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CarolynLawrence
Administrator
| Joined: | Sun Mar 5th, 2006 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 3197 |
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Posted: Fri Mar 16th, 2007 03:01 am |
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Hamilton College announced today that it is ending its merit scholarship program, effective with the incoming freshman class of 2008:
http://collegehunt.blogspot.com/2007/03/hamilton-college-ends-merit.html
This comes on the heels of some heated discussion in the college admissions community about the pro's and con's of merit scholarships. I would not be surprised if a few colleges follow Hamilton's suit in the next few months or so.
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Cindy
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| Joined: | Thu Mar 9th, 2006 |
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| Posts: | 45 |
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Posted: Wed Mar 21st, 2007 12:11 am |
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What do you want to bet that they quietly revert to merit awards sooner rather than later? It's just such a competitive field for schools at the level of Hamilton.
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CarolynLawrence
Administrator
| Joined: | Sun Mar 5th, 2006 |
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Posted: Wed Mar 21st, 2007 12:56 am |
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Well, after Davidson's announcement about doing away with loans, maybe Hamilton will follow suit. 
After looking at the numbers, Hamilton was really giving out very few merit awards - offering them to between 3 and 5% of admitted students, and a similar proportion of enrolled students took them up on it. My cynical side is showing, but I am wondering if they didn't do away with merit because it really wasn't making a huge difference for them.
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jocelynDAD
Member
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Posted: Wed Mar 21st, 2007 12:30 pm |
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Carolyn:
Exactly my thoughts. We visited Hamilton (and Colgate) last fall, both had few merit scholatships available, but made large notice about them.
Frankly, it was a come-on to those whose family could afford the school. Need-based Financial Aid is strong at both schools, so a really qualified student with need got aid and the similar person without need could 'afford' the tuition.
BTW as if anyone really could afford the expense at either of these schools. ($40,000+) 
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rhumbob
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| Joined: | Mon Mar 20th, 2006 |
| Location: | California USA |
| Posts: | 66 |
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Posted: Fri Mar 23rd, 2007 03:07 pm |
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It doesn't matter whether these schools call it merit aid, need based aid, rebates, refunds, or lolla-palooza super specials. In order to attract middle class students there will have to be some way of reducing the high cost of attending a private school. They are playing games with semantics.
The "college suggested retail price" is fine for high income / high net worth families. From what I see in my clients (I am a CPA in northern CA) the FAFSA expected contribution for middle class families can be a nearly impossible burden..without merit aid private schools are pretty much off the table unless mom and dad are willing to forfeit their future with the hopes that junior succeeds in school / career.
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WestrnMom
Super Moderator
| Joined: | Fri May 26th, 2006 |
| Location: | West Coast, USA |
| Posts: | 1162 |
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Posted: Fri Mar 23rd, 2007 04:16 pm |
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This school is listed on US News as in the "most selective" category so their admissions may not be affected much by getting rid of merit aid. I don't think many other schools will follow, as merit aid is often the one deciding factor when parents are looking at final aid packages. I would not send a child to a private school without merit aid.
Rhumbob, I don't understand the FAFSA calculations at all. I know of very few families who don't have high EFCs in California because the costs of living are so much higher, yet most of those families can't afford to pay for a full ride to college without some type of aid. FAFSA is supposedly adjusted to include cost of living in states like CA or NY but I didn't see that. In fact, I tested the EFC calculator on the CC site, putting in different numbers and different factors, changing only one item at a time, such as age of parents, and the differences in totals were negligible.
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Northeastmom
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Posted: Sat Mar 24th, 2007 03:39 pm |
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| rhumbob and westernmom I agree with both of you regarding the fafsa. The profile was even a little bit worse for us last year.
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