<p>So being a good high school senior, I have applied to several outside scholarships. However, after reviewing NU's and other school's financial aid websites I've come to find out that these scholarships may be utterly useless.</p>
<p>Here is what NU's financial aid site had to say:
4. How will an outside scholarship affect my aid award?
Because outside scholarships are a resource that you will be receiving, your financial aid will have to be adjusted accordingly. Northwestern's policy is to reduce self-help first (subsidized loans and Federal Work-Study), and then University Scholarship assistance. Scholarship funds are generally divided and applied equally over your quarters of enrollment. </p>
<p>Here's what Vanderbilt's financial aid pamphlet said:
Your outside scholarship(s) must be taken into account as part of your overall/total need-based aid award. It cannot be counted as part of your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). If an adjustment is necessary, the outside scholarship will be used first to replace a student's earnings expectation before reducing other need-based aid.</p>
<p>Feel free to correct me if I am misinterpreting this, but it seems that even if I got a boatload of outside aid, the best that would happen is that I would eliminate my subsidized loan and work-study program, forcing me to find other loan and work options. If my EFC is 30k, no matter what I'm forced to pay the same amount, the only difference in my aid would be in who's writing the check. Doesn't it seem wrong for my scholarships to go to the school instead of me? Is it even worth applying to other scholarships?</p>