<p>Hello, I’m from a suburban town in CT. NEU is currently my top choice. I like the co-op, location, and honors program…Any feedback on honors program and merit scholarship possibilities for me b/c of the high price? Also, b/c my school uses deciles, how will admissions know which side of that range u fall in?</p>
<p>GPA: 4.24 (4.5 is A+ in AP) including electives
Rank: School does deciles so Top 10% (i think near Top 5)
SAT Reasoning: 1390 : (690 V, 700 M) [650 on W but 12 Essay]
SAT IIs: 700 Math IC, 700 USH, 660 Bio M, 650 Chem : /</p>
<p>APs:
Chem - 3 (10th)
Bio - 5 (11th)
US History - 5 (11th)
Eng Lang - 4 (11th)
Senior Year - Calc AB, Stat, Western Civ, Eng Lit, and Physics</p>
<p>ECs
-Student Council (4 yrs) - Treasurer
-Senior Class President
-Key Club (4 yrs) - President
-Neighbors Helping Neighbors - Senior Leader
-Science NHS - Treasurer
-NHS, French NHS
-Student Advisory Board
-Smaller clubs (Chem, Math League, French, History - all 4 years)
-Anti-Defamation League “Truth About Hate” Facilitator (2 yrs)
-2006 CT Boys State Delegate @ ECSU
-Varsity Lacrosse (Attackman)
-Multiple State Leadership Conferences</p>
<p>Awards
-AP Scholar w/ Distinction
-Dept. Awards in History and French
-High Honor Roll
-St. Michael’s College Book Award for Scholarship and Service
-Nominated by faculty for Prudential Spirit of Community Award</p>
<p>Community Service/Work Experience
-VA Medical Center - Summer '05 & '06
-Key Club
-Neighbors Helping Neighbors
-Nat’l Honor Society
-Babysitting
-Relay for Life
-Math and Reading Center
-Restaurant (Cashier/Waiter) - Summer '05 & '06</p>
<p>If you can bump your SAT scores a bit, you should be able to get into honors program, depending on what major you are interested in. Read the other threads on this board…one advantage if you do get in the honors program: a pretty nice new dorm, and fairly small classes even in your intro/101 classes…</p>
<p>Supposedly the “secret” cutoff last year was an SAT of 1360 as in if you don’t have that score, you won’t even be considered. I read that figure somewhere and it held true b/c I know someone who didn’t qualify b/c of a 1300 SAT but had good EC’s and a very high average but other’s who got 1360 and had lower avgerages and less EC’s. Northeastern’s applicant pool is getting more competitive each year, so chances are the 1360 cutoff may go up.</p>
<p>I can’t believe a school like NEU would base honors program criteria solely on SAT score? Maybe I’m naive. What about class rank in that formula, any insight?</p>
<p>nellboy219, I have no idea what you are talking about. For all posters above, the merit scholarships seem to depend on what your declared major is, what area of the country you are from, your SAT scores, your class rank etc. I really don’t think there is a magic cut off or set formula.</p>
<p>SAT is definitely not the sole factor. It is just that you won’t be considered for honors unless your score is at or exceeds 1360 (at least it was that way last year). If you have stronger GPA, EC’s & courseload w/ a 1360 than an applicant w/ a score a little bit higher, you’d probably stand a better chance of getting in.</p>
<p>In terms of merit scholarship, Northeastern also does something tricky. Two of my friends from my high school go to Northeastern with me. One had a considerably higher GPA and lots of EC’s but lower SAT. This person was such a strong applicant that they were waitlisted to an Ivy League school. The other one had a decent GPA, good SATs and some EC’s. The one with the higher GPA (around 3.9, 1300 SAT) got LESS scholarship than the one with a lower GPA (3.3, 1360). However, the one w/ the higher GPA got more merit aid while the other got less, so in total they received similar amounts of money. My theory is that Northeastern believes the student receiving the heftier scholarship is more likely to fall below the 3.0 gpa required to maintain it so they can relinquish more tuition. I know it sounds sadistic. I know colleges supposedly make financial aid decisions separately from admissions. But this is just my theory…</p>
<p>QNYergirl, you are using the terms “merit aid” and “scholarship” as if they are two totally different things. I thought they were in fact the same. I’m sure someone will set me straight.</p>
<p>They are completely two different things. Merit aid is solely a “we want you to come to our school” and kids can get that who have zero financial need. Scholarship is based on financial need. Some students get one but not the other, some get a combination of the two.</p>
<p>My apologies if I made it sound as if merit aid and scholarship were two different things. </p>
<p>My point/theory was just that Northeastern gave more merit aid to a less qualified applicant and more financial aid to the more qualified one, but in total they’d be paying the same amount, and the reason for this is because they feel the less qualified applicant (although still a strong one) would be more likely to lose their scholarship.</p>
<p>ebeeee, thanks for the clarification. However, its the first time I’ve heard scholarship being defined as based on financial need. Scholarship is merit based, financial aid is need based… am I wrong?</p>
<p>My S received both a Dean’s scholarship which requires him to maintain a 3.0 GPA, and a grant. In order to keep his grant each year, he will need to resubmit a FAFSA; I don’t recall if we were told the same about the scholarship. I had always viewed the first as merit aid and the second as financial aid. Are you saying that many of these scholarships are actually financial aid? (ie the amount was determined by need, not his high school grades/tests). I actually have felt that they may be a combination since I have also heard of a few instances where honors students received less scholarship money than non-honors students.</p>
<p>I think we are dealing with a semantics problem here. Rated PG, I think you are actually right. The bottom line is that there is need based aid and merit based aid no matter what you call them. Not sure I agree with previous poster that the school actually gives merit to less qualified applicants becaues they will get more tuition when the merit based applicant can’t keep up the gpa. That seems a bit of a stretch to me.</p>