<p>So, I was accepted to Rice but did not receive any merit scholarships. I got a Rice Tuition Grant of about 15,000/yr and work study. The way my mom and I read the financial aid info that came with the acceptance packet in the mail, the money from outside scholarships reported to Rice will be deducted from the Tuition Grant. So the amount of money my family needs to pay out-of-pocket would be unchanged no matter how many outside scholarships I get. To me, this seems weird. Is this right?</p>
<p>Outside scholarships may lead to Rice deducting from Work Study and Federal Loans…but not Grant. </p>
<p>You can always get a job ,just u wont have first dibs like Work Study ppl, so you wont be disadvantaged for getting outside scholarships</p>
<p>aufossil21,
Are you sure? Rice seemed to be pretty clear about it: funding offered from loans and work study will go first, then rice grant. Can you cite your source please?</p>
<p>smartie_shopper,
I can’t empathize with you more as I am in the same situation. This sucks :(</p>
<p>Correct; outside scholarships reduce loans first, then work/study. (And if you have family income below a certain level, you have no loans, so they only reduce work/study to zero.) If the outside scholarships are larger than that amount, and you have need-based financial aid, your grants are then reduced. That’s because you have less “need” with the money from the outside scholarship.<br>
The good news is that you will have no work/study (that money is grant money), so any money earned from a Rice non-work-study job will be extra money in your pocket- or your parents, if you give it to them to meet their EFC. (And there are plenty of jobs for non-work study kids.) And if you don’t already have a laptop, you might also be able to convince the FA folks not to reduce your grant the first year by the amount needed to buy one. The policy about not having need-based financial aid exceed “need” is the same for almost all universities.</p>
<p>@anxiousmom</p>
<p>So whatever comes in as scholarship award is deducted its whole value? Like, it’s not deducted by a percentage of what you receive?
Also, I am going on an educational tour through the EFT for a class this year and that costs around $6000. Would it be possible to convince the admission office that I need the money to cover that cost?</p>