<p>ArtsandLetters, to answer your question–yes, the practice of offsetting merit awards against need-based awards (a practice followed by most universities) certainly can become a disincentive to apply for merit awards, and it’s the same for outside scholarships. In the case that you bring up-- competing for many of the SCA scholarships requires a very serious process of writing essays, putting together portfolios, and other materials and the submissions have a rigid deadline, must be done in-person on one given morning per year–and must be complete. Some require submitting entire screenplays. It’s a lot of work and if all it does is replace Financial Aid grants, one must consider if it is worth it. </p>
<p>Of course, a parent’s income may change from year to year–and in a good year with a sudden windfall of income, a student’s FA award could be expected to be lowered. The same thing happens if an older sibling graduates. So for many families, the unconditional non-need-based merit award gives some peace of mind, in addition to the great recognition that getting awarded a talent-based scholarship can bring. School-based merit awards are competitive honors, often reflect excellence in grades as well as demonstrated talents, and can be listed on a student’s resume. But… as alamemom has posted often, any grant money awarded to a student is considered an asset when USC’s F/A calculations are made. Each and every time a student wins a fellowship, or awarded USC prize money, or gets bestowed a merit award, etc, the financial aid for the following year will likely be recalculated. </p>
<p>And just to end on a more upbeat note, if a student has been awarded $5K in need-based aid, and they subsequently receive merit awards (or a combination of them) of $14K, while the merit cancels out the need-based aid, the student actually gets the full $14K. </p>
<p>Yay?</p>