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MeritPlaybook
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Stop asking where your kid can get in.
Start asking where they'll pay you to attend.

Enter your student's stats and college list. Get a ranked playbook in under five minutes, every figure linked to the school's own .edu policy page.

Displacement rules
Renewal GPA cliffs
Zero guesses
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Merit Audit Preview

Pick a school. See the real rules.

Official .edu Policy
Automatic Merit Match

University of Alabama

Pursue Verdict
Presidential Scholarship$28,000/yr
4-Year Guaranteed Total:$112,000
Displacement: Outside scholarships do not displace automatic merit unless total aid exceeds federal Cost of Attendance ceiling.
Renewal Cliff: 3 GPA (Annual check).
Source Verified: May 2026Official .edu Policy
Audit My College List ($99) →

Merit policies read at 750 colleges

The Middle-Class Aid Gap

Too rich for financial aid.
Too poor to pay list price.

Middle-class families get $0 in need-based grants, and the free calculators miss by thousands.

Sticker Price Is a Lie

“47 browser tabs. Three spreadsheets. Zero clarity.”

The real money, billions in institutional merit aid, follows published rules buried in fine print. We read them for you.

One ranked, source-cited playbook replaces the tabs.
A cluttered search across dozens of tabs and spreadsheets resolving into one clear plan

Three silent traps cost families tens of thousands.

They all live in the fine print, and they bite after you've committed.

Close-up of a scholarship renewal clause in the fine print
  • THE AUGUST SURPRISE

    Scholarship Displacement

    Your student wins a $3,000 outside scholarship. The college cuts its own grant by $3,000. Net savings: zero. Most scholarship databases never warn you.

  • SOPHOMORE TRAP

    The Renewal GPA Cliff

    A “four-year” award with a 3.3 renewal floor isn’t guaranteed. One rough freshman spring and an $80,000 award can vanish, often with no probation period.

  • CALENDAR TRIPWIRE

    Priority Deadline Traps

    Many merit pools close months before regular admission deadlines. One day late means $0 automatic merit, even with a 36 ACT.

Test real university policies in the live tools
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Every number below comes from published institutional rules.

Published Cutoff Grid Tool

Does University of Alabamaguarantee merit money for your student's stats?

Automatic merit grids guarantee specific dollars when your student meets published GPA and test cutoffs. No essays, no lottery.

3.85
32

Sticker Cost of Attendance: $55,800/yr

Priority Merit Deadline: November 1 (Early Competitive) / May 1 (Automatic Grid Wall)

Policy Verdict AuditMay 2026

Presidential Scholarship

Guaranteed Institutional Award$28,000 / yr4-Year Value: $112,000

With a 3.85 GPA and 32 ACT, your student meets the official automatic merit cutoff for University of Alabama.

Sourced directly from university policyView Official .edu Rule Page

Stop auditing schools one at a time.

One playbook checks every rule across your full list, in under five minutes.

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What You Get

A decision, not a data dump.

Every school gets a verdict: Pursue / Backup / Skip, with the fine print that changes the math.

SAMPLE PLAYBOOKIllustrative student profile

Student Profile: Alex Miller

GPA: 3.85 (Unweighted)ACT: 32State: GeorgiaFamily Income: $185,000 / yr
Audit Your Student Now ($99)
School Verdict Assessment

University of Alabama

VERDICT: PURSUE
Strategic Net-Aid Analysis for Alex M.:

Automatic guaranteed merit! With 3.85 GPA and 32 ACT, Alex qualifies for the Presidential Scholarship ($28,000/yr guaranteed) via published automatic cutoff grid.

Rule That Bites (Verified Institutional Footnote)

Outside awards stack cleanly. Apply before May 1 grid cutoff to lock in $112,000 four-year total.

Verified from published official university aid rules
Open Official .edu Policy Page
4-Year Financial Projection
Net Cost Analysis
Published Sticker Cost:$55,800 / yr
Verified Merit Award:-$28,000 / yr
Need-Based Aid Expected:$0 Expected
Projected Net Bill:$27,800 / yr
4-Year Guaranteed Value:$112,000
Build This Plan For Your Student →
Covers up to 10 schools + a deadline calendar.Under 5 Minutes • $99 One-Time
The Competitive White Space

Why other tools leave families blind.

