<p>Hi, i'm a future college class of 2019er who has some questions about merit scholarships and aid.</p>
<p>I recently got accepted to my state U as a safety with a $5000 merit scholarship, but just realized I only sent them my original SAT score of 1870 (CR 600 and M 660) which is about 40 pts lower then my single sitting highest score 1910 (CR 670 and M 610) and 90 lower then my superscore 1960 (CR 670 and M 660).</p>
<p>Do you think officially sending my better SAT score would increase my merit scholarship?</p>
<p>Also, what do merit awards cover? [What does a student with a merit award usually not have or not have a large amount of (i.e. loans, work study, grant?) that a student without merit would?]</p>
<p>And when analyzing award letters, what should I be cautious of? (GPA requirements, amount, academic years etc.)</p>
<p>I'm the first in my family to go through the US college process so we don't know a lot about financial aid or awards. Any and all help is appreciated.</p>
<p>Send in the better score and see if the school will increase your merit. We don’t know if the school will or won’t. We don’t even know which school this is!!!</p>
<p>There is no way that we can know how much the merit award will cover (since, again, we don’t know what school this is.). This would be like me asking you, “If I get a raise at my job, what will it cover?” You would have no idea, because you wouldn’t know how big the raise is, or how big my expenses are." Right?</p>
<p>Yes, you need to be aware of what the GPA req’t is, how many credits you have to complete each semester or year, and what your remaining costs are. </p>
<p>I don’t know if those scores make enough difference or if your school will adjust after initial scores. You can call them to see, or just send the scores and follow up. </p>
<p>Usually your award will be applied to your fixed costs that the school charges. This is tuition, fees, room and board. But you may also have need based aid being applied to those costs. So, when and if there is excess funds over the fixed amounts those amounts will be ‘refunded’ to you. You can then use those however you choose, for your books, transportation, personal costs etc. If you have extra you can save it for next year or an occasional expense like laptop. If there is no refund and you still owe money for your fixed costs then you have to pay the school the balance. Either in cash or through a student loan. You will also then need to cover your books, transportation etc. with that cash or loan.</p>
<p>So merit can replace work study and loans if there is enough money to go around. If not, keep the work study. It is nice to have a small job and your can have some experience on your resume, and avoid more loans.</p>
<p>Your award should state if it is one time or renewable for 4 years. Usually renewable. Then it should say if there is a gpa requirement. It is hard to keep with a 3.5 requirement, but a 3.0 should be do-able for anyone.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information. I live in Massachusetts, and the school I am referring to is in the UMass system (specifically UMass Dartmouth) but i’m not sure that will help. </p>