<p>Ds is applying to a school that says it's need-blind and meets 100% of need. We have a lot of need. At this particular school, his stats put him in the top 25%, plus he's URM, tons of leadership, etc. I think he'd be a good candidate for the merit aid.</p>
<p>My question is, if they meet 100% of need, should he even apply for merit? Part of me feels like because of our financial need, his cost will be covered through FA and he doesn't "need" the merit aid. He could not pursue that and leave the money for some other kid for whom it would make a difference, kwim? Another part of me thinks that not every kid is going to do the work/qualify for the merit aid, and it would help him stand out.</p>
<p>Does the net price calculator show non-loan financial aid greater than that of the largest possible merit scholarship he can get? If not, then there is still the possibility that a merit scholarship may result in a lower net price than the need-based financial aid.</p>
<p>Also, having a large merit scholarship may provide a backstop in case the college’s recalculation of need-based aid in following years is less generous for some reason (however, some merit scholarships have college GPA requirements to keep, a different risk).</p>
<p>Very few schools meet 100% of need with 100% grants; there’s usually a loan and/or work-study component, in addition to a student self-help expectation that goes into the definition of need. In a sense loans and work-study aren’t “aid” at all; they’re just different forms of self-help, you’re still the one doing the paying, it’s just an arrangement that helps spread the cost over time (if it’s a loan) or gives you a leg up in finding a job (work-study). Merit aid is usually pure scholarship/grant. So it may be advantageous to apply for the merit aid if it (or some portion of it) can substitute for the loan and/or work-study portion of the need-based FA package, or for the student self-help expectation.</p>
<p>Schools are also all over the map with respect to “stacking” merit and need-based aid. Some schools will recalculate need after the merit award, so essentially the merit award simply replaces need-based aid dollar for dollar (though here’s where some will say the merit award can replace loans and/or work-study first). Others will allow “stacking,” so the merit award is on top of the need-based award, i.e., you may not need to pay full EFC. It just depends on the school and is perhaps worth a conversation with the FA office to clarify their policies.</p>
<p>Your definition of a lot of need is not necessarily what the school will determine through the FAFSA, profile or its own forms as what a lot of need is. Meaning your actual dollar figure is not what the school offers to your son.</p>
<p>I advised all my kiddos to leave no stone unturned as far as financial opportunities in financing college. They applied to schools that met 100% need, outside merit scholies of all kinds, ROTC (all branches of service), the service acadamies (three of them), D1 athlete scholarships, academic scholies at the schools themselves…the lists were extensive and exhausting.</p>
<p>In the end, all received acccpetances they could live with and finance themselves with little to no debt.</p>
<p>Same has been true with grad school and professional schools.</p>
<p>I don’t thnk there are many schools left that are need blind and guarantee to meet 100% of need AND have merit aid - Grinnell is the only college that comes to mind. None of the Ivys offer merit, though some don’t include loans as part of the aid package and some do. </p>
<p>maybe I missed something, but why must the OP choose between those two options at a single school and are those even options within one school? Won’t your child’s list have some schools that offer merit, some that offer need based, etc.</p>
<p>Another reason in favor of merit awards is it can be an honor to receive a scholarship. You can’t exactly put “financial aid recipient” on your resume or grad school application, but you can put down that your received a prestigious scholarship.</p>
<p>lefthand (always loved your name, btw) – Yes, this is at one school. Yes, he has a range of schools, some of which offer merit but don’t meet need, some which meet need but don’t offer merit and yes, a couple that have both merit, are need-blind and meet 100% of need. At least they say they do.</p>
<p>Some schools tie merit and FA (Fordham for example) and they adjust the merit based upon the FAFSA. I say take the merit if you can - it is guaranteed (provided you meet the GPA) and will not change with any changes to your finances over the years. FA however might got up when tuition goes up and merit typically does not.</p>
<p>^^I agree with kiddie presuming the student can meet the GPA each year that merit is generally guaranteed for all four years. Scholarships, grants, etc. can be for one year or evaluated every year.</p>
<p>My D is at a school that has merit awards and meets 100% of need. The merit award by definition reduces need so the grant portion is lower. Grinnell has merit awards that are smaller (about 10-15k per year) but gives really large grant aid. Both included work study as part of meeting need + loans. Grinnell and some other schools cap loan amounts. Merit money usually comes from a different pool and I can’t imagine a school would want to pull all your aid from the grant pool if you were in the profile range for merit as well. If you won powerball yesterday you would still pay less with a merit award, but if you had gone straight need then you would be full pay. Circumstances change.</p>
<p>Also - come next April you will find that school structure their packages really differently. The same set of packages might work for one family differently than another. In our case Grinnell caps sub loans but wanted more out of pocket by calculating our EFC higher. You just never know until you have the things in hand.</p>
<p>In PMing with someone, it occurs to me that perhaps there is a semantics issue. When I said merit aid, in this case I was specifically talking about scholarships. I wasn’t talking about merit aid where everyone who has a 3.8 and 32 ACT gets an award. Just clarifying …</p>
<p>Schools with guaranteed scholarships based on GPA and test scores ARE scholarships. They just don’t exist at schools that guarantee to meet full need for all and are need blind for admissions.</p>
<p>I don’t want to further confuse the issue, lol. Yes, they’re all scholarships. Some people just didn’t seem to think it was possible to have a school that meets need, is need-blind AND offers some merit money, by which I meant competitive scholarships given to only a few people as opposed to those scholarships given to everyone who hits a certain threshold.</p>
<p>Yes, apply for both at those schools that you can!</p>
<p>Vandy is <em>unbelievably</em> generous. With the full tuition merit scholarship and need-based aid on top of that, my son would have been left with about $900 (yes, that’s two zeros) billed amount for tuition, room and board a year. </p>
<p>Harvey Mudd is another school that gave him generous merit aid as well as need-based aid; however, it was complicated by several factors (mostly the fact that we qualified for a Cal Grant A), and didn’t turn out to be such the good deal that it seemed.</p>
<p>I think Baylor also had need-based and merit aid, though we only got as far as the merit aid before my son withdrew his application, so I don’t know how much need-based aid they offer.</p>
<p>Washington University in St. Louis is another school that offers both but my son was not a finalist for their full tuition scholarship, so I don’t know how generous they can be.</p>