<p>Let's say I apply to a safety school next year and get a substantial merit scholarship. If I were then accepted by a need-based school like Duke, Vandy, or WashU, and the like (schools that are need-based but do give out a few scholarships) would they increase they fin aid offers to match the safety school's scholarship?
Would any school do this? (Like Ivies?)</p>
<p>Very unlikely.</p>
<p>No school that you are speaking of will do this, ESPECIALLY the ivies. They will have an overwhelming number of students dying to go to their school- they will not increase their financial aid to match a lower ranked school. If a higher ranked school gave you more money, you could talk to a school that has a similar ranking or a lower ranking and see if they will increase their merit aid, but that’s it. And even if you getter aid from one school, if another school only provides need based aid they will not increase it to match the Merit offer.</p>
<p>Why do you keep asking this same question? The answer is not going to change.</p>
<p>The top schools know that their students can get huge merit at various safety schools. They’re not going to give more FA just because a student has a big merit offer elsewhere. </p>
<p>It sounds like you don’t expect to get much/any FA from top schools, so you think that if you get a big merit offer from a safety school, then the top schools will give you money. sorry, not happening. They’ll just tell you to go to the safety school.</p>
<p>It would be crazy if schools did this. All applicants would stockpile big merit offers from other schools, not even bother with FA forms, and then show their top schools their big offers from safeties. The whole FA situation would fall apart.</p>
<p>A school might consider a better offer from a peer school. So, MIT might consider what you got offered from - say - Columbia.</p>