Gorges17
Hey all -
I have a question for everyone that has either attended or been invited to one of Johnson's scholarship weekends. I'm probably WAYYY over analyzing this, but I'm interested to hear if people did pay or will pay their deposit prior to attending the weekend (assuming they're set on attending Johnson regardless of financial aid outcome)? Or did people delibrately hold off until after the scholarship decisions were made? I guess my point is - do you think paying your deposit clearly signals your intent and so Johnson might be LESS likely to offer you money bc they might feel they already have you "wrapped up" so to speak and dont need to throw aid your way to entice you. On the flip side, maybe its good to pay your deposit and show your intent bc no one likes rejection so Johnson might be MORE likely to offer you money if they know you will definitely be attending their school in the fall. Am I really over analyzing this or is it worth considering? For the record - i have not yet paid my deposit, but will be attending Johnson in the fall regardless of how anything else shakes up. I'm just debating whether or not i should just pay my deposit and get it over with or still play a little "hard to get".
Interesting question.
First, I do think you are WAYYY over analyzing.

But I think most applicants, including myself, over analyze when it comes to admissions (see discussion about on campus vs off campus interviews a few posts back).
According to a Q&A hosted by
Accepted.com with Randall Sawyer, Assistant Dean of Admissions at Johnson (
https://www.accepted.com/chat/transcript ... rnell.aspx), it sounds like Johnson uses scholarships to attract and persuade applicants to pick its program over another.
Quote:
Randall Sawyer: What's different at graduate school than at undergrad is that scholarships are merit based, not need based...There is competition for the top students, not just in the United States, but around the world. And sometimes that has a fiduciary obligation or scholarship answer to it, and we do want to be competitive.
He says in another Q&A about WL (
https://www.accepted.com/chat/transcript ... rnell.aspx):
Quote:
You would say something to the effect of, “Randall, I am in X school which is your competitor, and they gave me $5,000 a semester. I really want to go to Cornell, could you match it?” That’s a conversation we would have.
Therefore, it sounds like the scholarship money, much like a signing bonus, is their way of getting you to commit to Johnson. They are even willing to negotiate if they really want you. One could argue that if you commit to them without having received any scholarship, they have no incentive to offer you anything.
However, in reality, I don't think this issues comes up often. They are suppose to give you scholarship info when you get the admit phone call. They won't accept you thinking, "This applicant is really awesome and I want to give him/her scholarship, but maybe if I hold off a few weeks, he/she will just accept and I can save some money." They are not going to play chicken with their top applicants (the people who get money).
In your case, since you are invited to the Fellowship weekend, you won't know until after the weekend whether you got any money. I would just hold off until after the weekend.