<p>Thanks so much for the reply. Apologies that it’s taken me almost a week to respond. I’ve been totally immersed in trying to figure out a lot of things regarding sending her to college. A zillion details. I’ve reached a lot greater clarity on some, but on some things I’m more confused than ever.</p>
<p>It looks like getting a merit scholarship reduces her chance/ amount of getting a Pell grant… right? It looks to me like if we were to accept a U of Alabama National Merit Finalist scholarship, it would eliminate the possibility of a Pell grant, right? The scholarship covers tuition (but they didn’t mention fees) and housing (but they don’t mention meals), plus a total of $6,000 over 4 years, and a laptop computer.</p>
<p>So we would still have costs of meals, and transportation (including to and from Alabama). And it sounds like there would be no Pell grant to help with that. </p>
<p>Am I understanding this all correctly?</p>
<p>I’m trying to figure out the financial implications of all of our possible options, but it’s very, very confusing.</p>
<p>If I can only figure out the bottom line of how we would come out financially (considering scholarships, grants, tuition, fees, housing, meals, and transportation), then I would be able to better judge the pros and cons of each of our university choices for a financial points of view. Then we could weigh that against other factors like what each school offers in terms of education, distance away from home, etc… :-/</p>