Trail Guide Admissions Blog

Merit Scholarships: A Sample Size of One

brian@trailguideadmissions.com (Brian Albertsen) — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 21:00:00 GMT

Why your neighbor's financial aid outcome tells you less than you think.

It starts out as a simple conversation about where your student is applying to school.

“We looked at that school, but our neighbor’s son didn’t get any money there, so we crossed it off the list.”

Here’s the deal: You’re trying to make sense of a process that feels less than transparent, and stories like this one feel more reliable than what you see in the brochure. However, your neighbor’s student tells you almost nothing about what your student might receive.

Merit scholarships aren’t random, but they’re also not universal. They’re built around specific profiles. Think GPA ranges, test scores, intended major, sometimes even geography or extracurricular background. Two students applying to the same school in the same year can receive offers that are $20,000 apart. Same school. Same admit cycle. Completely different financial outcomes

Why Johnny’s result doesn’t transfer

Some schools publish their scholarship data. You may be able to find stats such as average awards, percentage of students receiving scholarships, and even ranges by academic profile. That information is publicly available and more useful than a single neighbor’s experience. Johnny’s offer (or lack of one) reflects his profile meeting that school’s criteria at that moment. It’s an anecdote.

Take the story of Tara. Tara plays the oboe. In a year when the university orchestra has several openings, Tara might receive a substantial scholarship. It’s not because her GPA jumped, but because the school needed her talent playing the oboe in the orchestra. The following year, with those seats filled, the same student might not receive a scholarship. Merit aid reflects what a school needs to build its class in that moment, and that changes every single cycle.

There’s also the question of fit and how you position yourself in the application. Students who apply strategically consistently outperform students who apply the same way to every school. The process is improvable. One neighbor’s result doesn’t account for any of that.

What actually predicts merit aid eligibility

Your student’s GPA relative to the school’s enrolled student profile (not just admitted students)
Test scores (if applicable) compared to the school’s middle 50 percentile range
Intended major (some programs are able to fund more generously)
Whether the school uses merit aid to recruit from your geographic area (especially important for out-of-state schools)
How early in the admissions cycle you apply

None of those variables show up in a conversation over the back fence.

The reframe

Instead of “did kids we know get money there?,” the better question is: does my student’s profile sit in the top 25% of this school’s typical enrolled class? If yes, that school almost certainly has scholarship dollars available for students like yours — and the offer is worth finding out.

Crossing schools off based on one family’s experience is one of the quietest ways families limit their options. The school that “didn’t work out” for Johnny might be the school that funds your student’s education most.

If you’re not sure how to read your student’s profile against a school’s data, that’s exactly what my 90-minute strategy session is for.

The Most Common Mistake Families Make When Building a School List

brian@trailguideadmissions.com (Brian Albertsen) — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:45:00 GMT

One of the most common mistakes I see families make when visiting colleges: Only visiting one “type” of school.

A good visit list has variety. A big state school. A smaller private. A school outside your home state. And one you've never heard of that matched on your major or scholarship opportunities.

You don't need to visit 15 schools. You need to visit the right mix of schools. What schools are on your list so far?

Campus Visit Tips: What to Actually Look For This Summer.

brian@trailguideadmissions.com (Brian Albertsen) — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 16:44:00 GMT

Here are 5 questions that should be on your list:

1. Where do most students live after their first year?
Schools vary with how long you’re required to live on-campus. This could be something to consider for your financial calculation.

2. What GPA do students need to keep their merit scholarship?
You’ve been awarded a scholarship, congrats! Now what do you have to do to keep it?

3. What's the typical class size in my intended major?
Note: Student-to-faculty ratio tells you very little about class size.

4. How do I find out what dual credit / AP / IB courses count toward my degree program?
You’ve worked hard in high school. Make sure you get credit for that work.

5. If I have a question about my financial aid package, who do I contact?
The answer tells you a lot about what this relationship looks like when you're coming down to your final decision.

What questions are on your campus visit list?

The College Admissions Advice Most Families Never Get.

brian@trailguideadmissions.com (Brian Albertsen) — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 17:15:00 GMT

Most families approach college admissions the same way. They think of household-name schools, get in somewhere “good,” and figure out the rest later

I’ve spent more than a decade working in college admissions across various university types and sizes. I’ve watched this approach play out thousands of times. It’s families stretching beyond what makes sense financially, students at schools that were never really the right fit, and funding left unclaimed because nobody told them it existed.

The families who navigate this well aren’t necessarily smarter or more organized. They have someone in their corner who knows how the system works.

I didn’t grow up with that someone. Neither of my parents completed college directly after high school. We didn’t have someone who could tell us which schools offered real money to students like me, or how to position my application to earn it. I figured a lot of it out the hard way, and then spent my career learning on the inside.

That’s why I started Trail Guide Admissions.

What you’ll find here

In this blog you’ll find practical guidance on how college admissions actually works. I help students come out of this process with a decision you and your family feel good about, financially and otherwise.

I’ll cover things like:

Building a school list that balances fit, outcome, and cost
What admissions offices are looking for, and how to respond without gaming the process
How merit scholarships actually work — and how to find them
Timelines, red flags, and questions worth asking out loud

Some of it will be timely. Some of it will be foundational, the kind of information that doesn’t change much year to year but makes a real difference when you have it.

One more thing

If you’re thinking through the college admissions process right now and want one-on-one guidance, I offer consulting through TrailGuideAdmissions.com.

No matter where you are in the process, welcome. I’m glad you’re here.