Outside scholarships worth it...?

Paying for College
1

<p>If my student contribution is the only thing I really have to work for, will applying to outside scholarships do anything besides reduce my contribution? I mean, if I do anything more then it will effectively reduce my scholarship, so I feel as though those scholarships shouldn't be a priority. My family contribution can't rightfully be reduced by my outside scholarships. Am I right in my thinking?</p>

2

<p>bump…</p>

3

<p>Yes, generally outside scholarships will not reduce your EFC, and I’m sure this is true at B.</p>

<p>Try to get enough outside money to go towards your WS. My D1 had the now defunct Byrd, and having a good chunk of the WS paid for by it really helped her be not as concerned about earning every penny and let her concentrate on her classes and other activities.</p>

4

<p>Many/most of the 63 schools that claim to meet full need ([Colleges</a> That Claim to Meet Full Financial Need - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2012/02/16/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need]Colleges”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2012/02/16/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need)) will allow you to reduce self-help aid before they will reduce institutional aid due to outside scholarships. The typical self-help package is $2500 in work study and $5500 in Stafford loans, so earning up to $8000 in outside scholarships would not reduce your grant aid at those schools. Other schools will go even further, eliminating the student summer earning component of EFC, or reducing EFC to the Federally determined level (FAFSA EFC). All schools have different policies, so you need to check with each individual school. </p>

<p>Looks like you are at Brown, and they appear to follow this exact process in how they evaluate your outside scholarships:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.brown.edu/about/administration/financial-aid/undergraduate/brown-financial-aid-packaging/outside-scholarships-and-your-financial-aid-package[/url]”>http://www.brown.edu/about/administration/financial-aid/undergraduate/brown-financial-aid-packaging/outside-scholarships-and-your-financial-aid-package&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>They state that you can use outside scholarships to reduce WS, Loans and the student summer earnings component of EFC.</p>