<p>I am trying to see if I am understanding what the website states correctly: Let's just say magically I receive a bunch of scholarships that can pay for my first year of schooling, the financial aid office will not allow me to do that because it cannot replace the parent contribution?</p>
<p>I don’t know if it’s true for Harvard, but this is my understanding of what Yale does - they give you x amount of money in financial aid. Any other scholarships you do just whittles down the amount THEY give you, meaning you still have to pay the same amount anyway.</p>
<p>This sounds similar to what your post is saying, so ya…don’t quote me on this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s Harvard’s policy too.</p>
<p>fuzzyfirebunny is right, but of course, it’s always best to check such info with the college involved and not rely on advice from well meaning, but possibly wrong strangers on the Internet.</p>
<p>Okay, I see. So if a student didn’t qualify for financial aid and that student received a good amount of scholarships to cover his/her first year, the scholarships can be used to minimize the cost of attendance?</p>
<p>Yes to the last post.</p>
<p>But, if you do receive financial aid and also outside scholarships, it is a little more complicated than described here. For instance, the outside scholarship is used in place of your work obligation in the summer and during the school year, and can also go toward a computer, at Harvard. Once it is used for those things, if there is any left over, then it is subtracted from your financial aid.</p>
<p>Okay. If a student receives only $1,000 in aid from Harvard and over $50,000 scholarships, the $49,000+ left over cannot be used towards the cost of attendance because it does not exclude parent contribution? But if the student doesn’t receive aid from Harvard but receives a lot of money from outside scholarships, then it can pay off the amount for tuition, fees, etc. Okay, now…I am shaking in my boots -_-.</p>
<p>The only reason to shake in your boots would be for fear that you don’t get into Harvard or one of the few schools that have the most generous financial aid policies in the country. I believe that if a student got $50,000 in outside scholarships and Harvard had offered the student $1,000 in need-based scholarships, after Harvard took away its $1,000 offer (since the student wouldn’t need it any more), the student still would be $49,000 ahead.</p>
<p>Okay, I understand. I was a little confused but you ladies made it clearer for me. Thank you for your help, Northstarmom and compmom!</p>