Hi! Our son is a rising senior and his top choice is Miami. He’s considering applying ED1, but we were curious if merit aid is given during this round? And if so, how likely it is to get merit when applying ED? I don’t think we’ll qualify for financial aid, so that is why we wanted to ask.
Thanks for any insights!
You might check old Miami threads to see.
In general, one shouldn’t ED if they “want” or “hope for” a merit scholarship.
Merit is the way for a university to buy kids in who won’t go there. It’s their marketing or incentive budget. Why spend if it’s not necessary and it’s not on ED since those kids are bound.
Most say - and Miami does too - that ED can get merit - and it’s smart of them to toss out at least a few - so that kids don’t avoid ED - because schools love ED. Why wouldn’t you - it’s a guaranteed butt in seat.
My daughter’s year - everyone she knew (5 or 6) got $25K. None were ED but that’s a small sample.
Hopefully if you read past year threads, you’ll see examples yay or nay to help inform you.
Last year of 48,000 applied. 1,645 applied ED. What percentage were athletes I don’t know - but the ED acceptance rate was very high (60%) vs. 18.5% overall.
Men, by the way, are admitted at 22% vs. 16% for females - so there’s an advantage that you have a son. Far few men than women apply (last year 28K+ female to 19K male.
Not what you asked for but never ED if you “want” money. But look at past year threads to see if anyone provided the answer you need.
We just got off waitlist but spring admit. No merit so likely sticking with schools selected
Thanks! Very good insights. We went through some of the past threads. It sounds like some got merit in ED, but really hard to tell how common it is. Were the stats you posted for Fall 2023 or Fall 2024? I hadn’t seen any stats out yet for 2024 yet, so was just curious.
‘23 - go to section C
In general no one should ED if they have an expectation of non-need aid.
U Miami has both ED and EA due at the same time as there are some merit scholarships offered in those early rounds. It sounds like EA is your safer bet. As you run the net price calculators look at the off campus housing prices in Miami. While they are redoing and building more on campus housing they do not make any promises for all 4 years (except to an elite few - athletes, etc…)
From their site for November 1:
EARLY DECISION I is our early, binding application option for applicants who are committed to attending UM if admitted.†
EARLY ACTION is our early, non-binding application option.
On the merit page, they remind you to apply early- For the premier scholarships they must apply by November 1. EA is considered early.
And remember, they expect the CSS and FAFSA to be done by November 15. (Prepare yourself…They asked additional questions on the CSS that no one else asked - like what kind of cars we have.)
hmmm - we applied there - I don’t remember that one!!!
But I have a short memory.
My daughter was deferred - and then got the $25K all seemed to get - in RD.
Yes, that was fascinating to me and very Miami - it is such a car city - lol.
They were also the only ones who freaked out that we had not physically signed our tax returns we did ourselves and filed online in turbo tax. I had to reload them into the CSS/IDOC system. She had several offers from higher ranked places that did not ever ask for that to be done.
Thanks. Does the FAFSA/CSS profile need to be completed if you aren’t applying for financial aid? We’ve heard that some schools require it even for merit scholarships.
Also, do you know if Miami knows if you apply for financial aid in admissions?
No - all first year are considered. If you don’t want to do fafsa/css/idoc, you don’t need to. You could always call admission to verify.
909 of 2328 first years received merit averaging just shy of $25k.
847 got need aid (grant) so only 1/3 so a very wealthy student body I presume. Of those 847, 605 got merit too.
This is helpful math. Thanks! So - About 600 triggered both merit and need. So only about 300 received merit with no other need based aid. This is important for merit hunters who are most likely full pay.
UMiami loves their full pay early applicants.
They can only afford about 1/3, or less perhaps of their enrollment, having financial need. Everyone I know accepted in recent years with need, did have UMiami come very close to their EFC - but for middle and upper middle class that is where the gaps exists with what we can really afford.
From their site they have restated they are need aware. For a short window of time they were leaning towards need blind a little, but their financial realities dictated otherwise. This also explains deferrals and waitlists.
From the site:
Since 2016, the University has committed to meeting a greater percent of an admitted student’s demonstrated financial need. However, the University’s approach to financial aid had resulted in a small number of admitted students experiencing a gap between what their family could afford (i.e., Expected Family Contribution) and the Cost of Attendance. This gap will now be eliminated, thus increasing the range of admitted students who will be able to attend the University.
In order to eliminate this gap, like other selective institutions, the University is adopting need-aware admission. Using institutional methodology, financial need will be considered in the application review process for a limited number of applicants to ensure financial aid is awarded to those admitted students with financial need who have the greatest likelihood of academic success. Meeting 100 percent of demonstrated financial need for all admitted students is a priority of the University of Miami along with ensuring graduating students are not burdened by debt.
UMiami loves their full pay, early applicants the most, so you do not need to submit FAFSA or the CSS if you do not plan on applying for aid.
They are need aware for admissions which does benefit your applicant. (see my separate response to another post.) They will be less than sympathetic if you try to tell them a year from now without merit awarded, you have need for additional aid
Here is a clear outline of what must be done and optional items:
I hope I got the math right - all from the CDS section Section H.
Thanks for the insight, my daughter is also seriously considering UMiami. Any idea what (if any) the acceptance rate advantage would be for EA vs RD?
According to US News and WR, “University of Miami admissions has an acceptance rate of 19% and an early acceptance rate of 57.1%.”
Apply EA/ED to be considered for any major merit scholarships.
Last year, per the CDS, 1645 applied ED and 986 were accepted. 60%.
48246 total applied so take out the 1645 and you get 46,641.
8940 total admits so take out 986 and you get 7954.
So in non-ED, 17% were admitted.
Again, they have lots of sports teams and other programs so we don’t know how many of those 986 were givens.
But their ratio of ED to other time frames isn’t very high.