<p>Here is a site that I’ve found very useful as a primer on merit scholarships and need based FA:</p>
<p>[FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>http://www.finaid.org/)</p>
<p>In general, merit aid is based on factors outside of financial need (eg. academics, test scores, ECs, ethnicity/race, etc.) However there are hybrid merit scholarships that do take financial need into consideration (QuestBridge is an example). Within merit aid, there are two main types, outside and Institutional. One important point to remember is that for both outside and Institutional scholarships, the bigger ones are generally for fr applicants, there are relatively few merit awards for transfer students and they are usually of less value. </p>
<p>Outside merit scholarships are given through various organizations which are separate from colleges; these can range from very large (eg. Gates, Toyota) to a couple hundred dollars (eg. many scholarships through local organizations). Some are renewable for all four years, others are for 1 year only. Like most things in life, the big scholarships are highly competitive and very difficult to get, while students have a better chance at the local scholarships for small amounts. Outside scholarships can be found through scholarship websites (beware, they should never charge a fee), your HS, in the Resources sticky thread on this forum, and on other threads on the FA & Scholarship and Parent forums.</p>
<p>Institutional scholarships are those offered by a college. How you apply for these scholarships varies widely: completed admissions application by a specific date; separate scholarship application with essays; interview; etc. These scholarships will be listed on the college website, some may be university wide, while others are through the various colleges (eg. College of Liberal Arts or College of Engineering). Some schools are very good at describing the requirements for their scholarships, others are vague and may take follow-up via phone or email. And here there are also a few hybrids, such as the Jefferson scholarship which is administered by an organization but only support students at Duke & UNC-CH.</p>
<p>I would really emphasize that before applying to any outside or Institutional scholarships, you should call the organization/college and ask about deferring to take a gap year. Need based FA must be applied for each year using the FAFSA and/or CSS Profile forms, so you do not defer FA from one year to the next, rather you just fill out the forms for the year you attend. Be aware, need based FA is always based on the tax year previous to when you attend college (for example, for my D2 who will attend next fall for the 2011/12 school year, our FA will be based on our 2010 taxes.</p>
<p>Finally, yes, rigor of classes is important. If you look at the CA, on the Secondary School Report, your HS GC will mark one of the categories: most demanding, very demanding, demanding, average, below average. Your gpa will be taken into consideration along with the rigor of your coursework. One fallacy that many students here on CC have is thinking that they need to take a certain number of AP classes to be a competitive candidate, but it is relative to what your HS offers that you will be assessed. That said, how much difference ‘most demanding’ and ‘very demanding’ makes will vary depending on the strength of the rest of the application.</p>