How to Get Merit Scholarships

Merit scholarships are one of the most powerful — and most misunderstood — levers a family has for lowering the cost of college. Unlike need-based aid, which is driven by financial forms and federal formulas, merit aid is awarded for academic strength, talent, and fit, which means families have real, proactive control over how much they can earn. The families who win the largest awards aren’t usually the ones with the highest GPAs; they’re the ones who build their college lists strategically.

At Great College Advice, our team has provided personalized college admissions consulting since 2007. This guide breaks down how merit aid actually works, where the real money is, and the specific moves that maximize an award.

What is a merit scholarship, really?

A merit scholarship is a tuition discount a college uses to recruit students it wants on campus. As Sarah Farbman, a senior admissions consultant at Great College Advice, puts it: “Merit-based aid is what we like to think of as a discount. It is a recruitment tool to attract the type of students that they want to see on their campus.”

That reframing changes everything. Merit aid isn’t a favor or a lottery, it’s a calculated investment, which makes it predictable and targetable. It’s also entirely separate from the FAFSA: what a family reports financially has no bearing on a merit award.

Which colleges don’t offer merit aid?

The most recognizable names generally don’t. Schools like Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and Harvard don’t use merit scholarships because their applicant pools are deep enough that discounting serves no purpose. Sarah Farbman is blunt about it: “You could be the best student in the entire universe. You are not going to get a merit-based scholarship at Yale. They don’t do it.”

By contrast, many strong public and private universities regularly take $20,000–$35,000 per year off their sticker price as a recruitment tool. At a school charging $60,000 in tuition, that can bring the real cost closer to $30,000. That’s the category of merit aid worth pursuing — and it requires deliberately building those schools into your list.

What are the three types of college financial aid?

Before chasing merit specifically, families need a map of the landscape. Sarah Farbman frames it as three sources: “There are essentially three types of aid out there. We have the aid that comes from colleges, and then aid from an external source.” Aid from colleges splits into need-based and merit-based; external scholarships come from outside organizations.

Need-based aid starts with the FAFSA, which generates a Student Aid Index — the government’s estimate of what a family can pay. Colleges receive that number but apply their own institutional methodology, so packages vary. Merit aid is decided independently based on the student’s profile.

How do you maximize merit aid?

The single highest-impact move is list-building. As Sarah Farbman says, “The number one best thing that you can do is to write the correct college list” — populated with schools where the student’s profile lands them in the range colleges reward. Great College Advice uses historic merit-aid data sets to identify which institutions regularly award $20,000–$35,000, so every list balances reach, match, and likely schools against realistic merit targets.

The second lever is the academic profile itself. Because merit aid is keyed to grades and scores, strong performance in rigorous coursework — and knowing how to prepare for the SAT or the ACT — directly drives offers. But once a student hits senior year, the transcript is fixed; the strategy shifts entirely to list-building and positioning.

Finally, watch for conditional and application-based awards. Some colleges have fixed merit aid amounts based on pre-determined GPA and/or test scores. As Paul Wingle, a member of the Great College Advice community, notes: “Merit is automatic at UNF. Other schools have competitive merit awards that require extra supplemental steps and/or priority deadlines.” Some scholarships also carry strings — a music award that requires joining an ensemble, for instance — so read the fine print before committing.

How do you read a financial aid award letter?

Separate “other people’s money” from “your money later.” Sarah Farbman draws the line clearly: loans and work-study are your money — federal loans get repaid with interest, and a $15-an-hour campus job makes only a limited dent in a $60,000 bill. Grants and scholarships are other people’s money — a Dean’s Scholarship that removes $15,000, or a $10,000 award to study at one of the best engineering schools in the US, which never has to be paid back. That’s the category to maximize.

Letters aren’t standardized, which makes comparison hard. Sarah Myers, also a Senior Admissions Consultant at Great College Advice, warns that the details matter: a merit scholarship may apply only to the first two years, or a quoted price may assume you take a work-study job. To compare offers honestly, Great College Advice uses a structured spreadsheet that captures full cost of attendance at each school, breaks down every aid component by type, and surfaces the real out-of-pocket gap. For a deeper walkthrough, see our guide on how to decode a financial aid award letter.

Can you negotiate a merit scholarship?

Yes. And the mechanism is specific. The leverage comes from a competing offer from a peer institution. Here’s an example: a $30,000 offer from the University of San Diego carries no weight at Stanford, which doesn’t consider USD a peer. But that same USD offer against a $15,000 award from Loyola Marymount gives you a real opening — you can tell Loyola Marymount it’s your first choice for specific reasons, that USD is offering double, and ask them to come closer. Not a demand to match; a nudge.

Jamie Berger, our veteran college admissions expert, frames the leverage that timing creates: a family can write to a top-choice school and say they’re being offered far more elsewhere and ask whether the school can help. As he explains, early action preserves that bargaining ability — early decision does not, because you’re bound to one school. He also stresses running the net price calculator before applying anywhere binding.

Where should families search for external scholarships?

Pursue these after maximizing institutional aid, since the amounts are smaller and the competition broader. Sarah Farbman recommends starting with the high school guidance counselor, who often knows local scholarships that are less publicized and less competitive, then moving to aggregator databases like Fastweb, BigFuture, Going Merry, and Unigo. Do the math on essay-based awards: if a scholarship is $500 and the essay takes hours, weigh whether it’s worth it.

Navigate financial aid with a professional by your side

Merit scholarships aren’t lottery tickets; they’re the predictable result of a deliberate strategy that begins with the college list and runs through application positioning and offer comparison. Or, as Paul Wingle reminds families: “Do not make an enrollment commitment before costs are known.”

If a merit-focused college list is a priority for your family, the counselors at Great College Advice can identify the specific schools where your student’s profile positions them for meaningful awards. And we offer guidance on the full process from list-building through comparison and negotiation. Book a consultation with our team.

FAQ

Do Ivy League universities give merit scholarships? Generally no. Yale, Harvard, and Princeton don’t use merit aid because their applicant pools are strong enough that they don’t need to discount.

Does the FAFSA affect merit aid? No. Merit aid is awarded on academic profile and fit, independent of the FAFSA.

Can merit scholarships be negotiated? Yes, most effectively using a competing offer from a peer institution as leverage.

How much merit aid is realistic? At schools that use it as a recruitment tool, $20,000–$35,000 per year off the sticker price is common for students in the top of the applicant pool.