I spoke to UDel admissions recently and they said they do hope to get the merit out by the 5th. The FAFSA continues to causes problems. I’m surprised they are connected, but the counselor mentioned it so it must be the case.
They also said batches of honors invites should come every Friday for a while.
Then I saw this thread… who knows!!!
Is there a checklist somewhere of what to do and when? Some schools have this and it’s helpful. Like when to fill out housing forms, set up school ID, next steps etc
Waiting for registration to open up for Admitted students day as well.
What does merit have to do with FAFSA?
That’s what we are wondering. The rep couldn’t explain it but he said it
I understand. It sounds like an excuse to push out their merit timelines. Doesn’t seem like a good way to attract the top students away from other schools. Unless they’re re-working / increasing their merit awards? A girl can dream…
UDel does not require FAFSA info for merit scholarships.
Other (larger) state flagships, like UMass Amherst, are on track and providing merit decisions on time.
So my son is still waiting for an initial response. Applied early action end of October. He got a request for midterm grades, which he submitted. I read EA applications were supposed to have responses by today (January 31st.) Is that extended is they’re still considering midterm grades?
Colleges have different timelines to release merit decisions, different timelines for acceptances. I’m pretty sure Rutgers, UMD and Clemson have not released merit or honors decisions yet.
Why not call Admissions and let them check on the status of the application?
I contacted them as well and I was told it could be as late as mid-March so it does sound like it’s somewhat connected
My older some received his merit offer in late November last year. He did not file for FAFSA. Something about their process has changed this year.
Right, hopefully full pay students don’t get shafted in the process because no one said anything about requiring FAFSA for merit.
Merit is a recruiting tool.
Requiring a FAFSA for merit scholarship consideration would be a big change that would be communicated. The UDel scholarship webpages don’t note any shifts, we’ve re-checked.
Sounds like the UDel merit process may involve balancing merit aid packages, to include scholarship awards as well as grants. There are likely several academic scholarships that are hybrid - considering acadmics & need.
Understand that FAFSA delays impact need aid packages - for a full view of aid and costs.
But UDel’s delay - pushing out timelines for merit info - is very disappointing.
If UMass is on track with its merit award process, why not UDel?
This whole FAFSA thing has wreaked havoc on every college we’ve spoken too. Keep in mind they work in a regulated environment where they have to report out to the Dept of Education on the whole CDS, Pell Grants, etc.
My guess ….they have all of this automated and they cannot easily change directions. In my experience, software is often built on top of shaky foundations and every school has its own automation tools. I’m speculating, but perhaps if there is even one element of the FAFSA involved in the holistic process of merit/need (as someone suggested above), without it the whole house of cards falls down. They may even have a manual process they can fallback but likely that kind of churn slows everything down.
My teams write and deploy software for complex problems and AI. Everything imaginable can go wrong under even the best circumstances. I laugh (cry?) everyday I get into my wife’s car and her Apple car play won’t connect if she goes into reverse too soon because I know there’s a software bug that no one fixed. And this is much more complicated.
Yep, UNH, UVM, UMass, Pitt have all sent.
Though I recall Delaware having us check a box in their portal specifically saying we weren’t seeking financial aid, which seemed odd at the time. Should have been our first clue that this would be delayed due to Fafsa.
This is my frustration! D24 got merit packages from Vermont and UMass Amherst with the admissions offer. She got admitted to Delaware in November and still no word…
Ok, I called FA office and asked specifically about merit. She said that is coming out separately from need based aid. Merit will come out mid Feb. Need based will be later and is delayed due to govt releasing to schools.
There is also supposed to be a webinar at 7pm tonight so I asked to be added. Not sure why we didn’t get invite.
The invite is on the Portal.
Got it thanks!
Today we got the Honors College letter and an invitation to apply for Scholars and Fellows in the mail.
We just got a notice in the portal with a decision day of February 2, the original admit letter came 8 weeks ago. This must be the honors decision. Well at least now i know what day it is coming