Looking for some perspective. My ‘24 son is a LHP. Earlier this fall he committed to a D3 school. Was assured admission during preread - no commitment on merit aid. He committed anyway and went through application process.
He has now been formally admitted with no merit aid. He has gotten substantial merit aid at other similar schools and we have a friend from the same high school with very similar stats/course work who was offered $21k in merit aid from this school.
I feel like he isn’t getting merit because we committed and they think they don’t need to give it as an inducement. Has this happened to anyone else? Coach wants my kid but doesn’t want to be involved in the admissions/financial aid stuff.
All your S can do is ask admissions if there is the possibility of any merit, and if so, when that would happen. You will never know if committing impacted ability to get merit aid. Also, D3 schools can’t give more merit to athletes on average than non-athletes on average…so there could be some constraints there on the school’s end.
He did not apply ED - only EA so he is not committed to the school in that way. I know you are right about never knowing for sure and I know that D3 schools get audited so it can’t look like there is money going to athletes that is disguised as merit. Just frustrated because it is the only school he didn’t get aid and they are known for playing the admission game hard.
Is the school affordable…meaning wouldn’t require any loans beyond the $27K 4 yr max in undergrad student loans?
Has your S talked with admissions yet? If he has merit offers from peer schools, he should share those with admissions. Does he have other baseball offers and/or still talking with some coaches? It’s ok to reopen recruiting, this happens all the time, unfortunately.
It is technically affordable (we wouldn’t have committed if it wasn’t) but is a good value? Not so sure…. The school says they don’t consider comparable offers which I think is ridiculous.
If this is a school where “merit” is actually differential pricing then it’s possible they or their algorithms/consultants feel they don’t need to reduce the price to entice you.
You could try letting them know you have other admits with better aid and you’re considering those. That sort of negotiating is fairly common with non-athletes but harder when they think the athletic angle is enticement enough.
Exactly - differential pricing is what it is and that is what is bumming me out. Feels like we are getting the mark up because he committed to the team. But of course hard to know for sure and maybe he is losing out because he just missed some arbitrary cut off,
During recruiting, the coach told my D22 she would be “eligible” for the school’s largest merit scholarship based on her academics (outside of a few special full-ride scholarships that required a separate application). The coach acted pretty confident about it without making any promises.
Indeed, my daughter did receive the highest level of scholarship with her acceptance, but I would have expected it even if she was not recruited because of her GPA, class rigor, test scores, etc.
Are the schools that have awarded your son merit aid as selective in terms of admission rate as the school where he was recruited? If so, it would be bizarre to me if they decided to withhold merit awards from athletes that they would award if the athletes were not recruited. If that were the case, they soon wouldn’t be able to field teams except with walk-ons!
If the $ doesn’t work, you are not morally obligated to keep your commitment to the team/school. Does he have options with another team? IDK how much merit aid he has been offered elsewhere, but it’s not a leap to say losing out on merit could cost him 100k over 4 years. If coach doesn’t want to involve himself in the money process then he will lose out of athletes. Simple. HTHs
Assuming it’s EA and not ED, it seems unlikely that he didn’t get merit aid just because he “committed to the team.” But I guess we’ll never know.
FWIW, DS28 (XC/TF) applied ED to a SLAC and got $30,000/year merit aid, at a school where I think practically everyone gets some merit aid. We hadn’t asked for a merit pre-read, and we didn’t apply for FA, so they had no real incentive to give him any merit aid. But the school said they considered all applicants (ED or RD) equally for merit aid, and that seems to have been true.
This wasn’t our experience, either. DS24 committed to his school for his sport in August, after he received a likely letter from admissions which stated his probable merit award. He applied ED and got the exact award the likely letter mentioned. I would go back to admissions and ask.
very similar for DD23 soccer. verbally committed in august after positive pre read results with estimated merit. applied ED, accepted with highest merit award available from the school
I guess the lesson to be learned here is to get the full financial picture, including merit aid, before committing.
If he wants to still attend that school, you can go to the admissions office and ask to be considered for merit. But I wouldn’t expect to get any. As you probably know, D3 athletes aren’t given any special consideration for merit scholarships.
The other option is to reopen his recruitment. Good luck with your decision.
Athletics aside, I think it is still worth contacting financial aid with offers from comparable schools to see if they can match it. It would be a polite request on the basis that it is the student’s preferred school, but parents may not be able to oblige when costs are so much higher than peer institutions (supported with documentation).
Some schools offer merit and others don’t, so the “peer school” comparison isn’t a good one. Schools have different ways of determining who i a eligible and for how much as well, so while one school that offers merit may give your kid $30,000, another that has merit may offer none.
Most schools that offer merit have clear guides internally on who gets it. They do this for many reasons, including avoiding accusations that they are offering athletic scholarships or favoring one group of students over another.
If your DS committed to a school that does offer merit, I would reach out to admissions to see if he is eligible. It’s usually pretty clearcut.
The contact for merit aid for incoming first years is admissions, not FA. At least typically. School reps from this college have already told OP they don’t consider FA offers from other schools for negotiating.
Regardless, OP’s S should still talk with their AO. If there is a price target, where the OP’s S would attend, he needs to state that.