Why Colleges Do & Don’t Give Scholarships

Today we’re talking about why some colleges may offer you scholarship dollars while other colleges may not. When you apply to a college, they’re considering you for admission, but they’re also considering you for merit scholarships based on the strength of your application.

In other words, are you going to make them look good? Are your high grades going to bring up the average GPA of their incoming freshman class? Are your high SAT or ACT scores going to increase the average score range of their incoming first years? Are your application essays so wonderful that they are convinced you would be an excellent member of their student body and someone they want living on their campus next year?

Are you succeeding in your high school’s most academically rigorous courses indicating to the college that you’ll be able to handle the level of academic rigor when you get there? Meaning you are more likely to retain from freshman year to sophomore year. You didn’t drop out or flunk out because the classes were too hard. And meaning that you’re more likely to graduate in four years or fewer.

And all of these statistics are things that help colleges keep or increase their ranking on these ranking lists that colleges and parents and students seem to care so much about. In other words, if they need you more than you need them, they’re more likely to compete for you to get you to choose them over some of their competitors.

But if you get in by the skin of your teeth, meaning you need them more than they need you, then why should they compete for you? You want to go somewhere else, go somewhere else. You weren’t gonna make us look good anyway.

Then there are some top, top colleges where just getting in is amazing and those schools don’t offer merit scholarships to anyone. Your acceptance is your merit award. They may meet your need-based aid to help you afford the education, but no one’s getting a merit scholarship there. So don’t feel bad if you don’t.

And finally, there are some colleges that use merit scholarships as a marketing gimmick. It’s called a markup for a markdown, where they take like a $50,000 value education and slap a $70,000 price tag on it. But then give a hundred percent of the accepted students a $20,000 scholarship bringing it down to the $50,000 it always should have cost.

But how does a high school student feel when somebody offers them $20,000? Pretty good. And sometimes colleges even try to pull a fast one by calling a $20,000 scholarship an $80,000 scholarship – “divided over four years” – they say, real quietly.

So read the fine print carefully, but most importantly, get great grades. Get great test scores, write great essays, take academically rigorous courses, and be willing to choose a college where you would be a rockstar on their campus.

And if you have questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at 732-556-8220. We are here to help.