<p>Delfire: May I ask which officer you spoke with, if he said family contribution would be reduced after loans/work-study? I have heard contradicting information from different Financial Aid officers regarding that issue.</p>
<p>This is so embarassing but I don't know the name of the officer. It was one of the guys who gave the speech as a panelist, so I just asked him real quick and I was done.</p>
<p>But just for you to know, they do an official interview with your OWN officer this August with your parents present do go over all of the finances.</p>
<p>Thanks Delfire; no problem.</p>
<p>I think scholarship SO eat into grants. In the financial aid booklet they sent with the admissions stuff, page 22...
"What about outside scholarships?
The scholarships you receive from outside sources will first be used to reduce the student loans and/or Work-Study portion of your financial aid package...Only after your self-help has been completely eliminated will your scholarships begin to reduce any Columbia Grant you may have received. In some cases, all or part of your outside scholarship awards may be used to reduce the family contribution, instead of reducing a loan or work-study. Eligibility for this option is based on federal eligibilty and is determined by our office on a case-by-case basis"</p>
<p>Ouch, you guys! That totally sucks. . . .</p>
<p>Worse comes to worse, I guess you just shouldn't report the scholarships that are paid directly to you.</p>
<p>You guys mention that Cornell didn't give you guys as good of FA package compared to Columbia. However, Cornell is more straight-forward with their FA. They take nothing off your need based grants until the balance is more than the student contribution. In my case the student contribution is $11,000. . .so the University takes none of my outside scholarships until I reach $11,000 in outside scholarships, right now I'm at $10,700 so it worked out perfectly.</p>
<p>I've never really understood why some schools insist on taking money that students earned and which was raised by people working hard to help great students pay for college. . . kind of sad that a University can just pocket it.</p>