@nhskidad in post #11 you said:
No. Merit scholarships have nothing to do with meeting your financial need. Awarding of a merit scholarship is completely outside the financial aid process. However, if your D does have a merit aid award, it reduces your family’s financial need.
Re post #12
You are going about this the wrong way. There’s no such thing as “valu[ing] your need higher.” These are purely financial decisions on the part of the colleges. Each has its own formula for calculating need. Assuming your income and assets remain relatively the same, the financial aid award will remain pretty much the same. Forget about the EFC (which is irrelevant for colleges that use the CSS Profile, anyway). Just look at the bottom-line cost to you – that’s the amount of the check you will have to write to the college. Then calculate what your monthly loan payment will be after graduation. Those are all the numbers you need to know.
Also, I would consider each of the awards pretty much equivalent. Which college does your D like the best?