You know how high schools like to total all scholarships offered to the graduating class?

[Pegasus]

I recently did that for DD18 and it is a surprisingly impressive number!  Of course, there is no way to actually claim and receive all of them.

 

If you want to try it, add up all the offered scholarships from all sources (DD's are from the state lottery and the schools she applied to, none of the outside scholarships came through).  Be sure to multiply by the number of years the scholarship would be offered.

 

DD's total is just over $70,000

[teachermom2834]

My first ds earned close to a million I think I figured out. Which is really just a statement on how expensive college is. Crazy.

 

(He applied to ten schools, 8 of which were expensive private schools and also got a significant outside scholarship and state funds).

 

My current senior applied to fewer school and only one private school and it came to something like $174,000.

Edited February 28, 2018 by teachermom2834

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Yeah my kids had a nice number too.

 

Our closest high school does an awards assembly for seniors during which they post scholarship totals on the giant screen as the senior walks across the court to applause. It amused me to imagine this for my kids.

[Gwen in VA]

Hurray for merit aid! :hurray:

 

Edited February 28, 2018 by Gwen in VA

[Mabelen]

Off the top of my head, it was well north of $300,000. She did apply to several universities chasing merit. Several were full out of state tuition and fees, so those add up quickly!

[luuknam]

Our closest high school does an awards assembly for seniors during which they post scholarship totals on the giant screen as the senior walks across the court to applause. It amused me to imagine this for my kids.

 

 

You mean each kid's total as they walk across the court? Ick. Is that common? Maybe it's me being foreign, but that just seems in such poor taste to me... Maybe I'm misunderstanding?

[catz]

You mean each kid's total as they walk across the court? Ick. Is that common? Maybe it's me being foreign, but that just seems in such poor taste to me... Maybe I'm misunderstanding?

 

:ack2:   Ick.  Not a fan.

 

I'm not sure the number is always very meaningful anyway.  Lots of school fudge numbers between need and merit aid.  Some schools are need only.    Schools with bigger endowments can be more generous without a kid necessarily being more academically or financially deserving, etc.  The whole thing is a big numbers game. 

 

[Corraleno]

:ack2:   Ick.  Not a fan.

 

I'm not sure the number is always very meaningful anyway.  Lots of school fudge numbers between need and merit aid.  Some schools are need only.    Schools with bigger endowments can be more generous without a kid necessarily being more academically or financially deserving, etc.  The whole thing is a big numbers game.

 

I agree. How are those numbers meaningful if a kid who was accepted to multiple Ivies would have a zero, while a kid who applied to a dozen lower-level schools with generous merit would have a huge number? And if they include need-based aid in the numbers, then it's really pointing out the poor kids as much or more than the scholarship kids. Not to mention making kids who aren't going to college, either by choice or because they can't afford it at all, feel like crap.  :sad: 

Edited March 2, 2018 by Corraleno

[Sebastian (a lady)]

You mean each kid's total as they walk across the court? Ick. Is that common? Maybe it's me being foreign, but that just seems in such poor taste to me... Maybe I'm misunderstanding?

I don't know what's common. I know the screen posted private scholarships and scholarships from the school they were headed to.

[DawnM]

Not even comparable.

 

So dependent on how many schools you apply to, how many expensive ones, etc.....

 

Son #1 has a very impressive number for his ONE school he applied to, in fact, his scholarship is more than 100% tuition of son #2s state options with no scholarship amount.

 

 

[Guest]

:ack2: Ick. Not a fan.

 

I'm not sure the number is always very meaningful anyway. Lots of school fudge numbers between need and merit aid. Some schools are need only. Schools with bigger endowments can be more generous without a kid necessarily being more academically or financially deserving, etc. The whole thing is a big numbers game.

 

Yeah, I would not like that, either. The only number that matters to me is how much we must PAY, not how much we are offered. It’s like those stores where the cashier gives you the receipt and circles the “You saved $102.14!†It’s so meaningless. All that is is a representation of how much they claimed the shoes, underwear and jacket would cost full price - but it is moot, because I would not have bought those items at those prices.

 

I hope my kid’s school never does that!

[Lecka]

They did that at my high school but only at a scholarship program held in the evening. They did it for a few kids receiving scholarships to make them sound impressive.

 

I think a negative of it is some people would focus on the scholarship amount and not the net cost.

 

I got a scholarship that didn’t sound impressive in those terms, but I definitely had a lower cost than some students who had much more impressive numbers.

 

Also at the time some classmates were accepted to Plan 2 Honors at UT Austin which was very prestigious at the time. But it wouldn’t “sound†impressive to people who didn’t know what it was, because it didn’t have some big dollar figure like a private school could have.

 

Then there is also the issue of how many schools students applied to. Someone who applied early decision and was accepted would also sound less impressive.

 

It would be different if it were all outside scholarships that would apply to any school. I think that is how it comes across to a lot of people, who don’t know what the “offered†means.

 

I think it was fine for everyone, except one girl received a scholarship that sounded amazing, but then her parents thought they still could not afford the school, and she had to explain a lot why she wasn’t going to attend that school even though she got what sounded like an impressive scholarship.