<p>My SAT scores are good enough to qualify for merit scholarships at some schools. If I apply to these schools, will they use that scholarship to meet my financial aid or is that separate? </p>
<p>Here is a specific example. UAB’s TCA for OOS is 34K. My EFC is 20K. I qualify for a merit scholarship of 15K. Should I expect to get any financial aid ? Does this situation vary from school to school or do they always use merit money to fund need ? </p>
<p>Related question. I have an private scholarship of 3K tuition only. Does that stack with the 15K ?</p>
<p>Yes, your private scholarship would stack at UAB.</p>
<p>*Here is a specific example. UAB’s TCA for OOS is 34K. My EFC is 20K. I qualify for a merit scholarship of 15K. Should I expect to get any financial aid ? Does this situation vary from school to school or do they always use merit money to fund need ? *</p>
<p>No, you don’t qualify for any FA. Your need is met with the merit. You can ask for a 5500 unsub loan to go towards your EFC. </p>
<p>That said, this is an OOS public. If you hadn’t gotten the merit, you wouldn’t have gotten much FA anyway…maybe just a 5500 loan.</p>
<p>Note…the COA is heavily padded. It doesn’t cost that much to go to UAB as an OOS student.</p>
<p>At most schools, yes, merit aid will reduce your need, which is used to calculate your need-based aid. At a small number of private colleges, where there is institutional aid, some merit scholarships may be granted on top of need-based aid. If you get federal aid, your merit scholarship has to be used to reduce the federal aid first (loans, work study, grants…) </p>
<p>In your example, while you might not get any need-based aid, you have a scholarship rather than the loans and work study that someone would get as part of the need-based aid package.</p>
<p>The answer really is that it depends on the school since policies can vary. However, the way it usually works is that financial aid is integrated with merit. Those students who get merit awards will have that used to bring down the financial need, and therefore the aid. Merit is usually given by the admissions office and financial aid from the financial aid office, though some schools combine the function; most do not. </p>
<p>As far as outside scholarships go, the way it usually works is that the self help part of your package is reduced first. Some schools do allow some stacking. I know of a few colleges that do, in terms of their own money, anyways. I’ve never seen a merit award from a school reduced by outside scholarships.</p>