Institutional Merit-Based Aid

Colleges have a strong incentive to attract good students to their schools. Top students improve the reputation of their colleges by becoming successful after graduation, raising the school�s statistical averages (for things like test scores), and generally create a desirable school environment. In order to do this, many colleges offer merit-based scholarships. These scholarships are given to students who excel academically, athletically or some other way.

While you are considered automatically for most of these merit-based scholarships, some college scholarships require separate applications. Again, the best way to determine whether a school gives merit-based scholarships and what the requirements are is to check on their website.

A good way to estimate whether and how much merit based-aid a school gives: (click here).

As a general rule, Ivy League and other �top� schools such as Stanford, MIT, Northwestern and top liberal-arts colleges will not give merit-based scholarships. The best students are naturally attracted to these schools, so they do not feel the need to further lure the best students. Notable exceptions are Duke, Caltech, and University of Chicago. These three colleges are ranked in the top 10 universities but do give merit scholarships.

Another important thing to keep in mind regarding merit-based scholarships is that they are extremely competitive. They are usually given to students in the top 1-5% of a school�s acceptance pool. Important factors are test scores, academics, community service and leadership.

Another significant source of �merit� based scholarships is independent agencies. These are groups that hold essay contests or just grant scholarships to students who they perceive as exceptional. Refer to our external scholarships page for more information.

This article was written by Xinquan (Paul) Gu

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