<p>Thank you Antarius. I also just saw on ESTHER that I have a $2500 loan, even though our family income is well below $80,000. Any ideas why?</p>
<p>I am not sure about that. I wonder if it has something to do with investments or property; then again, I am just guessing. It could be an error as well.</p>
<p>I would recommend calling Rice or emailing them at <a href=“mailto:fina@rice.edu”>fina@rice.edu</a>. They will give you a conclusive answer. Good Luck!</p>
<p>The physical, mailed packet contained the following statement about merit scholarships:</p>
<p>Admitted applicants who are selected for a Rice merit scholarship receive a separate notification which is included in the admit packet containing their offer of admission.</p>
<p>I also emailed the Financial Aid office regarding merit scholarships appearing on ESTHER and received the following reply:</p>
<p>All information has been placed in ESTHER for your viewing. You may also be receiving your admissions packet in the mail shortly. All awards are currently reflecting awards obtain.</p>
<p>This has led me to assume that merit scholarships for ED acceptances have already been distributed and would appear in both ESTHER and the physical, mailed package.</p>
<p>Does anyone know whether having all financial aid documents submitted affects merit scholarship decisions?</p>
<p>Financial aid is handled separately. Merit aid is not affected by financial need or income.(unless it is a need based scholarship) Any merit based aid will be included in your admission packet. Financial aid should come shortly as well.</p>
<p>My family income is very, very low, and I submitted the CSS, but Rice said that “they can’t determine whether or not I need financial aid.” Why is that?!? I’m freaking out…</p>
<p>Is it possible to choose to PAY for the amount of a federal loan instead of taking it? I emailed Rice and they basically told me that adding the IRA deduction to the AGI places me over the 80,000 threshold, which I guess is fine, but what if I would rather pay the $2500 instead of taking out a loan?</p>
<p>@kitkatkitty2 - If you look at my earlier comments (especially #8), you’ll see I had the same problem. I called the financial aid office and they were extremely nice and very helpful. For me, it turned out I had submitted the CSS and the other documents too early and they were filed with the 2011-2012 school year for some reason. I know someone else said they submitted their stuff but the financial aid office didn’t receive it and they had to resend the stuff. Basically, the best thing to do is call them and ask what’s up. Good luck!!</p>
<p>gibberish → You probably can. I would call Rice and ask. Honestly, I would take out the loan. You have a grace period after you graduate to pay it back in full w/o interest. </p>
<p>Take the 2500 per year and either invest it or, if you don’t want the risk, stick it in a CD and earn interest.</p>
<p>Are there separate applications for merit aid? Or do they automatically consider us all for scholarships in our undergrad application?</p>
<p>It’s automatic consideration; no separate application.</p>