<p>My daughter does not have a particularly strong academic profile (3.4 gpa and 1570 SAT). She got what I understand to be the top merit category that U of Arts gives out but as far as I know it had nothing to do with her academic grades. It was just “merit” based on U of Arts talent assessment. As others have pointed out, good tech kids are in even higher demand so at some schools you could get aid based on tech talent level and not academic stats.</p>