<p>This may sound like a stupid question, but I was wondering if the CAS merit scholarship I received would be allotted to someone else if I decide not to attend. NYU made it impossible for me to attend anyway by not offering me any other aid (they told me I never filled out my FAFSA, although I have tons of records pointing out that I did, as evidenced by finaid offers from other colleges/universities, and my records show that I definitely sent it to NYU). I would hate for the scholarship to just disappear or whatever…get reabsorbed by NYU. Will it automatically get reallocated to someone else who WILL attend? If not, can I write a letter to the Finaid office asking them to consider doing so?</p>
<p>Lewis, most colleges offer more scholarship money to students than they actually have, assuming that only some of the students will come. So a certain percentage of kids turning down the scholarships is built into their planning – which also means that the scholarship funds are not reallocated. That is, the college is essentiallly offering the same $10,000 scholarship (or whatever amount) to multiple students. </p>
<p>At some colleges there may be a specialized or named scholarship that is specifically designed to go to a certain number of students – so for example, there is a policy that every year 10 students get selected to be Whatever Scholars. In those cases, the funds would generally be reallocated.</p>
<p>I don’t know specifically about NYU’s policies. (But if they would give your scholarship to someone else, my daughter would be very happy to have it – the need-based-money sure isn’t doing it for us).</p>