<p>Ok, I was talking to my girlfriend last night and the subject of financial aid came up. She is very smart. She has a 34 ACT and 4.0 GPA, along with a hard courseload. She will probably not go to any top tier schools, making her a very good canidate for merit aid. She also has an EFC that is very low.
My question is what happens if she receives a decent merit award? Does that effect the amount of need based aid she is given?</p>
<p>Merit aid reduces need aid dollar for dollar.</p>
<p>Your COA - EFC - merit aid = need.</p>
<p>The nice twist, however, is that self-help need aid is reduced first. Say your need is satisfied by a combination of grants, loans and work-study. If you get a merit award, the loans and work study will be reduced before the grants are cut.</p>
<p>If she is very smart and has a low EFC, then it would be good for her to apply to excellent schools which are need-blind and meet full need. A lot of times those schools will apply outside scholarships to replace loans, not the need-based grant.</p>