<p>I got a decent amount for this year, but my "low" (2nd decile) class rank hurt. I was going to a small competitive private school. After 1 semester at Texas A&M, I have a 3.4 after 15 graded A&M hours (24 hrs overall). Is finanacial aid based even a little bit on merit, or is it all EFC? What's the deal on eligibility for outside scholarships for continuing students? Im definitely applying for all my University's continuing student scholarships, but I was hoping for more clarification on financial aid and outside scholarships.</p>
<p>Your financial aid award letter should tell you what amounts of your scholarship are merit aid, and what the criteria are for keeping that aid from year to year. Re: need based aid...it is based on your EFC. However, if your school is one that does not meet full need, you may find that this need based aid will be "adjusted" as you enter your soph and future years. For clarification, call your finaid office and ask.</p>
<p>If you are interested in outside scholarships, you are going to have to do some research. The majority of scholarships that you hear about are for entering freshman. There are some that I have heard of for Juniors and Seniors, but they are usually specific to the field. If you are looking for general merit based scholarships for college based on your college performance, those are going to be very hard to find. The only ones that I know about are institution specific -- where I go to school, students with a 3.5 and above automatically receive a dean's scholarship of $1500 a year. I think there are other schools with similiar programs.</p>
<p>Like thumper said -- talk to your FA department, they will be the ones with the most knowledge of your situation.</p>
<p>Just found out that a couple of my grants increase in amount if I get a 3.0 GPA or better after a year!</p>