<p>Apparently, I neglected to ask this when D visited, and the finaid office has closed for the day. The college web site contains lots of info on merit awards, but there's considerably less regarding need-based aid and nothing indicating whether the school "gaps" - - but I'm certain at least a couple CC parents know the answer.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Hartwick definitely does not meet 100% of demonstrated need (they gap and can gap big). I had about 9 students who were admitted last year all with merit $$ and only one ended up attending because it was financially out of reach.</p>
<p>Thanks for the quick response - - that’s what I feared. So far, none of the colleges D has visited that offer lots of merit scholarships has a policy of meeting 100$% of need, is this common?</p>
<p>(Conversely, top LACs that offer few merit awards almost uniformly promise to meet 100% of demonstrated need. I figured that if the college was allocating all that amoney to merit awards, was unlikely to have also set aside enough money for to meet 100% of need.)</p>
<p>[Student</a> Aid on the Web](<a href=“http://studentaid2.ed.gov/gotocollege/campustour/undergraduate/248/Hartwick_College/Hartwick_College4.html]Student”>http://studentaid2.ed.gov/gotocollege/campustour/undergraduate/248/Hartwick_College/Hartwick_College4.html)</p>
<p>Nope. When D applied there about 7 years ago, she was awarded very nice merit money and some need based, but it still left quite a bit for us to pay. The interesting thing was that she applied to 3 schools of varying sticker prices (Hartwick was the most expensive) and when she got the award letters from each of them, they were all going to end up costing about the same after financial aid.</p>
<p>Yes, it’s very common if your student is not a candidate for top colleges which are most of those that meet need.</p>
<p>Then again merit aid is unlikely to be big if your student is not a candidate for colleges ranked much higher than the one they are applying to.</p>
<p>foolishpleasure, here’s a master list, if that helps with future college visits. We asked our kids to focus on these schools when they applied, and we ended up with child at Carleton, one at Grinnell and one at Beloit.</p>
<p>[Schools</a> That Say They Meet Full Need - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/paying-for-college/articles/2008/09/05/schools-that-say-they-meet-full-need.html]Schools”>http://www.usnews.com/education/paying-for-college/articles/2008/09/05/schools-that-say-they-meet-full-need.html)</p>
<p>^^^ I guess “gapping” hasn’t been on my radar b/c of the schools D1 was considering, only 2 schools were not on Mary13’s list; D1 applied and was admitted ED to one of the 100% schools, But it’s a whole new ballgame w/ D2 - - all of the schools on her list “gap.”</p>
<p>Thanks all.</p>