<p>Yes but…there are merit scholarships that are true financial need scholarships and then there are merit scholarships that are awarded for academic performance regardless of financial need. If the OP has low need the OP would be wise to understand the difference.</p>
<p>The federal EFC is an index to gage family/student threshold for federal aid and does not “deep dive” into how each family has their assets structured.</p>
<p>The CSS is a more comphrehensive financial picture of the family used by a fraction of the colleges and universities to understand a family/student’s ability to pay. Each college can and may use the information differently. Some colleges and universities that utilize the CB Profile DO have a calculator on the website so families/students can glean how their financial information might be used. Some colleges do not publish a calculator or an indepth explations of what they do with the information. Remember that when colleges publish “income” thresholds the vast majority are referring to income and assets…not simply salary/take home pay/etc.</p>