Do you have to accept offered merit scholarships for financial aid office to process package? If so, when do you do this? If you have been awarded merit scholarships, but have applied for higher scholarship, do you wait? What happens when more than one university has offered merit scholarships?
“Do you have to accept offered merit scholarships for financial aid office to process package? If so, when do you do this? If you have been awarded merit scholarships, but have applied for higher scholarship, do you wait?”
Ask the schools. This all varies.
“What happens when more than one university has offered merit scholarships?”
You pick one.
Need schools to process financial aid packages to evaluate which one is affordable. What have others done in past?
Your accepting or declining does not normally make the school ‘process’ financial aid. Merit is often awarded by the admissions office and other aid by the financial aid office.
For one of my kids, I noticed that several awards (merit) were not showing up on her portal. The financial aid office said they usually wait until they are processing need based aid to post everything at once, they don’t post aid as it comes in from other departments or outside programs. My daughter has 10 different awards, about half through the financial aid office, but all 10 post at once.
You may get merit awards this early with EA or rolling admissions, but may not get need based aid awards until later in the spring. It depends on the school.