<p>Hep, we found it was helpful to have outside scholarships at the schools my D was accepted to. None were 100% need met, except for our instate public which does not guarantee to meet need, and all said they would first apply the extra scholarships to the gap between our EFC and their FA package, then to self-help aid. The instate public (which she will attend) has applied them to her Stafford unsubsidized loans first, then Stafford subsidized, then work study. They did not adjust for the small (under $1,000) local “awards” that she was given by the HS although they did adjust for a small Red Cross scholarhsip that was sent directly to the college. Had she chosen a different school, especially one OOS, the outside scholarships would have been more necessary to avoid taking more than planned out of her college fund.</p>
<p>My D stopped applying for scholarships once she made her college choice and knew she did not have significant need for them. She never spent alot of time doing it anyway, choosing to focus more on keeping her GPA high and tracking her applications to be sure she met all the deadlines (especially financial ones!). Many of the scholarships have similar essay/short response questions and, with a bit of editing and a resume of EC’s and awards, she was able to complete most of the scholarship apps fairly quickly.</p>
<p>My advice would be to find out, via a quick call to the FA office of your prospective school(s), what their policy is for applying outside aid and go from there. Good luck!</p>