<p>This is my first time writing, so bear with me all!
My son was accepted to all the schools he applied to. Got lots if finanaid, both merit and need-based. Our package is great for this year because due to unforeseen financial losses last year, he qualifies for a lot that I think will be dropped next year (at least I am assuming that). Here’s my question before we sign on the dotted line this week: can WE assume that the merit award he received will be duplicated next year if he does well? Is there any chance or likelihood that it might increase, especially if the school knows that need-based moneies he got are going away? Does the FAFSA look strictly at income, even if you have no savings or assets? From what I have gathered from reading lots of threads, it seems that that is the case.
I guess I would just like to know what we are in for. Anyone?</p>
<p>I can only speak to the merit aid:</p>
<p>Some schools list specific criteria for renewal of the merit aid $. It might say “automatically renewed with a GPA of at least 2.7” or “apply each year” or it might be silent on the topic.</p>
<p>Some of the renewal criteria are much more stringent than others: eg, a 2.7 minimum GPA is much more realistic than a 3.7, especially in a tough major such as Engineering.</p>
<p>Go immediately to the given school’s website and look for the renewal criteria for the particular award. Come back here with that info and many posters can help.</p>
<p>If you cannot find the renewal criteria, you should call the school and ask; ask also what % of students with that award and your intended major retain the award all 4 years.</p>
<p>Also, to answer another of your questions, FAFSA takes into account income+savings+assets. (you can do some “what if” scenarios with one of the online FAFSA calculators). Unfortunately, it doesn’t take into account how much debt (other than college expenses) you have.</p>
<p>To answer another part of the OP’s question…it is not likely the merit aid would increase. My son receives merit aid and there are very specific rules about renewal. In his school if his gpa falls below 3.0 he gets one semester to raise it back up. The money continues during that semester. At some schools there is no “grace” period so you definitely need to do as the other posters suggest and read the rules.
Generally speaking, the merit aid is to entice higher end students to enroll so I don’t see it increasing in subsequent years however if your finances change, you could get need based aid in additional to the merit in subsequent years.</p>
<p>Some places may give you modest increases in merit aid if they want to hang on to you. I have a friend whose daughter at RPI got a surprise increase in her merit money. (I think being a woman at a tech school played into it.)</p>
<p>Did you not do FAFSA this year? Were you able to get need-based aid without it? I know that is strongly recommended to have FAFSA on file at the school as it makes the process easier in subsequent years.</p>
<p>Have you read the merit award letter closely? They usually specify what the GPA requirement is, and also sometimes link it to tuition increases. We had one merit award that had a minimum gpa to keep, but it would go up if gpa did.</p>
<p>Don’t be embarassed to make a phonecall to the Bursar’s or Financial Aid office and ask direct questions. It is the best way to reassure yourself.</p>
<p>We did file the FAFSA. I also took advice and made a call to the school today, but no call back as yet. The package statement does not have any notation about merit based aid having a GPA requirement, even though we assume you would have to keep it pretty high. I’m told that getting lots of need based aid actually diminishes your merit aid somewhat.
In my message to the person at the school I asked if any further merit monies might be available for my son to apply for, as applicants have now started to respond and there may be some that was freed up by someone else turning it awaybecause they have accepted another school’s offer. I actually spoke to someone this morning who advised doing that because they were fortunate enough to be the recipients of a similar situation.
My son’s school is a highly ranked Southern liberal arts school, very well endowed. Believe me, I am very grateful for what he got this year (over $30,000). I’m just trying to anticipate the next 3!
By the way, has anyone heard anything about the Lowe’s scholarship? You can’t find out a darn thing through their website, other than your semifinalist application is being processed. Also, the NHS scholarship is administered by the same scholarship company, and there’s no info on that either.</p>
<p>I believe that the Lowe’s semifinalists have already been notified. To tell you the truth, I’ve gotten the best info regarding scholarships, etc. via CC…for many of them, they do NOT do any further notification if you don’t advance in the scholarship process; only by watching CC (and searching for Lowe’s) did I see when the notifications came; I found out when NMF notifications were coming, even when mailings from D’s prospective schools were coming, thanks to the helpful people here on CC. You’ll probably find yourself gravitating to certain topics. Also, BTW, when you start a new thread, if you title it with your general question or topic, you’ll get a lot more people responding to it. Again, welcome to CC. Now, be careful that you don’t get WAY addicted. And make sure to check in to Sinner’s Alley… :)</p>
<p>Atrophysicsmom, where did you see the results for this? I can’t find it, and the last thing I read from someone is that the scholarship gave people until 4/21 to return their necessary paperwork if a semifinalist.
Also, Fastweb’s site says that news on this has not been updated yet.</p>
<p>This is the thread I was thinking of—sorry; it was the announcement earlier in the process…Looks like the final announcement of results will follow. You may want to do an advanced search from 1 year ago for “Lowe’s” and see when the results were announced last year.<br>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=312307&highlight=Lowe’s[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=312307&highlight=Lowe’s</a></p>
<p>OP - I would suggest emailing your questions about merit aid to your kid’s college financial aid office or admissions office. THat way, you get the answer in writing and can print it out for your records.</p>