<p>There seem to be two views: one, that the top scoring kids get the top merit rewards regardless of finances and two, that as someone said, they profile you and offer just as much merit aid as they think it will take to get you. My point is that D applied EA to 3 places and checked “applying for financial aid” at all. (We knew we would not qualify but were told you should apply and send in the forms if you even want loans.) At only 1 school were we required to send in the CSS before merit aid was considered-- required, it was not optional. So it seems obvious that they must take the financial picture into account and that it is not simply that the top money goes always to the top scorers.</p>