<p>The merit awards that S were offered had varying GPAs ranging from 3.5 down to 3.0 cumulative GPAs required to keep his award. He happened to choose a U that had a 3.0 requirement. In engineering it is harder to keep your GPA at a 3.5 and above, regardless of how high your student kept it in HS. There are a LOT of factors at play in college that weren’t present in HS–living in a different environment (often), more competition from very bright kids from all over the US & world, making friends in a new environment, much more flexible schedule, often getting used to room mates and study groups, etc.</p>
<p>It can be useful to inquire of the U what % of the kids keep their scholarship all 4 years vs those who lose it on academic grounds, also if there is any probation period where the student keeps the scholarship and has a grace period to bring up grades. </p>
<p>In S’s U, you needed a 3.5 GPA to graduate with honors. S was pleasantly surprised to graduate with honors in engineering (it was a very near thing). To have had to worry about losing his merit award would have been another huge worry.</p>