<p>BU has basically a sliding scale of need and merit when they give out grants. Obviously, since BU is so large, and lacks a gigantic endowment on the size of the Ivies, they cannot possibly meet the need of everyone who gets in. Instead, the better an applicant you are, the more need-based aid they will give you (Completely excluding all of the merit based scholarships, just speaking of grants).</p>
<p>If you are above average for BU, then its a lot more likely they will meet your full need with grants and the standard federal loans -Stafford, Perkins etc, usually 8k per year I max I think, as well as a 2k workstudy. </p>
<p>For example, I received a 26k and the other 10k, basically meeting my entire need. My act was a 35 and I had a decent gpa, so, not that I’m better than the average BU student, but in all honestly BU was mostly safety for me in terms of admissions. If you’re barely able to get in, well…they might not be as generous, unfortunately. </p>
<p>[Boston</a> University - Office of Financial Assistance - Applying for Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.bu.edu/finaid/apply/incoming_probability.html]Boston”>http://www.bu.edu/finaid/apply/incoming_probability.html) - A chart that shows how they calculate the merit vs need. It varies a lot more depending on the exact situation though.</p>