Outside scholarships, EFC, etc.

<p>I'm a little confused about this whole "outside scholarship" deal. I've been applying to a couple of corporate scholarships, but how does a college factor in how much I earn from these scholarships when making my financial aid package?</p>

<p>Because if my parents' contribution stays the same, and the college doesn't have student loans anyway (I'm thinking Ivies, etc.) then am I just helping the college save money? Then there's no point to me filling out all these scholarship applications, right?</p>

<p>Please clarify!</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/472101-efc-comes-first-equation.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/472101-efc-comes-first-equation.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>yep exactly right. i'm in the same situation. cornell has eliminated loans and all im doing is saving them money, so i just stopped applying to the reach corporate scholarships and am focusing on the local ones</p>

<p>"Because if my parents' contribution stays the same, and the college doesn't have student loans anyway (I'm thinking Ivies, etc.) then am I just helping the college save money? Then there's no point to me filling out all these scholarship applications, right?"</p>

<p>That's the same argument many people who collect welfare use for why they can't be bothered to work.</p>

<p>Another thing to consider - if your financial situation improves while you are in school your need based aid will be reduced. The scholarships will probably stay in place.</p>