My Daughter and 3 of her closest friends applied last year.
F1 had a 4.0 and around a 2200 SAT and received a 30k merit scholarship (I think for NHRP because she was not a NMS).
F2 had a 3.8/2350 and received 25K.
F3 had around a 3.7/1960 and got no merit and was accepted to NUin.
D had a 4.0/2140 and got no merit.
I don’t think any of them got into the honors program.
My feeling is that NEU uses financial aid to entice the students they really want to come to campus, and also believe that the $$ will impact the decision. High SAT or other achievements (e.g. NHRP) seem to trigger merit aid, not GPA or a “holistic” view of the candidate (based on other reports of aid from her class). F2 in particular had very little in the way of ECs.
All 4 of these girls currently go to schools that do not offer much if any financial aid.