FA vs merit aid -- does it matter?

sbjdorlo
Thu, 29 Nov 2012 23:20:24 +0000

OP,

Yes, apply for both at those schools that you can!

Vandy is unbelievably generous. With the full tuition merit scholarship and need-based aid on top of that, my son would have been left with about $900 (yes, that’s two zeros) billed amount for tuition, room and board a year.

Harvey Mudd is another school that gave him generous merit aid as well as need-based aid; however, it was complicated by several factors (mostly the fact that we qualified for a Cal Grant A), and didn’t turn out to be such the good deal that it seemed.

I think Baylor also had need-based and merit aid, though we only got as far as the merit aid before my son withdrew his application, so I don’t know how much need-based aid they offer.

Washington University in St. Louis is another school that offers both but my son was not a finalist for their full tuition scholarship, so I don’t know how generous they can be.

HTH.