<p>I am wondering if anybody has won any scholarships and are planning to go to Cornell. If you have won scholarship money, do you have to pay less loan money? Or do they simply deduct the scholarship awards from your grant awards?</p>
<p>my gf had one and they took it from her grants</p>
<p>Then there really is no point of getting scholarships is there? I mean unless you're going to win more scholarships than the grant money you've been awarded, what is the point?</p>
<p>Please correct me if I am wrong about this. Thanks.</p>
<p>at first I thought they would take away from grants right away too, but I called the financial aid office and talked to them for about 15 whole minutes talkin about what I can do. It depends on your situation, but they told me that *outside scholarships take away from the loans first, then the work study, then the grants. *</p>
<p>That's what they told me for my situation at least; call in to find out for you, but it probably should be the same. From what I understand, as long as your outside scholarships do not exceed your amount of loans and work study, they will not take away from your grants.</p>
<p>Agreed w/ yousonofatree.</p>
<p>I got a scholarship last year, and it was subtracted out from my loans.</p>
<p>They should subtract from your loans.</p>
<p>I had a modest scholarship and they took it out of my loans.</p>
<p>same. from loans</p>
<p>Yup...I have an outside scholarship that reduced my loans. Then I was awarded two scholarships from CALS that reduced my loans and work-study. The Cornell grant money mostly depends on how many siblings you have in college and that will only be touched if the amount of scholarship money exceeds your loan package...</p>
<p>What about the EFC? can scholarship money be used to pay off the parent portion of tuition? can it be credited for books or other expenses like that?</p>
<p>I don't think outside scholarships can cover EFC, since they told me I can only get outside scholarships up to the combined amount of my loans and work study.</p>
<p>Ex: say they give you $10,000 in loans and work study, you can only get up to $10,000 of outside scholarships or it will take away from grants, even if you still have say $15,000 EFC.</p>
<p>That's right....your EFC is not affected by outside scholarships. The only way your EFC can change is if you have another sibling in college or something drastic happens to your family's income....</p>
<p>However...you can borrow additional loan money (usually using a Federal PLUS loan) to cover the EFC. If your parents are denied for a PLUS loan, then you can use private loan lenders to cover the EFC.</p>
<p>Does anyone know when we hear about the Cornell Commitment scholarships or the procedure? I got something about it in the mail like two months back.</p>
<p>what scholarships did you guys get, and what stats helped that? thanks</p>
<p>Bigred123- Cornell doesn't give merit based scholarships. It's all need based. If you want to know more about outside scholarships, you should look research on the "scholarships" thread on CC or fastweb.com</p>
<p>from what I understand there a couple scholarships, the Cornell Tradition that can also give a book award regardless of need?</p>
<p>They're more like programs than scholarships since you have to participate in Cornell Tradition events and do community service, etc.</p>
<p>Freshmen year, my outside scholarship took away from my loans, but after that, it took away my grants even though I argued with the financial aid office for an hour about it. I hate them.</p>
<p>OMG that is totally unfair! What if your have to take out a loan for the EFC, your scholarship can't pay for that? That's ridiculous! Or at least can't the scholarship carry over to be used on loans you'll have to pay the next year?</p>
<p>While Cornell does not offer "vanilla" merit-based scholarships, the Cornell Commitment program does reward students for research, leadership, and service potential.
The Cornell Tradition is the largest program, and (as I understand it) augments the self-help portion of financial aid.
The Meinig Family Cornell Scholars program awards students who have made significant leadership contributions, and provides mentorship to continue leadership roles at Cornell.
The Hunter R Rawlings III Cornell Presidential Research Scholars (RCPRS) is generally awarded to accepted undergraduates based on research accomplishments and potential. It provides an $8,000 research fund, $4,000 per year in loan forgiveness, and mentorship. Sophomores involved in faculty-sponsored research may also apply to enter the program their junior year.
I joined RCPRS as a junior, and found it highly rewarding. If you're interested in any of these programs, you might want to speak to it in your personal statement or alumnus meeting. Expressing an interest in a Cornell Commitment program might also evidence your particular interest in Cornell and its opportunities.
I've limited experience myself, so others should correct me if I'm mistaken. Further information is available at Cornell</a> University The Cornell Commitment</p>