@Riversider - You really think if they award me more then someone else gets less? Not sure I believe that. Let’s assume for a moment there is one pot of money for a given year (not so sure that is even true with these rich schools). Well, they made all the awards. Then I come around, after the awards are awarded, and tell them I have this outside scholarship. They actually have gained money into the pot when I do that. As it turned out, they gained $2K of the free money they took away.
In addition, every person I have spoken to who has a child that earned an outside scholarship is upset when they find out it may not have made any difference. That is why I posted this, because it may be that many colleges do a compromise (or maybe my son’s school is different).