Does applying to only one college adversely affect merit awards?

[plansrme]

I mentioned this (exaggerating slightly) in the thread on the Common App's new question, but I am having the darndest time getting my HS junior to consider schools other than Georgia Tech.  She is a shoo-in for admission, but the question of the hour is whether her failure to apply to any other schools would adversely affect awards of merit aid.  She would already be tuition-free at Tech as long as she keeps her GPA up (not a problem so far, after six DE classes).  I will be shocked if she is even a semi-finalist for their 50 full ride Presidential Scholarships because, although her academic stats are easily in the necessary vicinity, her extracurriculars are not even close.  Short of Presidential, though, there are numerous other smaller but still significant awards.  Even without the Common App's asking, Tech will know (if they want to look) where else she is applying because they will be able to see where she's had DE transcripts sent.  Any thoughts on whether they would think, "No need to give her a scholarship; she's already bought what we're selling"?  

 

Being the Big Mean Mom that I am, I plan to insist that she pick three schools to visit, but it is going to be a tough sell.  She loves Tech because it's not high school.  My noting, repeatedly, that none of these other fine colleges are high school, either, has not swayed her.

[regentrude]

  Even without the Common App's asking, Tech will know (if they want to look) where else she is applying because they will be able to see where she's had DE transcripts sent.

 

I highly doubt that. Do I understand it correctly that she did DE at Tech?

I don't think the people at the registrar's who are in charge of sending transcripts will communicate this information to the people in admissions. I find it highly unlikely that admissions will request, and sift through, this info to identify the handful of students who did DE and are applying, to sleuth out whether they are applying anywhere else.

 

 

[plansrme]

I can speak only from our own experience, so others might contradict what I say.

 

My two oldest boys applied to only one college each.  They both received merit aid from those schools.  Qualifications for merit aid at these schools are well defined, so if the student meets those parameters then they receive the merit aid, period. 

 

So for us, no, it did not matter that they applied to only one school.

 

The merit aid in question here is not well-defined.  I like well-defined; this is not.

[plansrme]

Maybe you are thinking of financial aid packages (versus merit aid)?  Because I think that might be affected, but I'm not sure.

 

Nope, definitely just merit scholarships.

[plansrme]

I highly doubt that. Do I understand it correctly that she did DE at Tech?

I don't think the people at the registrar's who are in charge of sending transcripts will communicate this information to the people in admissions. I find it highly unlikely that admissions will request, and sift through, this info to identify the handful of students who did DE and are applying, to sleuth out whether they are applying anywhere else.

 

I'm not thinking admissions will know but that the committees, departments, etc. who award scholarships will.  If they pull up her record, it doesn't seem like a stretch that they will be able to see where her transcript has gone (or has not gone, in our case).  We can see that on her high school transcript, and I would expect Georgia Tech's system to be significantly more sophisticated than her high school's system.

[snowbeltmom]

I'm not thinking admissions will know but that the committees, departments, etc. who award scholarships will.  If they pull up her record, it doesn't seem like a stretch that they will be able to see where her transcript has gone (or has not gone, in our case).  We can see that on her high school transcript, and I would expect Georgia Tech's system to be significantly more sophisticated than her high school's system.

 

I don't think it is a stretch to think that the admissions would also know where else your dd's DE transcript was sent.  From what I have read, merit aid is used to attract high stat kids.  If a school were to know that it was guaranteed to get a student because she wasn't applying anywhere else, I would not think that there would be any reason to offer merit aid in that situation.

 

[chiguirre]

She would already be tuition-free at Tech as long as she keeps her GPA up (not a problem so far, after six DE classes).

Full tuition is a substantial merit award. Would she be competitive for more than that at other schools as good as Tech? A full ride is awesome, but full tuition is nothing to sneeze at. She could cover her living expenses with a part time job, especially if she can live at home.

[plansrme]

Full tuition is a substantial merit award. Would she be competitive for more than that at other schools as good as Tech? A full ride is awesome, but full tuition is nothing to sneeze at. She could cover her living expenses with a part time job, especially if she can live at home.

 

Yes, she is competitive for full rides at many other schools.  We can afford to pay her on-campus living expenses, but like any other expense, I would rather not incur it unnecessarily.  I would rather save it and subsidize her quality of life while she's in graduate school, for instance.  She will not be living at home if she goes to Tech.  She would move out today if I would let her.

 

Eta:  The full tuition is not a merit award.  It's Georgia's HOPE scholarship program.  A student with half her stats would get the exactly same thing.  

[Teachin'Mine]

I would recommend that she get more involved on campus to help her eligibility for more merit aid.  And also because it's fun and gets them more connected which is great, especially if she plans to continue there.  No idea though about other applications helping with merit aid.  It might not hurt to encourage her to apply to a couple others if you think it might help them to compete for her.   With twice as many men as women, she might have an edge too.

[clementine]

I can speak only from our own experience, so others might contradict what I say.

 

My two oldest boys applied to only one college each.  They both received merit aid from those schools.  Qualifications for merit aid at these schools are well defined, so if the student meets those parameters then they receive the merit aid, period. 

 

So for us, no, it did not matter that they applied to only one school.

 

:iagree:   This was the same for us. 

[katilac]

I will answer your question from a slightly different angle: I have no problem telling my kids that they have to apply to at least x number of schools (in our case, that would be at least 3). They can make the final decision within our financial ability, but it's not going to kill them to fill out 2 additional applications. 

 

In addition to the fact that they are very young and a year can make a big difference in their thinking, a great aid offer from one school can sometimes result in a slightly better offer from the other school. 

 

So, I myself would say: We are fine with you going to Georgia Tech. However, you are visiting 3 more schools and filling out 3 more applications. Consider it part of your assigned school work. Now, you can pick these schools, or I can, just let me know. 

[plansrme]

I will answer your question from a slightly different angle: I have no problem telling my kids that they have to apply to at least x number of schools (in our case, that would be at least 3). They can make the final decision within our financial ability, but it's not going to kill them to fill out 2 additional applications. 

 

In addition to the fact that they are very young and a year can make a big difference in their thinking, a great aid offer from one school can sometimes result in a slightly better offer from the other school. 

 

So, I myself would say: We are fine with you going to Georgia Tech. However, you are visiting 3 more schools and filling out 3 more applications. Consider it part of your assigned school work. Now, you can pick these schools, or I can, just let me know. 

 

Well, yes, I will, but I would like to have her buy-in.  

[katilac]

Well, yes, I will, but I would like to have her buy-in.  

 

That would be ideal, but it's already late in the game for a junior to be looking at schools if they hope to get substantial merit aid. Some of the priority deadlines are crazy early! 

 

So that's why I'd go with the executive decision at this point, and try to pick a school or two close enough to visit before the semester ends - that's only 2 weeks from now here!

 

If she's all jazzed about her current DE school 'not being high school,' then an in-person visit to another campus may be just what she needs to carry that excitement over to other schools. 

 

Even my youngest, who initially had no interest in being dragged along on her sister's visits, changed her tune once she got on campus. It's just very different being there in person, especially on an official tour where they are trying to impress you. It's hard to resist the excitement!