Calculators guess. Databases push awards that get displaced. Consultants cost thousands.

Decision Intelligence Feature
MeritPlaybookTHE $99 PLAYBOOK
Net-Price CalculatorsRaptor, MyinTuitionFree AI ChatbotsChatGPT, PerplexityHuman Advisors$3k-$7k ConsultantsScholarship DatabasesFastweb, Bold.org
Deliverable FormatRanked Decision Plan (Pursue / Backup / Skip)Raw Estimated Number (Often 10-20% off)Hallucinated Text without CitationsVerbal Advice / PDF ReportList of Thousands of Random Contests
Audits Scholarship DisplacementYES: Links official outside award rulesNO: Ignores external award interactionsNO: Guesses or gives generic disclaimersSOMETIMES: If advisor read the fine printNO: Actively pushes displaced awards
Flags Renewal GPA CliffsYES: Highlights sophomore cliff thresholdsNO: Only models freshman entry yearNO: Rarely distinguishes renewal rulesYES: Usually covered in sessionsNO: N/A
Audits Automatic Merit Cutoff GridsYES: 100% verified against GPA/ACT cutoffsPARTIAL: Often uses historical averagesPOOR: Fails on recent policy updatesYES: Manual spreadsheet lookupNO: Only tracks external awards
100% Sourced to Official .edu PagesYES: Clickable verification ledger for every ruleNO: Proprietary black-box formulaNO: Zero verifiable URL citationsRARELY: Relies on personal authorityNO: Links to third-party ad pages
Turnaround TimeUnder Five Minutes15-30 minutes per school (manual)Seconds (but inaccurate)3 to 6 WeeksDozens of hours of essay writing
Price$99 One-Time (30-Day Money-Back)Free (Data privacy trade-off)Free / $20 mo$3,000 to $7,000+Free (Sells your contact data to ad networks)

We are not a scholarship database. We are a policy-cited decision engine for your real school list.

Under Five Minutes

Net-aid clarity
without spreadsheets or $5,000 advisors.

  1. 011 minute

    Enter Stats & School List

    GPA, test scores (or test-optional), home state, and up to 10 target schools. No tax documents, no SSN.

    Real .edu rules, cited
  2. 02Automatic

    We Audit the Rules

    Merit grids, displacement formulas, renewal cliffs, and priority deadlines, all from official 2026-2027 university aid pages.

    Real .edu rules, cited
  3. 03Under 5 min

    Get Your Ranked Playbook

    Every school gets a Pursue, Backup, or Skip verdict with 4-year projections and direct .edu links.

    Real .edu rules, cited
A parent and student reviewing a college list at the kitchen table
What Consultants Charge Thousands For

Which schools pay for your student's stats, and which deadlines kill the plan.

Backed by a 30-day no-questions-asked money-back guarantee.

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One-Time Pricing

The cheapest insurance you will buy all year.

One missed deadline can cost $80,000 over four years. Get the policy read first.

Founder Price

The Full MeritPlaybook

For parents of high-achieving juniors and seniors.

$99$179One-Time • No Subscription
  • Pursue / Backup / Skip verdicts for up to 10 schools
  • Verified automatic-merit cutoffs (GPA + test scores)
  • Displacement and stacking rules for outside awards
  • Renewal GPA cliff warnings
  • Consolidated priority deadline calendar
  • Every figure linked to its official .edu source
Get Your Playbook Now ($99)
Delivered in under five minutes
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School Snapshot ($49)

A streamlined policy read for up to two schools.

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Sound Familiar?

The situations we hear from parents every week.

THE TAB OVERWHELM

“47 browser tabs, three spreadsheets, and zero clarity about which numbers were real.”

THE AUGUST SURPRISE

“My kid won a $2,500 outside scholarship, and the college cut its own award by the exact same amount.”

THE RENEWAL CLIFF

“Nobody told me one bad chemistry semester could erase an $18,000 annual award.”

FAQ

Answering your skepticism honestly.

Yes. Submit up to 10 schools and we audit their current institutional rules. Every dollar figure, GPA cutoff, and displacement rule includes a direct .edu link so you can verify it yourself.

Every policy is verified with direct .edu source URLs.