As I help my child gather information about various schools, I am trying to understand how merit aid is handled for music students. The language various programs use has me confused. E.g., Juilliard says that its policy for awarding scholarships is "need-based, merit-informed," IU/Jacobs says scholarships are awarded "primarily based on merit," Peabody says "merit-driven, need-informed."
We will not qualify for need-based aid, of that I am certain. My older, non-musician, child applied to various colleges and universities and was offered merit scholarships that were independent of financial need; we never have completed a FAFSA.
I understand that each school has its own way of handling scholarships. My question is, has anyone found that it was useful or necessary to complete the FAFSA for merit scholarships, knowing in advance that there would be no need-based aid?
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