<p>i'm a little confused about what i've been hearing about how aid works...so i'm wondering, if you get merit aid or outside scholarships, does that get taken out of your efc so your family doesn't need to pay as much money or does it make your need based aid go down? i'm starting to look into outside scholarships so i can afford georgetown (the net price calculator is making it seem like they'll expect ~12K more than my parents want to pay) but i've heard that when you get scholarships, colleges just give you less money since they say you need less. is that true, and if it is what's the point of even applying for outside scholarships or getting merit aid?</p>
<p>Generally outside aid reduces “self-help”, loans or perhaps work study.</p>
<p>Since few schools are going to meet 100% of need & even fewer are going to meet that need with 100% grant, it is to your benefit to reduce loans.</p>
<p>Oh ok, so if you get outside scholarships that won’t come out of grants?</p>
<p>For example, let’s say a school is $60K and your EFC is $30K, so they’re offering you $30K in financial aid (the numbers themselves are made up but specifically for my case, I’m pretty sure Georgetown meets all ‘need’) with $20K in grants and $10K in loans and work study. If you get a scholarship that’s worth $5K, will most colleges change your package to $20K in grants and $5K in self help rather than $15K in grants and $10K in self help?</p>
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<p>Generally this; and this for GT specifically:</p>
<p>[Policies</a> on Outside Scholarships - Student Financial Services](<a href=“http://finaid.georgetown.edu/how-aid-is-determined/scholarships/policies-on-outside-scholarships/]Policies”>http://finaid.georgetown.edu/how-aid-is-determined/scholarships/policies-on-outside-scholarships/)</p>
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<p>As with all things related to college admissions and FA, ‘generally’ is only the first step, you need to check the FA website of all schools of interest to determine what their policies are for outside scholarship money, there are always exceptions.</p>