Merit Aid and Snipe Hunting

Where Are All the Scholarships Hiding?

By Mel Horadam

Outside Scholarships and the Search for Money

If you’ve been on a college tour in the last ten years, you might have noticed something kind of weird during the information session. 

At these presentations, prospective students and their parents often sit in a big room, facing an admissions representative who goes over a PowerPoint that covers all aspects of their university, from listing popular majors and student resources to admissions and financial aid info. I often attend these information sessions, too, and here is something strange I have noticed lately: during the financial aid portion of these information sessions, colleges often gloss over their cost of attendance slide finishing quickly on a, “if you need more money, you can always make our college affordable by applying to outside scholarships, which you can find on these databases on our website.” Then, they move on quickly before anyone asks, “wait… what are those?” 

You don’t know it yet, but you’ve been placed in the dark woods, armed only with a paper bag and a whistle. You have been sent on a snipe hunt. 

Here is how I would officially define an “outside scholarship” (sometimes called 3rd party scholarships): any scholarship gifted to the student by an entity that is not a university or federal government institution. Commonly, these might be from private companies, nonprofits, or other local groups. 

The Problem with Outside Scholarships

So, what’s the issue with outside scholarships?

Beyond how annoyed I get when colleges casually mention these outside scholarships in an attempt to slyly remove the onus of affordability off of themselves and onto individual families, here is what gives me pause: 

1. The big ones that offer tens of thousands of dollars are VERY competitive. Statistically, it is unlikely your child will get one of these coveted national scholarships. There are exceptions, such as QuestBridge and Posse, but even those are extremely difficult to attain and require high demonstrated need and specific student backgrounds.

2. The local, smaller ones with less competition might require your student to jump through a lot of hoops to get… honestly, not much money. Usually, these smaller, local scholarships (think Rotary Clubs, Booster Clubs, and PTAs) gift somewhere around $200-$1,000 for the first year of college, and that’s it. Now, that’s $200-$1,000 you wouldn’t need to raise on your own, but rarely when families come to me asking about these scholarships are they thinking of numbers that small.

3. If your student actually gets one of these scholarships, they have to report the outside scholarships to their university, who might then literally reduce their institutional aid in response by that amount. Not super common, but it does happen. 

Am I telling you to avoid outside scholarships altogether? No–go for it, if you want; however, I will caution you to remember that they are unlikely to net you the aid you imagined when that admissions rep told you to check out scholarships.com or Fastweb. For most families, it ends as a total waste of time. The mythical prize is nowhere to be seen, and you’re left alone, in the dark, holding the bag. 

The (Not So Secret) Way to Actually Get Scholarships

So, where is that elusive scholarship money hiding? It’s actually not hiding at all.

Let’s go back to that info session and PowerPoint presentation from before. Before the pesky “outside scholarships” slide, it is likely the admissions rep spoke about their university’s internal academic scholarships options. These can range wildly by institution, from peanuts to the famous “full ride.” Outside of need-based aid, that’s where the money is.

It’s pretty much that simple. That’s the good news AND the bad news.

If you are counting on merit scholarships to make colleges more affordable, you will need to leverage your student’s list to make affordability more likely. By doing this, you are joining the frustrating merit scholarship “game” that has dominated college affordability conversations for the past 15 or so years. It can be a wonderful or terrible experience for you, depending on where your kid has their sights set, but at least your odds of getting a scholarship are better than catching that snipe.

Not all universities are generous with merit aid, and some (like the Ivies) don’t give any at all. Your student might be in the middle or lower end of their acceptance pool, and the college might not see any reason to incentivize your student to enroll beyond admitting them. Their philosophy could be that if your kid gets in and doesn’t qualify for need-based aid, you’ll just “make it work,” because your kid really wants to enroll there. For many families, this isn’t ideal.

How to Plan Ahead and Get Scholarships

I see this idea of wanting to get into the most selective “reach” college possible while also hoping to receive lots of generous scholarships from that same university as “wanting to have your cake and eat it, too.” It might happen for you, but it probably won’t.

On the positive side, there are a lot of universities who are very happy to give out merit aid, especially to students who are academically more accomplished within their applicant pool. If your kid has better stats than most of their applicants, a college might “sweeten the pot” with generous scholarships to steal your kid away from their other, more expensive college options. Good grades, difficult classes, and strong test scores can really come in handy!

For parents concerned about money, I highly encourage you to have a conversation as a family about what your realistic budget is per year, use net price calculators, and talk to your counselor to craft a balanced list before applying anywhere. Try not to let your student only love those “reachy,” expensive universities. Allow colleges to woo your child with scholarships. And, at the end of the day, if you decide to go on that snipe hunt for outside scholarships, you can; but, go in expecting to leave empty handed.

Mel Horadam has been working in higher education admissions consulting for eleven years, spending many of those years trying to learn as much as possible about financial aid. When given the opportunity, Mel loves presenting for groups of parents and financial advisors on how to understand all the moving pieces of the financial aid process.

Mel entered college during The Great Recession and saw first-hand how college debt damaged and limited the opportunities of their entire generation. After graduation, they pivoted from teaching to the college counseling field and never left–Mel found they loved to help families navigate both college admissions and financial aid. In 2025, Mel eagerly joined the team at Dobler College Consulting, where they are excited to share increased opportunities and resources with their experienced colleagues.