<p>I MIGHT be a National Merit, so, Baylor says I would get this great scholarship. But then, when I speak to the financial aid office to see if I would get any additional need based financial aid, as our EFC is rather low, they said no. National Merits are never given any financial aid beyond that NM scholarship. So basically, if I earn the NM, then, I lose all my need based aid, so, it all comes out even.</p>
<p>Not only that, the person I spoke to said that even if I earn outside scholarships, or additional university scholarships, I can't. She said I cannot have financial aid, scholarships ...add up to me more than the cost of tuition. She said everyone will always have the fees, books, room, board, etc, still left, which is at least $20,000 per year. </p>
<p>I think it is nuts that I cannot use scholarships I earn above and beyond tuition alone. And the worst part, the first time I was told this, I thought it did not sound right. So today was the second time I called. I definitely got a different person. She said the same thing.</p>
<p>This is quite common at schools that don’t meet full need. (And I agree - it sucks.)</p>
<p>Did you get admitted to any other schools that might be more affordable? If not, you might want to look at the schools that Erin’s Dad linked to above, and see if any are still accepting applications.</p>
<p>I am only a junior and don’t know if I will be national merit yet. I just had thought that Baylor was a real possibility. They say they give all this scholarship money if you do have National Merit. Even if you do not have national merit, there are some scholarships for having certain SAT scores and class ranking. I knew they would not meet need when it is financial need. But I thought if I qualified for some scholarships, then those scholarships would go on top of the grants. Instead, they say if I earn any scholarships, those scholarships will cancel any grants I might have gotten otherwise, leaving me with over $20,000 to come up with.</p>
<p>There are other schools that do not do this, obviously. So I am thinking maybe don’t even waste my time applying to Baylor? Or perhaps things will come out different in the end?</p>
<p>I know room and board and books are expensive, but 20k seems like a significant overestimate. If you like Baylor go ahead and apply and if their offer falls short go to whatever school makes you a better offer.</p>
<p>The Regent’s Scholarship for NMF at Baylor can be worth up to $34,586 per year. That is more than the cost of tuition and fees. I am almost positive that when we took a tour at Baylor, they told us that scholarships were stackable. I can see how it may decrease your need-based aid, but if you become a NMF & have a good ACT or SAT score, you should be able to attend Baylor for much less than $20,000/year.</p>
<p>I would still apply and see what the offer it. She is right in that if you get outside scholarships that bring total aid to an amount above your need, they would reduce the institutional aid. But, if you had an EFC of $0 and you got a merit award of, say, $25,000 with a total COA of $40,000, you might get some additional need based aid.</p>
<p>I have not dealt with NM specifically, but I remember a kid we knew 5+ years ago who got most of their need met by Baylor.</p>