Hi there. Congrats to ED admits! I was wondering if any would be willing to share whether they received merit aid? Older son applied EA last year and got $17k/yr presidential, decided to go elsewhere. Younger son wants to apply ED next fall, but I’m wondering if they really do give merit aid to ED admits as readily as for EA and RD. (I know schools claim to do this, but I don’t know why they would.)
Is there any reason he needs to ED vs EA from a getting in POV?
Admit rates are better for ED.
And include athletes and other hooked kids. ED is typically overstated admit rate wise.
If your student is well above the averages, it won’t be an issue.
No one should expect merit with ED. Even if they’ve given b4, with budget issues, they could change.
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If your son is a strong enough student to qualify for significant merit aid from UVM, then I would at least expect admissions to be safe whether applying ED, EA, or RD.
One daughter was interested in UVM, out of state. The NPC predicted merit aid. I think that she applied EA (it was not ED). She was awarded exactly what the NPC predicted, went there, did well, loved it, and is currently in the fourth and final year of a very good graduate program (DVM). UVM prepared her very well for the DVM program where she is currently enrolled (which is of course elsewhere since UVM does not have a DVM program).
We didn’t let her apply ED for the simple reason that we needed the presidential merit scholarship for it to fit our budget.
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Agreed. In this scenario, there’s no benefit to applying ED.
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My kid received presidential scholarship with ED acceptance which was exactly as expected based on the net cost calculator. It seems to be based solely on GPA and test scores.
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I get it.
But colleges, including UVM, have budget issues.
I’m simply saying what if they changed because on ED they don’t have to give.
You don’t want to be caught.
Not saying they will but they can.
The past is no guarantee of the future.
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UVM appears to give the same merit to ED and EA (unsure of RD) which matches predicted merit based on the net price calculator. You just need to enter GPA and test scores.
UVM was far and away my kid’s top choice so it was an easy decision to apply ED even if outcome was likely to be the same EA. It meant a decision 12/2 Vs late December. It also saved extra work writing the essay for the honors college for another school to which she had been accepted (for that school, kids are invited to apply to the honors college after being accepted and they would have needed to submit the essay in December but was able to wait on the UVM decision).
But if a kid is really excited about UVM, but it’s not a 100% top choice, as another poster suggested, demonstrated interest is considered so incorporating why UVM is a perfect fit into the supplemental essay could help a borderline candidate. And if an applicant is strong and likely to be accepted ED or EA, the merit is the same, so doesn’t need to be factored into the decision. (However, if applying next year. Once EA decisions are released, you can ask on the board whether anyone’s merit was higher/lower than predicted and by how much in case I’m incorrect).
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Of course nothing is guaranteed so anyone who 100% has to know exact net price should not apply ED.
But if there’s some wiggle room, changes are very unlikely to be substantial given how predictable UVM has been since at least 2018, and based on their current strategic plan (a drastic change in merit would likely change their yield and quality of students).
Some schools have very predictable merit and some do not (eg a quick search of Boulder shows that merit aid seems to be variable and to be based on more than just gpa/test scores given people who have posted stats and were or were not awarded merit).
This is a helpful spreadsheet of colleges, % receiving merit aid among non need based kids and all, avg aid etc.
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FWIW, this question was addressed on last week’s Your College Bound Kid podcast in an interview with the Director of Admissions at Connecticut College, which gives lots of merit and also has ED. He gave two reasons that ED applicants still get strong merit: (1) We couldn’t sleep at night if we were shortchanging the students who love us most, and (2) If word got out that ED applicants don’t receive competitive merit awards, far fewer future applicants would apply ED, which would defeat the purpose of having it. Personally, I’m skeptical of the first one, but the second makes sense. YMMV.
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On a campus tour visit the summer before last year’s admissions cycle, the morning presenters discouraged applying ED and stressed that there was no advantage over EA. I’ll echo that the NPC accurately predicted merit aid for EA. Honors College is another story.
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Yes, this is a mystery. Last year, my kid and a friend with very similar applications from the same HS in terms of rigor, grades, and type of activities (slight edge to my kid in all) were admitted EA with top merit, but the friend was admitted to Honors, and my kid was not.
Unlike merit, where they are very transparent, Honors is much more of a black box.
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That’s funny. We met him at their fall visit day, as I can absolutely hear him saying #1, though agree #2 is more credible. Thanks!
I didn’t know about the NPC before I posted my inquiry - but I then tried it with my older son’s stats (admitted EA last year and got presidential schol, albeit not the maximum), and it was correct to the dollar. Wow.
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