Yes, you are right - I should have said admissions.
Curious, when you say OP’s Son… when it comes to money I feel it’s fine for the parents to be talking to the administration. As with all agents, it provides a buffer to the student. At the end of the day, these are very large financial decisions that are unfair to place on 17/18 yr olds, just my 2c. Thoughts?
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I agree it’s ok for parents to be involved in money things. With that said, some students can handle it on their own. Just depends.
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Two of my D24’s three athletic pre-reads included likely merit awards. The 3rd only gives selected full-ride scholarships through a competitive process, so no mention of merit in that pre-read. This is for a D3 program.
Having just been through this with two schools, I think it depends on the school. Isn’t that always the answer?
I noticed that one school that recruited S24 was clear on what the merit aid cutoffs were and that was handled through admissions with zero involvement with the coach. Coach met with him when he visited campus and kept in regular email contact but only talked the sport with him.
The other school invited him for an official visit after he passed academic pre-read. Coaching staff sent parents and athlete positive communication after the visit and then we heard nothing from them for months so assumed they had moved on. He applied RD and was admitted. Got emails a day later from admissions with a merit aid offer but no details about it.
Just two different schools with two different policies and ways of handling the admissions process.
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@Base48, in selection processes (e.g., job search, college apps, etc.), it is easy to assess blame on “the other.” By way of example, many people blame athletes as the reason that they were not accepted to a given college. Sometimes it ends up just being the way the chips fall.
Your son applied knowing that there was no commitment on merit aid but with an assurance of admission. He received exactly what you thought, although later you learned that others with similar stats received merit aid. Comparisons are natural.
You don’t mention the type of merit aid involved. Some schools offer merit aid to everyone who has above a cut-off GPA and board score. Some merit aid is more exclusive, looking more for the whole package, and students may actually have to apply for it.
Your son is not entitled to merit aid, but he is entitled to an explanation of why none was offered. I would ask the people responsible for the decision for an explanation - and sure, tell them what merit aid was offered by other schools. Given the need for schools to compete for students (see Ivy League antitrust litigation) I see nothing wrong with showing what your cost of attendance would be elsewhere.
A final note. The coach really needs to stay out of this one. The NCAA Division III Rules state: “Members of the athletics staff of a member institution shall not be permitted to arrange or modify the financial aid package (as assembled by the financial aid officer or financial aid committee) and are prohibited from serving as members of member institutions’ financial aid committees and from being involved in any manner in the review of the institutional financial assistance to be awarded to a student-athlete.” Rule 15.3.4.
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