When do you hear about merit money? Forum

[ivantheterbl]

Quick question, and I'm sure it varies by school, but do you usually hear about merit scholarships when you get your acceptance or does it not usually come until later (also do you have to send in a separate application later for many schools?)-- I am hoping to have my applications sent out in the next couple of weeks, so I didn't know if I should expect to not hear until April about merit money/have to do more application materials to try and get it.

[vanwinkle]

It varies by school.

In my experience the majority of schools that offered merit money did so immediately; however, there were some that did so by separate letter/communication within a couple weeks of acceptance, and a couple that waited until Feb/March to know what their class looked like and then issued merit aid offers all at once.

[kalvano]

You **should** hear well before April from most of the schools. Very few would wait 6 months to offer you money. They know other schools will well before then, and they try and stay competitive.