<p>Today I received letter saying that I will be getting $2500 from national merit. They also sent a letter informing Duke.
My AB scholarship interview is at the end of this week. Does getting this money hinder my chances of getting a scholarship from Duke? Now I kind of wish I didn't get the 2.5k :(</p>
<p>I would highly doubt it. Duke gives out these scholarships to students at the top academically because it wants to lure them to Duke (well, not in your case since you were ED), not because of financial need. The scholarship you got probably will be considered by the Financial Aid office, while your merit scholarship would be determined by a different committee (I think). The $2500 will affect you once they figure out your need (either after the merit scholarship if you get it or in total if you don't). They give you grants/loans for that and then tell you how much you have to pay. I THINK that the $2500 will first go toward reducing your loans, but it may go towards your out-of-pocket expenses, I'm not quite sure. But anyways, that is done by Financial Aid, while merit scholarships are awarded separately (I'm pretty sure)</p>
<p>qubic no....and good luck</p>
<p>thanks guys!! i was really nervous about the whole thing at first, but now at least i feel better about it :)</p>
<p>Since Duke is not an ivy, i'm not entirely sure on this, but i know at Ivies, with their need blind/need based system, if you earn some outside scholarship, that amount is removed from the package the school gives you, since you no longer "need" that money.</p>
<p>e.g. your FA package at Columbia is $10,000 for your freshman year, but you just won a $2500 Nat'l Merit, now Columbia will only give you $7,500 for your freshman year, cuz you don't "need" the other $2,500.-At least, that's what my friend applying to Columbia told me</p>
<p>Odds are this will either not hurt your chances at all, or it will cause you to recieve less of a scholarship than you would have before.</p>
<p>Pyrrhus- Duke does exactly that as well.</p>