Hello, I’m sorry if this has been asked before, but I’m really confused with a lot of colleges’ merit aid distribution.
When looking at, for example, George Washington University’s merit aid page for freshman applicants, there are only 4 scholarships listed. However, I’ve looked on CC and students have said they received merit aid offers when they received their acceptance letter, and none of the merit aid offers were what was listed on the website.
So will colleges give you merit aid that isn’t listed on their website? I ask because I currently have a large list of colleges (19, down from 56) and at this point I’m just trying to cross some off based on price, but I’m afraid of crossing off a school that would have substantial “secret” merit aid that I didn’t know about unless I applied and were accepted.
Thank you in advance!
Are you in the top 1% of the applicant pool at any of yoir colleges? If not…it is not likely that you will recover “substantial” merit aid.
How much do you need?
GWU is about $70,000 a year. I doubt you will see huge merit there.
@thumper1 At GWU, my EFC is about $25k without institutional loans and work study. My parents can contribute about $10k, so I’m not really looking for full rides at schools but most of my schools I need about $5k-$15k in merit aid (additional to need-based) to attend.
From what I understand, I am hoping I am able to earn outside scholarships to replace the loan and work study portion and get a job off campus.
You do understand that at a school like GWU, your family will be expected to,pay their EFC. Also, any scholarships you receive would reduce your need…and would likely reduce your need based aid.
Your EFC is $25,000…no guarantee you will GET work study…and your freshman year loan is $5500.so at a place like GWU, you would,be wanting a HUGE amount of their scholarship money.
@thumper1 So would a merit aid scholarship from GWU not be put towards my EFC, or are you referring to outside scholarships reducing my need based aid? I know of course that I will need to take out loans for college and my parents will have to contribute, but unfortunately with most of the schools I’m looking at, there is no way my family can afford our EFC. We are in the upper middle-class range where public universities aren’t offering us financial aid, but private schools are still unaffordable.
Thank you for your responses so far!
if your oarents can only contribute $10,000 of their $25,000 EFC…you are looking at needing about $55,000 in merit aid to,attend this school. What I’m saying is…I don’t think that is very likely.
And most colleges EXPECT families to contribute their EFC and do not award meet it.
Remember too, this is a Profile school so your family finances will be looked at in depth.
How do you think this will b affordable?
Will you be in the top 1% of applicants to GWU? If not, it is my opinion you will,nit see substantial merit aid.
@thumper1 Hmm okay yeah when you put it in that perspective that does seem very unlikely. I think I would get into GWU but I’m definitely not at the top of their pool.
Thank you for all of your help, this was very informative.
" unfortunately with most of the schools I’m looking at, there is no way my family can afford our EFC. "
Then you NEED to lower your sights considerably and look hard to find colleges that WILL give you merit aid .
ANY upper middle class family looking for merit aid needs to cast a VERY wide net - that means applying to many colleges that otherwise would be considered “safeties” .
Merit aid in 99% of cases is awarded to TOP students that colleges really want.
Dont expect that “outside scholarships” will somehow magically appear or come to the rescue. Or that they are easy to win.
The VAST majority of all merit scholarships $$ comes from the colleges themselves.
Merit aid often replaces need based aid.
For “significant” scholarships, you really need to be at the top of the application pool,at,the college. Those are the students who get the most merit aid.
If your family can really only contribute $10,000 a year, you need a full tuition scholarship…in addition to the $5500 loan you can take.
I don’t believe GW meets need. That being the case you might need to find another $5-10k more than you calculated.
What are affordable schools for you?
How did you calculate the EFC $25k? Is that your FAFSA EFC and you are applying to a school that promises to meet full FAFSA EFC - based need?
What is your parents’ upper middle class AGI? Are they self employed or own a business?
Are you likely NMF? What are your stats?
It usually does NOT work if you try to apply merit scholarships to reduce EFC if you’ve been given need based aid.
