<p>I'm a senior and don't understand the Ivy financial aid policy. Because they offer to cover 100% of demonstrated financial need, wouldn't any scholarship I get take away from what I need and therefore lower my financial aid? So is there no use for outside scholarships or can they still lower the cost?</p>
<p>^It depends on the school. Outside scholarship may lowers school’s financial aid, or it may lowers your loans / work-study, or it may even lowers your family contribution.</p>
<p>You need to look at each school’s financial aid page and see how they handle outside scholarships. At several schools the outside scholarships come off student self help (work study & summer work $) before the school reduces their grants for need. I don’t know of any school that would reduce parent’s contribution until all school grant money was eliminated. So really outside scholarship need is only around $4000-$5000 or so at an Ivy for the neediest students. </p>
<p>Some schools may also give you a one time allowance for a computer if your outside scholarships fully cover your self help. </p>
<p>Schools have their own financial aid policies as to how they handle outside scholarships. Most all of them require that you report them to the school, and my suggestion is to wait until you get your fin aid package before doing so. In the mean time look up on the schools’ websites how they say they handle these awards. Usually, and this is a generality,usually, schools start replacing the self help, such as loans and work study with the outside awards and eliminate the need based grants only after the self help is depleted. THough PELL can stay, most govenment grants do have to be withdrawn unless there is demonstrated need, as do subsidized loans and WS. No need, no award. Schools have their own policies about their own money. </p>