<p>My child was accepted to 4 LACs; only 1 of these schools offers merit aid.
We received word of a 25K scholarship 2 days ago but didn't get the financial aid info until today. We are surprised and disappointed.</p>
<p>This is what schools are offering:
School 1 25K merit scholarship +5.5K unsub Stafford Loan
School 2 18.8K financial aid scholarship +.5K TAP
School 3 16.5K fin aid scholarship
School 4 16K fin aid scholarship +2.7K work study +2k sub fed loan; </p>
<p>We naively thought that the 25K merit scholarship would add to the financial aid scholarships but it looks like School 1 only gave 6 to 9K more than the other schools.</p>
<p>If you’re asking whether it’s common that merit $ recplaces need-based $, the answer is yes. The merit $ is awarded first and that decreases your need. Even outside merit $ doesn’t go to reduce EFC if there is need-based $ still in the package.</p>
<p>The $5.5 federal loan is available at all schools that give federal aid, whether or not they listed it. So school #3 is $16.5K scholarship + $5.5K unsub.</p>
<p>Yes, this is par for the course. Any merit aid reduces the family’s need dollar for dollar.</p>
<p>An award of 25K sounds like a lot to me, but I know that still leaves a lot for you to come up with. One thing to remember when you’re making you decision is that all awards are per year. The merit award is renewable if a certain grade point is maintained. The financial aid awards changes along with a change in the family’s financial circumstances.</p>
<p>Each institution has its own formulas and its own policies. Trying to understand why one does what it does is just plain pointless. </p>
<p>If the sticker prices are essentially the same, the difference between 25k and 19k is pretty big. If the sticker prices aren’t the same, the 19k scholarship could actually be more meaningful. But even then, if the scholarship comes with some strings attached (for example if the student must maintain a GPA of 3.5 every semester or stay in a particular major), it may not be a good deal after all.</p>
<p>The sticker prices are all approximately the same and insanely high IMHO. The merit scholarship has very little strings attached (full time student, remain in good standing) and is for 4 years according to the letter. </p>
<p>Didn’t you make your child apply to at least one school that would not require a boatload of financial aid? What were you expecting from these 4 LACs? One gave you 25K – what were you expecting? And why were you expecting more? Are you indigent or do you have extreme circumstances? Did you send this to the college before they sent the aid letter?</p>
<p>Are these CSS schools? If so, are there any issues that would cause CSS family contribution to be much higher than FAFSA EFC? (such as home equity, business assets, non-custodial parent)?</p>
<p>Do they promise to “meet need”?</p>
<p>School A gave you over $30k in aid. How much was expected/needed?</p>
<p>I don’t know about this merit scholarship in particular but in general, the part about remaining in good standing translates into a certain grade point has to be maintained, often something like 3.3. Yes, the scholarship is for 4 years as long as the grade point is maintained. There are all sorts of stories of students losing merit scholarships because their grade point falls below the threshold. I don’t mean to scare you, but it is better for everyone to be aware of this going in.</p>
<p>You haven’t said if the schools are full-need but it looks to me, that the schools estimated need somewhere around $20K. The fact that school #1 is giving you unsub loan tells me that they believe you have no more need. In that case, you are unlikely to be awarded federal work-study. However, you can call and ask about jobs on campus. Some schools have them for kids who aren’t ws, some don’t. The only advantages to ws are that 1- It doesn’t count on next year’s FAFSA (but you’re already over need with the scholarship) and 2- The student doesn’t pay FICA. However, ws jobs are not guaranteed and an industrious student can be limited by ws hours. (In other words, if they award, say, a ws for $2,000 at $10hr and the student is willing to work over 200 hours in the schoolyear, he/she can’t because of the award limit.)</p>
<p>Double-check if there’s a gpa requirement for your peace of mind.</p>
<p>Thanks for your thoughts. We will see if the merit scholarship has any GPA requirements and what work opportunities there may be. </p>
<p>“Didn’t you make your child apply to at least one school that would not require a boatload of financial aid?” My son is accepted to a state school; he doesn’t want to go there.</p>
<p>“And why were you expecting more?” We weren’t necessarily expecting more, but we didn’t understand that the merit scholarship would be in place of a financial scholarship. I had heard from some one who had received a merit scholarship at this school and had basically paid nothing. His financial situation could have been very different.</p>
<p>You read so much about variable finaid, but it is interesting to me how many parents and kids post who have very similar packages from multiple schools. 1/2 price at a private school is not a bad deal. Hopefully you all can figure it out this month. Best wishes!</p>
<p>I had heard from some one who had received a merit scholarship at this school and had basically paid nothing. His financial situation could have been very different.</p>
<p>That student may have had a low EFC, so the school added FA to his merit award.</p>
<p>It’s nearly impossible to rely on various things you hear about. Stats could be very different, EFC could be different, etc…and if this student was accepted during an earlier year, the school may have had different policies then.</p>
<p>*“Didn’t you make your child apply to at least one school that would not require a boatload of financial aid?” </p>
<p>My son is accepted to a state school; he doesn’t want to go there.*</p>
<p>Well, that is the same problem…the financial safety school is supposed to be a school that the student likes and won’t mind attending. A school that he doesn’t want to go to is not a safety…it’s a waste of an app.</p>