Hi, I’m a high school senior, 35 ACT, 4.5 gpa, and perfect grades, yet I’ve gotten abysmal scholarship offers. This is even true for low ranked in-state schools where I expected a full ride, yet I’m not even getting full tuition. In 2015, the year for which income is indicated on the FAFSA, I made around $90k from some apps I developed the year before. Last year I made nowhere near that, so it’s not like I have a secure high paying job. Does the fact that this income from two years ago is on my FAFSA affect the merit aid I receive? I thought I wouldn’t have to worry about paying for college but now that all my scholarship offers have come in I’m starting to.
They expect you to use that $90.000 you earned to pay for college.
Merit aid will reduce need aid, not the other way around.
What are the merit scholarship standards at the schools to which you have applied? State schools often do not have the means to offer merit. Some schools such as the Ivy League schools do not offer merit awards.
I am assuming that your parents also have a sizable income. If you and they are unwilling to pay for your education you need to look for schools with generous merit awards.
Some schools might have need based components to their merit aid, others might have none. “Merit” is defined however they want to.
Most state schools have very few full tuition scholarships. You need to research which ones give automatic full scholarships for scores. There aren’t many left who do.