Does Boston University Stack Merit and Financial Need-Based Aid?

<p>Boston University is one of the schools I am applying to, and I am well aware that it cannot meet full financial need for all of its admitted students. My family is in the weird 180-200k range where we don’t get a lot of financial aid from schools, but we can’t afford to pay full price (We have lots of expenses with 2 kids in a high school that costs 15k a year among other things). On BU’s Net Price Calculator, it is estimated that the cost of attendance will be about $40,000 per year with the usual $5,500 a year in student loans and some work study. 3 years after entering college when my brother graduates high school, the price would drop down to about $25,000-$30,000 a year.</p>

<p>I am hoping to receive a merit based scholarship from around $10,000-$20,000 a year (I know it’s not guaranteed, they are pretty competitive, but if I raise my SAT from the 2090 I currently have to the 2300+ I have been getting recently on College Board Blue Book practice tests, I might have a chance). I am wondering if getting those scholarships would reduce my need based aid award? Would it just add to my financial aid package or completely take money from my need based aid, or would there be some advantage to receiving the scholarship, albeit not to the full extent of the value of the merit scholarship.</p>

<p>I am really worried about this because BU is one of my favorite schools, but my parents say they can probably only contribute about $30,000 a year at most to my education, and it would still hurt somewhat. I don’t want to end up with $40,000+ in loans when I graduate. Also, does BU factor in the fact that my brother’s education will still be costing about $15,000 a year when I am in college?</p>

<p>Hey. I actually e-mailed Boston University about the same question at least a month ago. They said they do NOT stack the offers unfortunately. I was in a similar case as you, the NPC had a figure that was a few thousand outside of a reasonable limit.</p>

<p>Boston University DOES take into consideration merit when calculating financial aid - if not in theory, then at least in practice. I received mailings from BU that indicated a sliding scale of SAT/class rank and household income that showed how much aid you could expect from the university. </p>

<p>My friend and I both applied our senior year, we had nearly identical EFCs/financial situations (we literally compared FAFSAs/CSSs), but our scores were vastly different (about a 300 point disparity in our SATs). We were both admitted RD; she received 5k in grant aid whereas I received 40k – very big difference. </p>

<p>I don’t know about officially, but for me they absolutely combined them/took both into account. I received an almost full tuition grant–so I basically got my tuition free–and then got a combo offer that included a BU loan, a federal loan and work-study to cover the difference of tuition/fees. The grant was based in large part on merit; the loans/work-study was definitely based on financial need (I came from a single mother lower middle class household). I knew kids from pretty well-off families who got partial scholarships of about 14K a year–so they do do those. But those kids didn’t get work/study. You only got work/study and certain loans if you qualified for them via the FAFSA.</p>

<p>Now you will have to really stand out for merit. My tips, beyond being the strongest student you can be (GPA, SAT, etc.): whatever school/program you are applying for, make yourself a really strong candidate for it. Write killer essays. BU fills its freshman class school by school, program by program, and they want the top talent. I know I got my edge with BU b/c I was applying to be a magazine journalism major in COM, I nailed my essays, and I bled journalistic passion. They decided they really needed me in their program and so they threw money at me. If I’d applied to be an English major or Psychology, I don’t think they would have cared as much.</p>

<p>wow you have over 180K…i think it might be hard for you to get money…my NPC said in the end i would only have to pay 17K a year. I heard BU is picky about aid but who knows</p>