Would accepting and paying the deposit…

[mlktwins]

…to a school, prior to merit offers coming out, hurt the student’s chances for merit? I guess I’m thinking if they already know you are coming without merit, why offer merit?  I believe they will find out by mid-Feb on merit. This is a school where early deposits help room/dorm choices. The deposit is refundable prior May 1st.

[Sneezyone]

6 hours ago, mlktwins said:

…to a school, prior to merit offers coming out, hurt the student’s chances for merit? I guess I’m thinking if they already know you are coming without merit, why offer merit?  I believe they will find out by mid-Feb on merit. This is a school where early deposits help room/dorm choices. The deposit is refundable prior May 1st.

Good question. following. We’re waiting on merit from 2nd choice school before paying the deposit. Without the big merit offer, the second school is not worth it. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Edited January 26, 2023 by Sneezyone

[teachermom2834]

I had this question two years ago. I thought my ds should have been in the mix for some competitive merit- at least in the running - but he wasn’t hearing anything. Housing was tight and we did know he would be going regardless so we went ahead and just put the deposit down. I asked the question here and everyone , I think, told me it wouldn’t matter and to go ahead and put the deposit down. 

Ds never did hear anything about competitive merit. He didn’t even get invited to the competition weekend. Then on April 30 he got a call and was offered the premier full ride + scholarship. He had been an alternate all along I guess? 

So I was right that he should have been in the running. No idea what actually went on behind the scenes. Would love to ask someone. I do think it was possible he was on an alternate list all along as someone they knew would accept if offered. His application and everything about him kinda screamed it was his first choice school. I don’t think they were worried about enticing him at any point. He was always going to go there. Who knows what went on behind the scenes?

I see housing issues lots of places being a bigger issue than the slim chance that it would impact merit aid. So I would go ahead and put down the deposit I think.

[ScoutTN]

I have wondered the same thing. 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I would think of need in three categories. 

Need based - School offers assistance based on the student's demonstrated need calculated through FAFSA and/or CSS Profile. Need based aid often leaves students gapped and owing more than their EFC.

Meritorious, competitive aid - These are based on high level student credentials. They might be automatically awarded based on grades (and scores) or have a competitive application with essays and/or interviews. You might mentally lump athletic scholarships here too.

Other Non-Need Based aid - This is money colleges budget to help them fill their incoming class. They might be labeled as a scholarship or grant, but are often given to many students. 

Both need-based and the other non-need based can be appealed. Both can be affected by how much the college thinks it needs to spend to fill their class.

Need-based appeals should be sent to the financial aid office and usually reflect new info about the family's financial situation or needs the student will have. So for example, a recent job loss, high medical expenses, or additional cost to attend (like a computer). 

Non-need based awards tend to be considered by the admissions office. An appeal might consider recent grades or achievements, or awards from other *similar* colleges. The college probably closely tracks what it takes to get certain profiles of student to enroll. 

You can find data about how a college has used their aid budget in the past in section H of the Common Data Set. 

Or look at the spreadsheet Jeff Levy and Jennie Kent put out each year. Some colleges only offer need-based aid. Others award non-need based aid to only a small percentage of students. Still others offer modest non-need basd awards to most students. 

It can also help to look at the college's typical yield. Do they enroll 70-90% of admitted students or more like 15-30%?

Big J Consulting Resources including financial aid spreadsheets. https://www.bigjeducationalconsulting.com/resources

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by Sebastian (a lady)
Adding link

[mlktwins]

43 minutes ago, Sebastian (a lady) said:

I would think of need in three categories. 

Need based - School offers assistance based on the student's demonstrated need calculated through FAFSA and/or CSS Profile. Need based aid often leaves students gapped and owing more than their EFC.

Meritorious, competitive aid - These are based on high level student credentials. They might be automatically awarded based on grades (and scores) or have a competitive application with essays and/or interviews. You might mentally lump athletic scholarships here too.

Other Non-Need Based aid - This is money colleges budget to help them fill their incoming class. They might be labeled as a scholarship or grant, but are often given to many students. 

Both need-based and the other non-need based can be appealed. Both can be affected by how much the college thinks it needs to spend to fill their class.

Need-based appeals should be sent to the financial aid office and usually reflect new info about the family's financial situation or needs the student will have. So for example, a recent job loss, high medical expenses, or additional cost to attend (like a computer). 

Non-need based awards tend to be considered by the admissions office. An appeal might consider recent grades or achievements, or awards from other *similar* colleges. The college probably closely tracks what it takes to get certain profiles of student to enroll. 

You can find data about how a college has used their aid budget in the past in section H of the Common Data Set. 

Or look at the spreadsheet Jeff Levy and Jennie Kent put out each year. Some colleges only offer need-based aid. Others award non-need based aid to only a small percentage of students. Still others offer modest non-need basd awards to most students. 

It can also help to look at the college's typical yield. Do they enroll 70-90% of admitted students or more like 15-30%?

Big J Consulting Resources including financial aid spreadsheets. https://www.bigjeducationalconsulting.com/resources

 

Thanks @Sebastian (a lady)!!!

We will not get need-based money from anywhere so that is not an issue.

We have received pretty decent/good merit from all schools so far except George Mason, who offered $1K per kid 😁. We are hoping to get some non-need based merit from JMU (I've seen that spreadsheet before). It might be hard to pay full price at one school, which is a top choice for one, when other schools have made things a little more affordable (times 2 kids). We will see in the next few weeks.

We know UVA has zero non-need based merit and would expect to pay full price there.