Why didn't I get in?

aquapt
Mon, 15 May 2017 14:26:53 +0000

Hi, @tenniswimvball - looking at your other posts, it appears that your D qualifies for at least a small-to-moderate amount of need-based FA - am I reading that correctly? That may actually explain the lack of merit scholarship, more so than issues of “type.” When I looked at the Common Data Set, I found that the overlap between merit aid and need-based aid at Scripps is unusually small. A lot of schools will give both merit and need-based aid to the same student, but few actually “stack” the two, so typically the merit $ comes off the top of the need-based award and the student ends up paying the same EFC in spite of the merit scholarship. Based on the stats, it seems that Scripps doesn’t believe in giving merit awards that are going to be “absorbed” into a FA package - they give merit awards primarily to students who wouldn’t otherwise get aid. So, if your D got FA $ from Scripps, I wouldn’t take the lack of merit scholarship as any kind of referendum on how much they liked her; they just tend not to give redundant merit $ to FA recipients.

FWIW, my D (who got a merit scholarship from Scripps but would have been full-pay otherwise… and who wouldn’t have committed to Scripps without at least some merit aid) does not fit the Social Justice Warrior profile by any stretch. She’s a thoughtful kid with a conscience, but not particularly political or drawn to “protest” type activities. Her EC’s have been primarily sports and performing arts. The amount of protest activity she encountered when she visited (the week before admitted students day) was not a “draw” for her, but also not off-putting enough to sour her on what otherwise looks like an excellent fit. We know several older students at Scripps who are not heavily invested in the “SJW” aspect of campus life and who don’t perceive that the most vocal activists on campus are the majority. It seems very possible to strike a balance and choose one’s battles - lots of students are far more focused on their education than on activism (including quite a few pre-meds in Keck Science).

I can’t blame you for feeling slighted about the merit aid (we were in a similar position with Northeastern, which was a sentimental favorite for my D but offered a stingy merit package with no $ until sophomore year)… but I suspect their decision could have been more about the merit/FA overlap issue than about “type.” Sounds like she got some other fantastic offers, so congrats!!