@Guppie- it depends on the school. Obviously our FAFSA profile and the D’s grades were the same no matter where we sent them- but the $$ results were wildly different, and we were applying to schools that were academically competitive. For both Muhlenberg and Syracuse, D was invited to apply for a significant scholarship based on her stats (it was Dana scholars for M, can’t remember name at Syracuse) which required extra essays, and an interview with Muhlenberg. Both were entirely merit based. She got the one at M (and of course it was one of her safeties, so with other offers in hand she wasn’t really interested.) She did not get the one at Syracuse (which would have been a 1/2 tuition) though she did end up with a nice merit package (about $15k) even without the named scholarship