I follow Lynn O'Shaughnessy's blog, THE COLLEGE SOLUTION. This article about college scholarships was written by her friend, Michelle, and it is the best synopsis of the merit money process. I added a few words of my own in this article. There are many myths surrounding scholarships and merit money, but my go to source especially for all financial discussions is The COLLEGE SOLUTION. Here is a synopsis of Michelle's article.
1. The biggest source of scholarships will come from a college.
Many families think that students should be applying to dozens of scholarships to get the most money for college. The reality is that the colleges themselves provide the largest amount of scholarships for the students that attend their schools.
This means that you should carefully target which colleges to apply to so that you increase your chances of receiving a scholarship.
2. The most prestigious, competitive, highly ranked colleges do not provide any merit-based scholarships.
These colleges and universities will often provide very generous need-based financial aid. To receive such aid, families must qualify by filing the FAFSA or the CSS PROFILE and demonstrate financial need.
Students do not receive scholarships because of high GPA’s or test scores or outstanding activities. The Ivy League doesn’t even provide athletic scholarships. The lower the admission rate, the less likely the school is to offer merit scholarships.
3. Private colleges provide the most money.
Everyone knows that private colleges cost more than your state school. But what most people don’t know is that private colleges provide a lot more scholarships than state schools.
According to Sallie Mae, in 2012, 35% of students attending a public four-year university received an average of $5,785 in merit scholarships while 55% of those attending a private school received an average of $12,274.
4. Outside scholarships can affect financial aid.
According to federal rules, if you receive an outside scholarship, colleges have to adjust your financial aid package so that the total amount of aid does not exceed the school’s cost of attendance by more than $300.
Schools are not required to use outside scholarships to reduce the amount of a student’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Many schools will use outside scholarships to reduce the amount of loans that are awarded as part of the student aid package but again, they are not required to.You will have to check with each school to find out their policy on outside scholarships.
5. Colleges use scholarships to attract students to their institutions.
This explains why the Ivy League and other competitive schools do not offer merit scholarships-they have no problem attracting a diverse, highly qualified, group of applicants. Colleges that want to increase their diversity or raise the academic qualifications of their admitted classes offer merit scholarships.
A Californian applying to a school in Minnesota adds to the diversity. Musicians and artists applying to liberal arts colleges add to the diversity. Students interested in social entrepreneurship add to the diversity. A student applying to her flagship state university generally does not add to the diversity.
6. You don’t have to have perfect test scores or straight A’s.
However, SAT scores do count in many situations, so I suggest that students prepare and practice for the tests so that they can achieve a 600 in critical reading, math and writing.
And then there’s Sewanee, The University of South, which is test optional and offers up to 100 Wilkins Scholarships of $14,000 to students in a freshman class that averages around 450 students. They’re being awarded on something other than test scores.
7. The chances of getting a sports scholarship are not good. Simple as that.
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