The friends I know whose kids got big merit packages at PC were high GPA, TO kids, admitted to the Honors program. This is anecdotal. As a general rule, if you apply ED to any school you lose financial bargaining power and may be on the hook for the full price. There is a hidden loophole that if a school’s net price calculator gave you a figure that worked for you, let’s say a 50% discount to sticker, and you ED but get zero discount, you can back out of the ED agreement. I would read the rules carefully on that. There are life circumstances that may suddenly make a previous financial commitment no longer tenable.
My son has high SATs (97%), but low GPA relative to today’s standards (not low for his high school). Providence deferred him from EA to RD. He might still get in, but even if he does he wouldn’t get merit. Merit is for the students they really want.
When you say that the kids who were accepted with merit were test optional, do you mean they chose not to submit test scores? If so, then their gpas were given a lot of weight, unless of course they also had great ECs.
In your son’s case, do you think the relative GPA weakness is primarily what led to the deferment? What do you think his chances are for regular admission?
What I’m wondering is if paying full price gives one an edge. Paying full price would be difficult for us but maybe not impossible. Our daughter is an only child so that helps a lot.
Thanks again for your insights and knowledge about all this!
Yes. Did not submit scores. SATs were not in line with very high GPAs.
Yes. They had stronger applicants to pull from in that first round.
IF he were to get in (IDK chances this year) it would likely be at full price. It is not his top choice, and he has offers elsewhere.
ED always gives someone an edge. And it’s a lot less work! Haha. Providence cares a lot about demonstrated interest. It is a great environment for school IMHO. We spent a lot of time one weekend at the school with friends, and meeting with the sports team. All the students were warm and inviting. I loved it. But my son is looking for something different.
Also, you may want to look at Loyola MD. It is sometimes called the Providence of the south (not that MD is very south!)
My son was deferred at Providence College, he got into Wheaton- honors college with merit, Clark EA with merit, WPI we were also deferred, Merrimack with full tuition scholarship, Suffolk University with full tuition scholarship, Catholic University with merit and then some bigger schools he was admitted to - University of Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Purdue.
Hi, we did! They did a nice presentation at the nursing school. Panel of students spoke and then genuinely seemed to love the program, professors and school. The new building looks like it will be amazing. Very state of the art and their curriculum is built off of all new technologies. I don’t doubt they will get accreditation when the time comes (they cannot apply until they have data which takes a few years-I believe they said 2027) but of course it is concerning to think what if?
The bb game was fun, a lot of school spirit. Still waiting to hear from a few schools to fully weigh options but PC still in the top few.
My daughter wa accepted early action, no merit. A little while later we got a financial aid award, which was a bit of a surprise, which made it almost affordable. So my daughter appealed for merit by writing her admissions officer, and then did get a merit award which was amazing but it canceled out the need-based award, so it ended up the same price. The whole point of appealing the merit was so that we could make it affordable, and she could go, and it ended up exactly the same!
Hello,
I’m applying in fall 2025 and I was wondering if anyone can tell me how much merit aid they got and there stats, so I can see if I can get merit aid and afford PC.
Have you looked at this info on their website. It says that about 30 percent of the class gets merit aid, and typically those with a recalculated unweighted GPA of 3.8 or higher. It also says the amount ranges from $23K-38K per year. I don’t think PC is known to be overly generous with merit. https://financial-aid.providence.edu/types-of-assistance/institutional-merit-based/