<p>My S’s merit scholarship is for CAS. He did not have to do anything other than complete the standard application to be considered. Unless its changed, and this is such an important area that you may want to call BU for info, is that the Dean’s scholarship, while for merit, takes ability to pay into consideration-- to wit: if you earn enpugh that you do not qulaify for financial aid you may have a better chance if it still is considered a stretch to pay out of pocket. In other words if you earn 150K a yr you have a better chance over a family earning 350K. But that not absolute since they may want the 350 K kid more. </p>
<p>My understanding is that all other merit scholarships are given on merit alone with no consideration to your family finances this includes the full and half tuition scholarships. I think the merit averages are just a data point they do not mean you are guaranteed money if you fall into that range or that you would not get any if you didn’t however being at the higher end is always a plus and its important to let BU know that if offered admission you will accept. As a rule of thumb I’ve heard that the top 10% of candidates are offfered merit aid but that may vary considerably since that statistic may be different for Comm vs Eng.</p>