Merit Scholarships

K9Leader
Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:57:34 +0000

. . . a net after merit COA approaching 30k for students in top 1-3% rank doesn’t strike me as competitive for these admission standards. the COA’s you quoted in your post were significantly lower



Well, here are some quick numbers:

From CollegeBoard.com, Fall 2008 T&F + R&B

UD Cost vs. Public Universities
TCNJ $20,415 + 9,612 = $30,027
Rutgers 21,488 +10,232 = $31,720
Maryland 23076 + 9,109 = $32,185
Penn State 24,940 + 8,270 = $33,110
Delaware 21,126 + 8478 = 29,604

UD Cost vs. Privates (USNWR National Universities ranking noted)
(USNWR only used to identify privates that are, by some measure, comparable - I don’t put much stock in the USNWR rankings other than as a very general/vague source for very general/vague comparison)

53 Syracuse 33440 + 11656 = $45,096

60 Boston U. 37050 + 11418 = $48,468

61 Fordham 35257 + 12980 = $48,237

71 Delaware 21126 + 8478 = $29,604

76 Baylor 27910 + 7971 = $35,881

77 Marquette 29096 + 9288 = $38,384

80 St. Louis U. 30728 + 8760 = $39,488

83 American U. 33283 + 12418 = $45,701

And, because it is a common private cross apply:
Villanova 37655 + 10070 = $47,725 (#1 Master’s universities, North)

So, I think what I said stands up - UD OOS is a little better than surrounding publics and is a bargain compared to privates, especially compared to the privates in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic.



talk about entitlement! a kid who didn’t work hard should be handed opportunities in hopes they might decide to crack a book?



Fortunately, the notion that a higher GPA is 100% directly correlated to how hard the student worked is something admissions staffs were disabused of many years ago. There are plenty of hard working kids whose GPAs may not be in the stratosphere but who are desirable for their work ethic, their skills due to their particular intelligence (see Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences), and other factors. As a teacher, I see it all the time. Frankly, my “best” students aren’t always the ones with the all the "A"s - very often, they are the ones who work the hardest for the "B"s and "C"s. Ever seen the movie Rudy?

Beyond that, a university knows it can’t fill its freshman class of 3,000 by simply accepting the 3,000 students with the highest GPAs and telling the rest to go pound sand. It has to work for a well-rounded, diverse student population, and that means taking kids of all kinds, all of whom are weaker in some things and stronger in others.

A78, disappointment is understandable, but your level of anger and resentment is disconcerting. Your daughter was accepted into the Honors program at a top university and even offered some merit aid in a time of economic turmoil - Gov. Markell announced today that all State of Delaware employees, which includes teachers and UD staff and faculty, will be getting 8-10% pay cuts for the next fiscal year to try to deal with the budget shortfall. If the offer from UD is not doable for you, then your D should drop it from her list and focus on other choices.