stats needed for merit scholarships

[lacrossegirl420]

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75th% on msar? 90th? over 90th? assuming not URM, legacy, etc.

 

[srstudent]

I believe "merit" is also considered holistically. Outstanding accomplishments will help you get a merit scholarship over someone with higher stats but bland everything else

 

[Mad Jack]

Depends entirely on the school. NYU gives them out to 100% of students and many schools give them out to 0% of students. Most are in between

 

[Orims]

Geffen at UCLA is merit based and I've seen people get it with a very wide MCAT and GPA range. Seems like selection for merit based scholarships at some schools is very holistic.

 

[LizzyM]

How much is the school willing to give you to go there? How desirable are you? How much of a bidding war will you create? That's really what merit aid comes down to.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

75th% on msar? 90th? over 90th? assuming not URM, legacy, etc.

4.99/549 🙂 Basically if they want you badly and think you won't accept without merit. Same concept as UG merit scholarships.

 

[KnightDoc]

How much is the school willing to give you to go there? How desirable are you? How much of a bidding war will you create? That's really what merit aid comes down to.

This^^^^^. The irony is that it really isn't tied to stats. The schools most impressed by high stats don't have large endowments to fund big programs, while the schools with the most money available for such scholarships already have huge pools of people with high stats, so high stats alone don't distinguish you.

Just go through last year's threads. See which schools gave money, and what type of applicants received it. That's your answer. It's absolutely not tied to MSAR, other than, more likely than not, a high SES White applicant in the bottom 50% is probably not receiving merit money at most schools.

 

[yogglo]

I’m below avg mcat, high gpa, orm and I got a merit scholarship at my school this year. So idk if mcat/gpa play as much of a factor as you might think

 

[proudofmykids]

N=1
ORM, very high stats >>LM80, well rounded no spikes traditional app, with very strong leadership got late offers of merit aid from
1x T30, 2x T20, 1xT10, NYU and Kaiser acceptances.
Also, didn’t get IIs at several T10/20s.

 

[Grapesurgery]

Also depends on how much money the school Itself has. Example (n=1): I got into several public schools, not well funded, and ended up with zilch (absolutely no scholarship) at these schools. But got a full scholarship to a t5 where a large chunk of students receive full rides (it is a well-funded school capable of doing this).
Waiting for financial aid is always a toss-up and anxiety inducing but hardly predictable. And remember, scholarships tend to be negotiable at some schools. The final amount depends on so many things.

Finally, apply (or I hope you applied) to schools known for being generous in scholarship to maximize chances if that is very important to you, for example, Hofstra is very proud of having each student on average pay only half the listed tuition cost because of scholarships (or something like that). Look at schools average graduating student debts.

 

[proudofmykids]

Also depends on how much money the school Itself has. Example (n=1): I got into several public schools, not well funded, and ended up with zilch (absolutely no scholarship) at these schools. But got a full scholarship to a t5 where a large chunk of students receive full rides (it is a well-funded school capable of doing this).
Waiting for financial aid is always a toss-up and anxiety inducing but hardly predictable. And remember, scholarships tend to be negotiable at some schools. The final amount depends on so many things.

Finally, apply (or I hope you applied) to schools known for being generous in scholarship to maximize chances if that is very important to you, for example, Hofstra is very proud of having each student on average pay only half the listed tuition cost because of scholarships (or something like that). Look at schools average graduating student debts.

Sounds like you are mixing Merit awards vs Financial Aid Scholarship need-based awards. OP was only asking about the former.

 

[deleted1066189]

It's not too much of a thing...all podiatry schools give a ton of "scholarship money" to first years though