ksk80 wrote:
Hello! Glad to join you guys on this thread. I was wondering if any of you have information on the scholarship options at CBS. I know there is no additional application for the merit scholarship consideration but has any of you heard about the criteria or how much is usually awarded to what %age of students?
According to Princeton Review, 55% get financial aid of some kind. Merit scholarships are just a component of that, but I don't think many people qualify for need based aid so I think it's a major component. That's worse than other elite programs, but bear in mind that J-termers (about 30% of the class) are not eligible and people who apply before the priority deadline have better odds of getting something. I'm thinking it's fair to say 50/50 as a baseline for merit scholarships for August starters who applied before Jan, which you can adjust based on your GMAT/GPA, leadership experiences and whether or not you meet the criteria for any of the named awards. But admittedly that's just a guess.
I read an article (Forbes I think) that said the average merit award at Columbia is $10,000. According to the Columbia website, they start announcing awards in mid February and will continue through mid April.
As far as criteria, each award has a different list. The basic ones are based on academic achievement and "leadership potential". Many awards are endowed specifically for a certain type of student based on ethnicity, nationality, career focus, etc. All the awards are detailed on their financial aid webpage.