<p>I am curious about scholarships that initially appear to be merit based. They ask for grades, SATs, rank, activities, leadership positions, and recommendations. But then the words "financial need" enter into the equation. They go on to say that financial need is ALSO considered. So what does that mean? Will an exceptional student with no need be declined in favor of a mediocre student with need? In this case, shouldn't they say the scholarship is need based, and then choose among needy applicants? I would think the scholarship committee would have to consider one or the other, but not both.</p>
<p>"Will an exceptional student with no need be declined in favor of a mediocre student with need?"</p>
<p>typically yes.</p>
<p>Many, if not most, scholarships consider need and merit. Ron Brown and Horatio Alger are examples are such scholarships</p>
<p>There are many exceptional students with need who compete for the above types of scholarships with students with no need. It sounds to me like these scholarships are for students with demonstrated need AND academic merit. AND with regard to what the colleges consider...they decide what the criteria are for their scholarships. There are scholarships based solely on merit, scholarships based solely on need, and scholarships based on both. AND in addition there are scholarships that deal with specific talents (music, art, etc) or other criteria (residence in a certain county, majors in certain areas, etc).</p>
<p>It's all water under the bridge now, but I just wondered how a scholarship could be both. I guess what you are saying is that a student needs to meet both criteria to be considered, but it wasn't really clear to me that an applicant MUST qualify in BOTH areas simultaneously. I'm sort of sorry DS spent time applying for academic scholarships that made any mention of need. (He did win some based on merit alone, though)</p>