<p>So I have wanted to go to Rice since sophomore year of high school ... and I got accepted! Even better, I saw in my award package that I had received the Barbara Jordan Merit scholarship. The problem is that it seems the scholarship reduced the amount of grants I receive significantly, and my estimated family contribution changes very little if any due to the scholarship, and my EFC is actually a lot more than my family can afford. What should I do, or what should I say when I contact the financial aid office? Will the fact that I got a merit scholarship help to somehow lower my EFC?</p>
<p>Grants/scholarships are free money that they use to fill your financial aid award. So they are the “same thing”. You are right that your EFC is unaffected by the scholarship or grant. The school determines that you need to pay X and anything else, they will provide through grants/scholarships and possibly loans. </p>
<p>Also, if you get any outside scholarships, they will simply reduce that exact amount in grants. You cannot use it to pay for your EFC.</p>
<p>The only possible negotiation you might have is if you were accepted to a similar caliber school that offered you more (or less out of pocket specifically). Otherwise, pay up or move on to a school you can afford.</p>
<p>Sorry :-(</p>
<p>The way Rice calculates it is that all of the money they give you (merit-based or not) goes towards Rice’s obligations to you. Depending on assets (and home value), your Rice-need (which they promise to meet) is not the same as your EFC, and any outside scholarship or merit money will reduce the Rice Tuition Grant dollar-by-dollar, because your need has been reduced.</p>
<p>tl;dr-- You are going to have to pay the Rice Need no matter what; merit money doesn’t stack.</p>
<p>If you were not offered them, you can take out fed loans and plan to work for a little of it. Otherwise, typically the only other need-based evaluation that is made is if you have a lot of unimbursed medical bills, family lost job recently, etc.</p>