<p>He has decided to go to Dartmouth. I don’t think his decision had anything to do with the money.</p>
<p>Oh, and another factoid: he is an NMF. If he declared them as first choice and was awarded a Chicago NM scholarship, it would reduce his grant from them. (Which actually makes sense from their point of view if you regard their FA as actually meeting need, because the funds would come out of the same “pocket.”) If he were awarded any “outside” scholarship, including a NMS from another source, it would be used to reduce his work study, thereby reducing his ability to contribute and his obligation, but not ours. I actually regard the opportunity to do work study as a plus, since it is a way for him to earn a couple of thousand dollars towards his expenses without having to go out and pound the pavement for a job. And there is some possibility that the job might be interesting. I would prefer that they allow him to keep the federal work study and reduce the family contribution, or even let him keep a few thousand bucks of his assets, so that he has a little money for graduate school or whatever. But that isn’t what they do. Moreover, if the outside scholarship is more than the work study amount, it is used to reduce his grant. Not much motivation for a low-income kid to go out and spend time applying for scholarships, hmmm? </p>
<p>At least, I believe that is their policy. I was given a different answer by every FA person I asked about it. Again, it makes perfect sense if you regard their FA as actually meeting need. Otherwise, it seems like a way to nickel and dime a talented kid from a low income family out of a few thousand bucks, frankly. (A student not qualifying for FA would be able to apply the scholarship to tuition.)</p>