who did not also receive need-based aid got merit aid.
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Is that accurate? My DS, a current freshman, got a healthy dose of merit for all four years but did not qualify for any need. In his acceptance letter, it said that he was selected to be an 1823 Scholar and named the attached merit amount. I can’t believe he was the only who received this and also did not receive financial aid. I mean, he’s special, but not that special (-;
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The data comes right from their own CDS. Perhaps they’re underreporting somehow? Anyway, there’s a NYT Magazine article from back in 2019 that describes how Trinity is somewhat more constrained in its aid budget compared to its peers. I’m linking to it, but you may encounter a paywall.
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I am dying at your comment. Hoping you see this and can share his stats and ECs.
https://commons.trincoll.edu/reporter-spring2019/features/1823-scholars/
This is the info on the merit scholarships on their website.
Merit is administered by admissions and is an enrollment tool – different from FA.
But merit is financial aid, and should be fully reported in section H of the CDS.
Lots of schools make mistakes on the CDS…if it’s important to know the answer about how many students get merit…OP can contact institutional reporting and ask.
Not disputing that - just providing info on these scholarships, which seem, btw, not to be stats driven. Many schools use merit to improve the academics quality of their student body. These seem intended to attract students who are interested in community building.
It does seem, from many of the descriptions of the award recipients, that this could overlap with other FA.
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Was this meant for @rosenstockm?
That is from spring 2019. I am struggling to find what they offer now and if they have moved away from non-needs merit.
This says there were 52 1823 Scholars in class of 2027 (this year’s first years). The Class of 2027 Comes Together | Trinity College
I agree that their website doesn’t show much in the way of merit scholarships. The only people who can answer your question work at Trinity…I would have your student contact their AO or institutional reporting and ask.
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The CDS is tricky. Shows 20 first year students getting non-need scholarships. Total non-need at $3,6million across 4 years. But in that other spot, just 1 student.
Agree with @Mwfan1921 that youd need to be an insider to parse this accurately.
Something does seem off with the CDS (although that’s for Class of 2026)…but I doubt 1823 Scholar recipients would be significantly higher in Class of 2027 (52) than Class of 2026? And there seemed to be other merit (ARCHES) mentioned in that Class of 2027 link above too (but maybe that’s just need based?)
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Do you know exactly what the 1823 scholarship is and what the requirements are?
I do not.
According to the alumni magazine, there were 85 1832 scholars in the class of 2026.
In everything about this online, in addition to being a strong student, you need to somehow have demonatrated that you’re someone who gets involved and is involved in communicating building.
At few private schools will they set these up with boxes you need to check.
My son had never heard of the 1823 award until he received his acceptance letter, so he certainly didn’t apply for it. His stats were on the high side of the gpa and test score ranges, and he had all 4s and 5s on AP exams. Also, he is a non-engineering male from NC, a state that is probably hard for Trinity to draw from. So in terms of institutional priorities and getting a diverse class, he probably had some attractive qualities.
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If this helps clear things up, D24 received the Arches scholarship with her admission letter. It’s $15k/yr. This is merit-based aid as we didn’t qualify for need based aid. Not sure if this is relevant but she also applied for the community action gateway program, so maybe it has to do with community building. not sure. We are going to admitted students day on 4/14 as she is deciding between Trinity, Oberlin, and Mount Holyoke right now.
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What a coincidence! My son was choosing between Trinity, Oberlin, and Brandeis last year. It was such a hard choice for him. Some people told us that no single person could possibly like both Trinity and Oberlin, but I think there are plenty of flexible, open-minded people who can. My son is very happy at Trinity, and I think he would have been happy at the other schools as well. It’s what you do when you get there that determines your happiness.
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