<p>My kid was offered a merit scholarship of $5000/year with his EA decision in December.
I believe some admitted students do get more, but I don’t know how many do. </p>
<p>We are still waiting for the total financial aid offer.
I would assume that the merit scholarship is “stacked” onto any need-based aid. In other words, that it does not reduce the amount of need-based financial aid. Otherwise, it may be an honor to get it, but it has little practical incentive value. </p>
<p>My understanding is that the very most selective LACs (Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore; Haverford, Bowdoin, Middlebury; etc.) do not offer merit scholarships. CC is a notch below these schools in selectivity, and its location probably is not in its favor if you don’t ski. So, it does use merit aid to try to entice admitted applicants who otherwise might lean toward a competing school. This is a good reason to consider a couple of selective, high quality LACs in the midwest. Grinnell is another one that comes to mind.</p>