Hi guys, I have a question regarding scholarships and before I get responses please don’t be mean or rude I’d really appreciate it because I am a first-generation college student and don’t know much about the college payment process, thanks. I was accepted into Boston College. I was generous enough to get a pick award package from them. However, I also got a good deal of money from outside scholarships. BC’s policy is that outside scholarships can replace unmet need, work study, and loans. My counselor also stated that if any of my scholarship money goes over this 6,000 dollar limit of how much aid I have received from BC then my aid will be lowered by that amount. My question is this: can I request from the scholarship organizations that the money be given to me directly, rather than to my college so that they don’t lower my aid and make it harder for my family to end up paying for college. I don’t believe this is allowed by I thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Also is there any way in which I can find out my unmet need from BC, I emailed my counselor and am waiting for a response since I don’t know because Boston College has their own method of calculating aid via CSS and assets. Thanks for your time guys.
The simple answer is NO. If you have any need based aids, your need will be reduced by any gift aids. You have to report that to your school.
It doesn’t matter whether the scholarship money goes directly to you or to the college, BC REQUIRES that you report outside scholarships received.
At BC, you shouldn’t HAVE any unmet need…because the school guarantees to meet full need for all accepted students…as BC calculates that need to be.
Please…be honest…you are fortunate to have received these scholarships. They will first reduce the self help portions of your aid…your loans, and your work study.
If you find that you need the loans…you can ask the financial aid department if you can still take them AFTER your outside scholarships are credited to your accounts. Because your need will have been met already, the Direct Loan will likely be UNsubsidized instead of subsidized…probably. But you can get that $5500 Direct Loan.
And you can look for a job that isn’t a work study job if that portion gets reduced as well.
Colleges DO expect that families will pay the family contribution…and need based aid is not awarded for that.
No, do not ask that the scholarships funds be given directly to you. We don’t want them to think less of you, since that is not the standard process. Read the scholarship applications to see if any are for personal expenses- not common.
Check the college financial aid page. There should be a form to report all outside scholarships and also information on how they apply outside scholarships. If you don’t understand after reading there, call the school and ask how outside aid is applied.
Your college should have given you a financial aid letter soon after offering you admission. If you received one, the scholarships should trade out for what you already have or improve your situation, not make it worse.
The folliwing link has info about outside scollarships at BC. It states that outside scholarships can be used reduce self help portions of financial aid packages first (loans and work study), then any BC grants will be reduced by any outside scholarships which exceed total calculated need.
http://www.bc.edu/offices/stserv/financial/finaid/undergrad/types_of_aid/outside_scholarships.html
Thank you all for your help, I have reached out to my counselor to assist me in fulfilling my work study and loans with the scholarships that I have received.
Once you reported the scholarship to your school, the financial aid office will revise the FA package with reduced loan and/or workstudy automatically.
Congrats on getting so many scholarships! I know that you need every penny you can get, but those outside scholarships really are helping out. By eliminating work study, any money you earn from a job will not have to be earmarked towards educational expenses and instead can be used for transportation to/from home, or clothing, etc. And if you still have expenses that need to be covered, you can take part or all of the $5500 loan to cover those instead of having that loan go directly to the school to cover tuition. It may not seem like it, but those scholarships really are helping out.
@SuburbMom Thanks, it has been a few days but yeah, that is what I plan on doing after having a conversation with my financial aid advisor.
It is acceptable to ask any one time scholarships to defer to sophomore or junior year, take the amount you need now, we it $6000 or another amount and defer the rest.
We regret not doing that for one of my D’s external scholarship for freshmen year. Otherwise, it will replace the small.amount of subsidized loan for sophomore year.