<p>I went to a scholarship dinner. I’ve never been to one before but my son has been to several so he was familiar with them. They were giving out enough money to buy an Apple laptop and they were cash awards. All you had to do was show up, enjoy a nice dinner, listen to some interesting speeches (they were interesting to me; don’t know if the average college student would find them interesting) walk up to the stage and collect your award. The application for the scholarship was easy - just a few personal facts and people that they could ask about you. You didn’t need LORs; just people that would vouch for you if they were asked. You wouldn’t even have to tell your parents. They could be paying for your schooling and you could take this award and go out and buy cases of beer with it.</p>
<p>That said, about 2% of undergraduates applied. Of those that applied, 39% received scholarships. Of those that were awarded scholarships, 9.5% didn’t show up for the ceremony and so they didn’t receive a scholarship. This is a solidly middle class university where the percentage receiving financial aid is very high. So I guess I don’t get it.</p>
<p>It was nice to see so many students performing well and their parents or boyfriends/girlfriends.</p>
<p>It would help if you identified the school or schools. If I understand your post, then all I can offer is that many students turn down scholarship money each year. Based on my experience, “free money” is rarely, if ever, free.
Also, based on my understanding of your post, this award may not qualify as scholarship money if used for purposes unrelated to one’s education. If the students are attending Budweiser University as beer tasters or brewers, then the award may be a non-taxable scholarship.</p>
<p>You walk up, someone hands you a check made out to you, and you walk off the stage. That’s free money in my book. The scholarships are for current students; not for admissions.</p>
<p>My son has received other scholarships and these are applied by the school to your account; that is you don’t receive a check or cash.</p>
<p>It seems like a pretty tax-efficient way to promote scholarship. You give away cash to students that perform well and tell them that the expectation is that they would replenish the scholarship funds or create their own scholarship funds when they are successful.</p>
<p>My D was given a ‘scholarship’ that was applied to her financial aid account that she was already receiving. Essentially, they just gave the money a name. I thought that was weird. Don’t know if she would have bothered to show up for a party for that though.</p>
<p>I do agree with the title of your post though. It’s even true in fields that are considered creative meritocracies.</p>
<p>My daughter has received several of these scholarship awards as well. I went to the first dinner with her and it was really nice. I think more kids don’t apply for these for various reasons - maybe partly because they’re college kids and not seeking these sorts of awards and because you have to complete an application (even if it’s a no brainer). DD’s department even sends out a reminder that the app is available.</p>
<p>My daughter is one who does not enjoy the attention associated with these dinners and such. She’s been to so much of that sort of thing now that it’s not novel or fun anymore. As a junior she told me that unless it was a significant monetary award or something that would help her with grad school apps, she wasn’t applying for any sort of award; just not her thing.</p>
<p>I have never heard of this. How are the students notified of this? Are they invited?
D would go to a banquet in a heartbeat if it meant getting a scholarship.</p>
<p>I asked my son and it appears that he received an email about it with applications in his department office. He applied, was selected, went to the dinner, and received a check.</p>