Hey ya’ll! Trying to get some idea where Emory will come out money wise for my daughter. She doesn’t yet have a package but we are hoping for some merit aid. Can anyone tell me if that would stack or replace need aid? We expect to be a chunk apart and I am hoping merit will actually help.
Thank you!
Stacking merit aid on top of financial aid to exceed need is rare, regardless of school.
So the student/parent/work study/loan part would not change? What emory thinks we can afford and what we think we can afford are not the same.
When schools/kids say that they give/get full rides, is that not really the case?
Odds are, if your daughter was going to get a merit scholarship, she would have been informed with her admissions letter. Emory does not redistribute merit aid when students who are offered it decline admission. However, the financial aid office has professional discretion to increase aid. If there is a dimension of your finances that is not reflected on paper or that makes your situation unique, reach out to her financial aid officer (Especially if Emory is her 1st choice)
At most schools, any kind of merit aid reduces the need aid. If you get enough in merit aid, your need is less. The order they reduce the need based aid in may matter. If you get grants, loans, work study, you’d want the loans or work study reduced first as you can still take out the loans (even if not in your package) and you can always get a non-work study job.
I think you are hoping that merit would reduce the family/student contribution (EFC) first, and then the need based aid (loans/WS/grants). The rarely happens unless there is more merit aid than needed to cover everything and dig into the EFC.
Thank you both. She is flying out for the scholars week and I don’t think she will get her financial offer until after that.
@twoinanddone i appreciate you explaining it so clearly! We are just so lost.
I didn’t realize your daughter was a scholar finalist! About half are awarded the full ride and the rest get at least $20,000 in merit aid. If you need more than that, contact the financial aid office. Emory wants all scholar finalists to attend, so they will try their best to make that possible. Best of luck to her!
Thank you. She leaves tomorrow, so fingers crossed.
Emory doesn’t do this. I called the office when I was in the running to receive an external scholarship for 10k a year and they said it would just replace whatever need-based aid I had.