Questions re: scholarship interview and how scholarship may affect other aid

[Kimm in WA]

My son has an interview tomorrow with his college's alumni board for their full tuition scholarship. Does anyone who has BTDT have any idea the types of questions he may be asked? He's a math/science guy and not the most personable / conversationalist kind of guy. I want to help him prepare.

 

I have a call in to the fin. aid office, but do scholarships typically reduce school grants, even if the student would have to take a student loan? DS got a large merit and need based grant that almost covers full tuition, but I'm wondering if those will be removed if he gets THIS scholarship. If so, what's the point? Does receiving a "prestigious" school scholarship help with getting internships and/or research jobs?

 

Thanks!

Kimm in WA

[Jane in NC]

Regarding your second paragraph: this may depend upon the school and the scholarship program. I suspect that the grant was in part based on your EFC, so an increased scholarship amount could reduce the grant or could be substituted for the first scholarship. You should ask.

 

About the first question you raised: so much is dependent upon who is doing the interviewing. Some people are very relaxed and have what is more like a conversation than an interview. My son had one scholarship interview which was just plain Weird. There are some good posts in this thread.

 

Good luck to your son!

 

Jane

[Kareni]

Hello Kimm,

 

Agreeing with Jane's reply above.

 

I could see the full tuition scholarship being a plus on two fronts:

 

1) it's an honor

 

2) if your financial need decreases in the future, your son's need based grant aid may decrease but the scholarship above may not

 

 

Some questions you might also ask concerning this new scholarship:

 

1) is it renewable for all four years? longer than that?

 

2) does it have a required GPA that must be maintained for renewal?

 

 

Best wishes to your son!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Gwen in VA]

In our experience, merit aid reduces grants up until the EFC or thereabouts, but, as Jane said, that depends on the college.

 

Yes, a prestigious merit scholarship looks great on a resume. Typical grant aid given for financial reasons is not listed on a resume, so a strong secondary benefit (the primary one, of course, being monetary) of receiving a good merit scholarship is "bragging rights."

 

One prof told my daughter that money follows money. If a student has received merit awards in the past, it "perks up" the resume and makes him more likely to win them in the future.

[Kimm in WA]

Thanks for the info, including the link!

 

I called DS's college and they said that they reduce aid from outside scholarships in this order:

1. Parent loans

2. Student loans

3. Grants

 

Is that pretty unusual?

 

Kimm

[Gwen in VA]

The college that we wrangled the most about financial aid and merit aid decreased student loans before parent loans, but otherwise it looks pretty usual.

 

Every college probably has a slightly different approach.

[Maura in NY]

Thanks for the info, including the link!

 

I called DS's college and they said that they reduce aid from outside scholarships in this order:

1. Parent loans

2. Student loans

3. Grants

 

Is that pretty unusual?

 

Kimm

That's what we've experienced, except in between #2 and #3, they eliminate Campus Work Study.