<p>DS 14 received his first financial aid award letter. Included in the details was a small merit scholarship. We had hoped for, but not expected, more. Since this the first time through the process for us, is this the end of the scholarship chase at this school? Or if other merit aid awards are offered, will we get a new FAA letter and shopping sheet?</p>
<p>Or is this a school specific question?</p>
<p>Most likely school specific</p>
<p>It can vary by school, but in my experience, yes. If the school does give more merit money, it usually is funneled through financial aid and will usually be integrated with the financial aid and in many such cases any need grants are reduced. So most schools make every attempt to do this up front so you don’t SEE them doing this as it causes bad feelings.</p>
<p>Hi @Dave_N
Glad to see you here. 
It is indeed case specific. The FA offer may be not final yet. In many cases, you need to submit some forms to verify data which may affect the numbers. On the other hand, there may be left over merit aid from students declined admission that may be re-distributed. My friend’s D got a moderate scholarship offer from school in mid Summer after she has already committed. Also, there are many external (perhaps internal too) scholarships that have not been announced yet. All these would change your FA package at the end. My D is still working on essays for a few external scholarships right now although they are mostly for freshmen year only. Hopefully, the final FA paper would look better for you (and me). ;)</p>
<p>College shopping is not like car shopping, so there usually isn’t any negotiating. If you applied for need-based aid, that often comes in a separate letter.</p>
<p>We have never gotten a better offer after the final aid letters. Merit was all offered before the loans. There are stories on CC of people appealing the FA award and getting more money.</p>
<p>By the way, University of Montana, an $11,000 Parent PLUS loan does not “reduce” our out-of-pocket, it delays it and increases it substantially. Same with Federal Student Loans. You should really reword your FA letter.</p>
<p>Parent Plus loan is a joke in financial aid notice. For Federal loan, at least you get some interest benefit from it. UIUC put $40+k parent plus loan in my D’s FA. It is very convenient that they put the decline admission link right below the FA summary. ;)</p>
<p>One school sent a revised FA award letter after DS won a competitive scholarship at the school. First letter included the generic scholarship $ for his stats and came with the acceptance package. He interviewed for and won one of the full tuition scholarships, which prompted the second award letter.
All other schools just sent one FA letter.</p>
<p>A poster who was accepted NEU just got merit offer after the FA award letter, so it is possible to get additional merit from a school after the fin aid letter. Do note that the additional merit can reduce the fin aid. It’s all school specific, as Sybbie has said from the onset.</p>