Oh sorry, I don’t. Never went down that rabbit hole for them.
My daughters had to report their outside merit. I don’t remember if it showed up on the 1098 but I don’t think so. For one, because she was an athlete, I know the school had to account for it to be sure the coach wasn’t exceeding her max if the scholarship was for the sport (like her hs had a scholarship for outstanding athlete or the local golf club gave one for a golfer).
I can’t say for certain, but some schools that don’t give academic merit money do for music majors. Northwestern, for example, says something along the lines of all our students are brilliant, they would all get academic merit. But they do give $ for music majors.
As I understand it, in general, Northwestern doesn’t have to worry about being undercut on price at higher ranked schools academically. But a talented musician might be getting a free ride at a top conservatory. So to get those kids, they have to offer some $.
Carnegie Mellon, at least historically, had a strong music program. So that is a possible reason for merit $.
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I think some schools have a “miscellaneous” pot of money that they need to report and everything non-need gets reported as merit. Money for athletes in non-scholarship Divisions. The oboe player because the band does not have one. The Admissions Office’s five favorite essays. Semi-need offers for students just under an established need threshold. A State Senator’s kid to assure State funding levels.
well they are reporting $45K - so I’m going to ask them - it’s substantial funds so it has to be something bigger.
Tufts says zero merit aid so they are perplexed. I’ve sent them the CDS and they are reviewing. They seem unfamiliar with it. I’m talking to an aid counselor.
My guess is there will be a reason but that’s where it is now - confirmed zero merit.
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Hi, my son is looking at SMC. I’m wondering if you could tell me if this was just automatically awarded or did you need to do a separate special application?
This doesn’t show the requirements - you might ask them - but this shows the tiers.
This is how schools not as prominent get students - have to buy them in. Hopefully yours will get a lot of $$.
DD is a freshman, and this time last year when she was applying I was desperate for data points regarding what type of merit aid she might expect. To pay-it-forward, here are her results from 2025.
Stats: 4.0 UW GPA, IB diploma candidate, top 3% of class in a large urban high school, multiple art-focused EC’s with leadership positions, and a state level writing award. 32 ACT. Didn’t qualify for need-based aid.
- (in-state) University of Colorado Boulder - $3,000/ per year
- Willamette University - $35,000 / per year
- Whitman College - $40,000 / per year
- University of Puget Sound - $49,000 / per year
- Oberlin College - $39,000 / per year
- McGill University - $0
- Kenyon College - $30,000 / per year
- Scripps College - $25,000 / per year
- Bryn Mawr College - $7,000 / per year
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S26 was accepted to Susquehanna University with awesome merit! $44K per year, Presidential Scholarship, plus $8,500 in grants (Visit Grant, Early Admit Grant, FAFSA Grant, and Good Neighbor Grant - for living in a bordering state). His stats, 4.4 WGPA, 1460 SAT, leadership positions, state & national awards, etc.
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It’s awesome. All these worry me though - are these schools headed toward danger ? For the consumer, it’s incredible.
Great get for your son.
That’s why my son hasn’t committed. Yet. It’s an option for now. We wonder too. But they’ve been known to be generous especially to high stats kids. Their dining hall is being renovated and expanded so new construction is a good sign!
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I don’t think anything is imminent - or that they even have an issue. It was just a general comment - it’s crazy these schools can give so much. But they do!!
I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for him. I’d hold because you want to see others but I wouldn’t not want to attend because of that. You need a great cost, it’s a great name and if it’s a match, then it’s a home run.
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Forbes publishes financial “grades” every year for private schools. Might look up what Susquehanna got in the most recent year.
this is very late on Tufts, but could be something about either
SMFA program residual programming or TUPIT – Promoting equitable access to higher education - though latter would certainly have need, but wondering if there is a weird reconciliation on it somehow as not a normal program?
OH… maybe it is aid for children of staff/ faculty… They get tuition remission, I know. Maybe that counts as aid for CDS somehow? It shouldn’t, but it may.
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They never responded. I should follow again. They only said - we don’t have merit aid.
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Tufts does have merit aid. They give $4K ($500 per semester) to NMFs and offer ROTC. From their website:
Merit Scholarships
Tufts awards financial aid on the basis of financial need and aid is not adjusted for superior academic performance or extracurricular activities. Merit-based aid is provided only through the Tufts National Merit Scholarship program (see below), and the ROTC scholarship program.
National Merit Scholarship
Students who are National Merit finalists may receive an award from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), from a NMSC Corporate Sponsor, or from Tufts University. The NMSC will determine the type and amount of the student award and no student is allowed to receive more than one type of National Merit award. Students who are offered a Tufts National Merit Scholarship will receive $500 per semester for up to eight semesters of enrollment at Tufts.
ROTC Scholarships
Students may use Army, Navy, and Air Force ROTC scholarships at Tufts. Tufts students participate in ROTC through units at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Scholarships may include funding towards tuition costs and, in some cases, monthly stipends. Four-year full-tuition and partial scholarships are available. For additional details and application materials, contact Army, Navy, or Air Force recruiting officers.
They are just conditioned to say they have no merit aid. Some other schools that ‘don’t offer merit’ do also offer NMFs a scholarships, Bowdoin is another example. National Merit Scholarships | Bowdoin College
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Maybe it’s ROTC ? 64 people got $45k. I don’t know if there’s that many ROTC?
They just told me it was wrong, they’d look into it and get back to me. They didn’t.
But for kids looking for straight merit aid, Tufts is clearly a no.
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About half are ROTC and many get full tuition and fees. I’ll bet the other half are the NMF who get small scholarships…and guessing it averages to $45K if you count both types.
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I suspect that is true in the sense we here mean it…Edited.
apparently so
I find the wording of the National Merit odd myself. Are they picking and choosing? Or is it all finalists? Seems somewhat odd they still do this IMO.