If you need to reduce EFC then the merit scholarships have to be SO HUGE that they cover enough so that your net cost is affordable.
You need at least a full tuition scholarship.
To have a realistic shot at decent merit aid, look for colleges where your GPA and SAT scores put you above the 75th percentile of enrolled students.
Specific to your question about ‘hidden’ awards: the value listed for a specific scholarship is just meant as a guideline. The actual amount offered to different students will vary. So if a college lists a $5000 “Dean’s Award” on it’s scholarship page, it may offer 20 Dean’s Awards to accepted students for that amount, but a couple of students with especially good stats may be offered a $7500 or $10,000 Dean’s Award. The college might also offer less than $5000 to a number of students if they want the award money to go farther.
So if you want the best merit aid from a school, you need to be well above the 75th percentile. The better you make the school look, the more they are likely to offer you.
@Madison85 No, I haven’t calculated it by FAFSA yet. My family’s income is pretty complicated; my dad is both a freelance writer (self employed) and a government contractor, so our income is unstable and unpredictable. Based off of our numbers from 2 years ago, most the schools I’m looking at are giving us an EFC of $25k. I don’t think I’m NMF. I got a 1380 on the SAT - nothing spectacular. I’m in a dual enrollment program so I’m hoping having two associate’s degrees will smooth over the fact that I have no AP classes. I haven’t had much help with the college process and I really don’t know what I’m doing. I didn’t realize before that institutional merit aid reduces your need based aid so I’m kind of lost at this point.
@mom2collegekids well that’s very good to know, thank you. So is merit aid, aside from full ride scholarships, really meant for kids who don’t qualify for need based financial aid?
@Otterma that clears up a whole lot, I was so confused with this merit aid issue. Thank you!
@ClarinetDad16 Thank you for your response. My only affordable school at this point is New College of Florida because my parents set up a college fund for me in FL. Otherwise, I was hoping for merit aid to help pay for my other safety schools, but I wasn’t aware merit aid reduced need based aid, so that’s it.
No. Merit aid is for anyone who qualifies. It has nothing to do with whether you get FA or not.
What @mom2collegekids meant was that you usually can’t “stack” the aid. If you get merit aid, it will be applied to (usually) to reduce the amount of your loans. If you are getting financial aid and get a $5,000 merit scholarship, the merit scholarship will replace the Stafford loan that is part of your aid. That’s good because you won’t have a loan waiting for you to repay after graduation. But it will not reduce the total out of pocket funds you have to pay to the college.
That’s why you are better off with a large award, like a full-tuition scholarship.
If you have a Florida prepaid tuition account, it will work at a lot more schools than New College of Florida. You should look carefully at both Florida public and private schools. Do you qualify for Bright Futures? Several of the public schools have nice merit scholarships.
I agree. Look at your Bright Futures options.
Does your dad take any deductions on his taxes for his freelance work? If so, just be prepared that some colleges add back in deductions for self employed that are permitted by the IRS for tax purposes. For example, if he is taking a deduction for a room in your house and utilities, these MIGHT be added back in because costs for your house are something you would be paying anyway.
The NPCs might be a bit inaccurate for you.
In addition, if your family income fluctuates, keep in mind that any need based aid you receive will also likely fluctuate from year to year…and it could down. At schools that don’t meet full need, it is also very possible that need based aid won’t increase if your incime goes down.
What is your ACT score?
Did you mean your PSAT is 1380?
@twoinanddone I am no longer a resident of Florida, I just have the prepaid plan set up there, so I don’t think I’d be eligible for Bright Futures. I was mainly just focusing on New College because I want to go to a small liberal arts school. I haven’t looked at any private schools in Florida because I figured they’d be just as expensive as anywhere else.
@Madison85 Both my PSAT and SAT (out of 1600) was a 1380. My ACT score is not very good (29) so I am just going to use my SAT score.
@thumper1 I hadn’t thought of that, thank you. I think he does take some deductions so that’s very good to know.