<p>Seeing as most colleges gap you with financial aid, are you more likely to get merit aid if you have need? Or are you less likely to receive merit aid, as colleges use their merit aid to attract talented students who might not qualify for financial help?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>It's hard to say as different schools have different policies especially when it comes to merit and need based aid. </p>
<p>Yes, some schools give merit based on need and other schools give merit that is separate from need as a discount to thr full freight payers. Your more likely to get merit if you exceed the requirements for merit vs/ being at the baseline.</p>
<p>Even if you have need, some will use the merit aid to reduce your need. In other words, you won't necessarily get more financial aid just because some is called need-based and some is merit-based. Your gap could very well be the same.</p>
<p>However, some schools say that if you do get merit aid, and have need, you may get "preferential packaging" of your need-based aid - more grants and fewer loans. So there is benefit to getting merit aid, even if your total aid stays the same.</p>
<p>I agree with Chedva, but I would like to add that one might be better off with just the financial aid at some schools. It really depends upon the school and the student's ability to make the grade, as well as the family's efc. If the bar is set too high to keep the merit aid for that student, then one might be left with a problem at the end of freshman year. This happened to a friend of mine. Her DD attends a private college and at the end of freshman year she did not meet the required gpa to keep the merit award. They did not qualify for financial aid grants. The parents paid for the full freight for this year through a home equity loan. The parents were split about letting her stay at that school, but they did allow her to stay another year. I will add that I would have had my child pack his bags.</p>
<p>Agreed about the merit aid requirements, northeastmom. One must always check the requirements for keeping the merit aid and decide if one is up to the challenge. Luckily, the merit aid that my d got for the school she's attending only requires "satisfactory progress", not a specific GPA. </p>
<p>On the other hand, assuming one can maintain the grades for the merit aid, it may be better having that aid, since it doesn't fluctuate and you don't have to keep applying for it every year. Six of one, half dozen of the other.</p>
<p>Chedva, I agree, but for different families the situation can be different. For example, if a student is a solid B student in hs (few As and Cs mixed in) and his/her parents have steady employment and salary is very predictable and are not in the upper middle class to wealthy category, and there won't be a change in assets (ie: inheritance), then perhaps the school offering the financial aid is better than the one offering only merit aid. One can better examine if upper classmen continue to receive on average at least as much financial aid annually by taking a close look at the #s for each school. A student may feel up to the challenge to keep that merit award, but might end up without it at the end of freshman year, so this might be something to think about and evaluate what would happen if it lost (ie: would financial aid grants make up most of the difference, would the student need to leave the school, would a student then need to take out a huge loan).</p>
<p>No argument from me, northeastmom. Just suggesting that there are two sides of the coin, and only the particular family can decide the ultimate question.</p>
<p>Agreed Chedva there are 2 sides to this, a family decision based on finances and the student. It can be a tough one.</p>