<p>If you get scholarships from other sources, does Penn just reduce their own grants/scholarships and maintain the expected family contribution?</p>
<p>Say my efc is like 10k. If i get a National merit scholarship (2.5k), does my family only pay 7.5k? Or do we still pay 10k, and Penn just gives us less money for free?</p>
<p>thx in advance</p>
<p>my GUESS is that your family would pay less, but that's a complete guess...</p>
<p>my advice is to call their financial aid office asap...that is obvious the most reliable source</p>
<p>Most schools your EFC stays the same and the outside scholarship reduces the other grants/scholarships. Generally the 'self help' portion - loans and workstudy - is reduced first.</p>
<p>the scholarships are subtracted from your family contribution. penn does not give you less money. many people choose to decline their loans to balance things out</p>
<p>According to the University of Pennsylvania financial aid website </p>
<p>
[quote]
Outside Scholarship Policy for Aided Students
When you receive an outside scholarship (i.e., scholarships awarded from non-governmental sources outside the University), you will receive a dollar for dollar reduction in the self-help component of your financial aid package. Self-help includes student loans awarded to meet need, expected savings from summer earnings, and work-study. University grant will be reduced only after all self-help has been eliminated
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Pennsylhttp://<a href="http://www.sfs.upenn.edu/paying/outside-scholarships.htm">www.sfs.upenn.edu/paying/outside-scholarships.htm</a></p>
<p>So if the Grants do end up getting reduced (say I had no self-help/loans to begin with), then is the reduction in grants applicable only for that one year?</p>
<p>Say I have 30k in grants, 10k expected family contribution(all from parents). If i get a national merit scholarship(2.5k), the grants would become 27.5k for my freshman year.</p>
<p>But for my sophomore year and later (when i renew my scholarships), does the grant amount go back up to 30k? or does it stay at 27.5k? Because it seems like a foolish thing to even accept the scholarship if it ends up hurting you in the long run.</p>
<p>and do we have to apply for a new financial aid package every year? or does it stay the same, as long as your family's financial situations don't change?</p>
<p>Are you talking about grants or scholarships? Grants are usually need based awards so will be affected by outside money as the 'need' will be less. Scholarships are generally merit based and may not be affected by outside money. Also you have to re apply for need based aid every year anyway. Best to check with the school for the specifics of your case.</p>
<p>I am in a similar situation as you. I got a scholarship worth about 36K per year. My EFC to begin with was 5500. I was also given a work study grant. So I thought that I would end up getting a free ride and maybe some money in my pocket but that isn't the case. Penn will reduce my grants. However, they will also eliminate my federal work study and student contribution. But they won't reduce the parent contribution no matter how much scholaship I get. So I still have to $3050. It sucks! What's the use of applying for outside scholarships then!
I called the financial aid office btw.</p>
<p>Sristi, if you don't mind my asking, do you know what your parents' combined income range is?</p>
<p>fire</p>
<p>fight</p>
<p>it was less than 50K last year since my dad didn't work for 6 months.</p>