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<p>Don’t mix up merit scholarships with need based aids. Most top privates do not have merit scholarships but need based aids.
Also, many full ride scholarships do not have a need component. So it does not matter if your family made $40k or $400k in that case if you do have stellar credential eligible to the scholarship. And CCDD14 is right, there are full ride scholarships from many public universities though highly competitive.</p>