<p>Do any of you have any experience with this? I heard that if you get any outside scholarships, Cornell will reduce your grant aid, instead of your student loan amount. Is this true? I find this odd because most schools replace your loan amount first..</p>
<p>Thanks y'all for the help!</p>
<p>They reduce the “self-help” portion of your financial package first, which includes the loans and then the federal work study.</p>
<p>thanks… I figured it out myself… derp, I’ll go crawl in a hole now. If anyone else is curious, here’s the link:</p>
<p>[Outside</a> Scholarships | Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.finaid.cornell.edu/types-aid/grants-and-scholarships/outside-scholarships]Outside”>Outside Scholarships | Financial Aid)</p>
<p>Yep, I had mine reduced as well.</p>
<p>I have to ask…
What is the incentive to pursue outside scholarships beyond the value of your “self-help” portion?.<br>
We are in a position where my son has received outside scholarships that far exceed his “self-help” portion of his FA package. But our “Family Contribution” amount is still well beyond what we can actually afford.
I’m actually considering turning down some of his scholarships and telling the organizations to keep their money. There’s no benefit to him to keep the funds.</p>
<p>Has anyone had any luck convincing the Cornell Office of FA to allow the use of outside scholarships towards the Family Contribution?</p>
<p>If the scholarships exceed the self-help amount, the grant is reduced, not the EFC. We have never been in this situation where the scholarships exceeded the self-help portion so I am not sure about the FA taking it off the EFC but I would be inclined to say that they will not based on the scenario of becoming an RA and the grants getting reduced.</p>