What is the difference between financial aid and merit scholarships?
Need-based aid is awarded on what your family can afford, calculated from financial forms. Merit aid is awarded for what the student brings, regardless of need. The distinction matters when building a list, because the most selective universities often meet full need and offer no merit money at all.
The two systems
Need-based aid starts with forms. Every family applying for federal aid files the FAFSA, and a subset of mostly private colleges also require the CSS Profile, which asks more detailed questions and treats things like home equity differently. From these the college calculates what it believes your family can contribute and builds an award around the gap.
Merit aid ignores all of that. It is a discount a college offers to attract a student it wants, based on grades, scores, talent or fit with a particular program. A family with substantial income can receive significant merit money. A family with none may receive no merit money at all.
The strategic point most families miss
Many of the most selective universities offer no merit aid whatsoever. Their position is that every admitted student is meritorious, so all their money goes to need. Meanwhile a school one tier down may offer a strong student a very large merit award to enroll.
The consequence is concrete: if merit money matters to your family, the list has to include schools that give it. That is a list-building decision made in eleventh grade, not a financial decision made in April.
Filing, and the date question
The FAFSA opens in the autumn for the following academic year, but the exact opening date has shifted in recent cycles and some aid is genuinely first come, first served. Confirm the current date at studentaid.gov and check each college's own priority deadline, which is often earlier than the federal one and is the deadline that actually costs you money if missed.
Reading an award letter
Award letters are not standardized and some are close to deliberately confusing. Loans are frequently presented alongside grants in a way that makes the total look larger than the money you are actually being given. Separate them before comparing anything: grants and scholarships do not have to be repaid, and loans do. Then compare net cost, not sticker price or discount size.
Appealing
You can ask for reconsideration, particularly if circumstances have changed since you filed or if a comparable school made a stronger offer. It is a normal request, it is usually called a professional judgment review or an appeal, and the answer is sometimes yes.