<p>If you look at CollegeBoard.com you can see that Rose seems to give a large part of their financial aid to their need based students (I am unsure if they get both merit and need based aid, though I don’t see why not). I believe this is divided into lump-sums of aid money and and also work study programs. There are quite a few cushy jobs on campus, but depending on what sort of person you are that may be less useful than something you can actually put on a resume.</p>
<p>I am currently a Sophomore at Rose and didn’t bother to fill out the FASFA (required for need based aid) since I am not really eligible for the need based aid, but I might be able to give some insight on the merit based package.</p>
<p>I got a 1340 on the SAT, 30 ACT, and a 3.5/4.0 GPA (with 8 or so AP’s I think) and I received $7,000 per year as an out of state applicant. I was surprised to see that the average merit based aid was $8,600 (based on CollegeBoard), but given PLANTREE’s comment, maybe there is even MORE weight on need vs merit than I thought. Either way, I know that my ACT topped or equaled most people that I know. Most had 27-29 it seems. Even still, I know a girl with a 28 ACT, probably mid 3 GPA and she got the exact same award as I did ($7,000).</p>
<p>If you think you can do better on the ACT by taking it a second time (Was this your first standardized test? Maybe you forgot some math or didn’t perform well on the essay, etc) then go ahead and take it a second time. Couldn’t hurt. In addition to that, file the FASFA and get some need based aid, that’s where the most money will come from.</p>