<p>maryversity,</p>
<p>“This has nothing to do with financial aid awards.”</p>
<p>Certainly it does, at least for mrphysics101 (and for most of the rest of us). In fact, that’s the actual title of the thread: “can you appeal fin aid awards?”</p>
<p>It’s true that the poster is mixing and matching a bit - under a thread titled about financial aid, he’s talking about merit scholarships. But the poster is trying to figure out how to afford college. The poster doesn’t want to take out loans. The poster was counting on a large merit scholarship to make school affordable. He says so explicitly. </p>
<p>I know that as my son goes through the process of selecting a college, we look at all sources of financing, whether loans, or financial aid grants, or work study, or outright merit grants, as all being components of the solution to the overriding problem: How the heck are we going to afford this thing??</p>
<p>It seems this is how mrphysics101 is also thinking about it. He lists the schools to which he has applied, and many (most? all?) of them don’t do much by way of merit scholarships. He will probably have to depend mostly or entirely on financial aid to these schools.</p>
<p>But I think the poster doesn’t believe that he will get enough financial aid to make these colleges affordable. He cites undisclosed family circumstances that, in his mind, suggest that the likely amounts of financial aid offered will be too modest to help.</p>
<p>Thus, he’s disappointed with the merit scholar given to him.</p>
<p>I’m suggesting to him that he go back through the other door, that of financial aid. If the university doesn’t give him what he considers an adequate financial aid package, he can take it up with these folks.</p>
<p>As I said, that is the actual title of this thread, which is posed as the question, “can you appeal fin aid awards?”</p>
<p>And the answer to that question is, well, you can certainly talk to the school about financial aid awards, and sometimes, they will make an adjustment to what they gave you.</p>