ED and Merit

Applying to College
21

In that case I stand by what I said earlier: apply ed2 only if it is your current top choice and the NPC shows that it is affordable.

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22

That makes sense to me. And I was not intending to respond directly to you, though it might look like that given I wrote after your message. I was reviewing the thread overall and that was the impression/theme I got from a lot of the responses, which is something I tend to see on a lot of threads.

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23

I didn’t think you were!

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24

Thanks @ECCA2026 That describes the situation pretty well. Looking to balance admit chances with what it means for merit…..I think we have what we need from this thread. Thanks again to all!

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25

My kid is an athlete at Conn College. He applied ED and we never asked about merit aid and kind of assumed he wouldn’t get any, but he did. He got what I think is the award that a kid with his stats would get ED or RD.

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26

Not to derail - but too lazy to send a private message. ED school with merit is not a school that hands it out to everyone - we left it up to our child to decide, as our gut was wait and apply RD (since not a big difference for this school in the RD round) and then you will see if you get any money. They felt it was the school for them and wanted to ED and be done. I am sure having a twin done due to athletic recruitment may have played a role. If they hadn’t received the merit, they just would have spent down their 529 - we all took the ED agreement seriously.

So just an example of one, that communicating with the AO received a response - so from our view, it can’t hurt.

Both kids were fortunate to not have costs play a role in their college choice based on aggressive savings, but we did tell them what was left was theirs to keep. One child was a recruited athlete and instead of picking a public D1 that would have given them a significant discount and many benefits, chose an Ivy and drained her 529.

The merit game of “will they or won’t they” is tough and again those stats on Holy Cross seem very telling in the ED round.

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27

Not Holy Cross, but as another data point, per an email received today from Union College: “For students admitted through Early Decision who qualify for merit-based aid, we are committed to awarding our highest merit scholarships (up to $46,000/year, which we honor for all four years).”

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28

Thanks! Was this part of an ED acceptance? Or just a general UC email to applicants?

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It was an email encouraging my son to apply ED2. (We had visited and he was on their mailing list.)

30

You could ask - I’ll ED if you put in writing an assured merit award.

ED and merit is a dangerous combo. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen but why should it.

358 of 500 get need aid there (Union) - impressive - and 113 of 500 got merit aid (and 9 athletic merit aid). It could be almost everyone there is getting $$ - perhaps that’s how they stay strong academically, buying the higher level school’s students.

Still, I don’t know how anyone who requires merit could ED short of the school making an upfront promise. Read the contract.

31

Thank you. He won’t be applying to Union as he’s already committed to attending another school. I was just sharing the email as another point of reference for the OP and other readers on ED and merit.

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