<p>There are schools that offer preferential packaging. There are some that do not. There are some where it is touch and go. The fact of the matter is that you don’t know where you stand on these things until you actually get your package. You really can’t predict what kind of aid/merit packages anyone is going to get at a given school. Heck, you can’t even be sure you are going to get accepted at some of these schools. I know a number of kids whose parents are still shell shocked about rejections that their star studded kids got, and others that are still shaking their head over discrepancies in aid packages.</p>
<p>If you have a straight up EFC of zero with no issues to complicate the PROFILE, you know what you will get from full need met schools, but even then there are the issues of self help and what they call the student contribution which can make packages differ in terms of final cost to the student. </p>
<p>You can hope that you get a little sugar frosted on your package because your kid is particularly wanted by a school for one reason or other, but it’s not something to count on. More important is upping the odds for a good package itself.</p>