Merit Scholarships in Regular Decision Cycle?

I'm worried about finances and was wondering if applying Regular Decision affects my chances of getting merit scholarships. Do colleges offer the same number of merit aids to Regular Decision applicants as they do to those applying early?

Applying Regular Decision does not necessarily decrease your chances of receiving a merit scholarship from a college. Generally, college merit scholarships are not tied to the type of application you submit - whether Regular Decision, Early Decision, or Early Action.

That being said, the quantity and size of available scholarships can differ depending on the institution. Some colleges might allocate a certain amount of merit aid for early applicants and another for regular decision applicants, while others don't differentiate between the two. At schools where the scholarship process is competitive, applying early might show the school that you're highly interested, which could potentially give you a slight edge.

One key thing to keep in mind is the priority deadline for scholarship consideration at the college you're interested in. These priority deadlines are important because colleges may provide most of their merit-based aid to students who apply by this date. For many schools, this date could be the same as their Early Action/Decision deadline, or it might align with their Regular Decision deadline.

Lastly, remember that each institution has its own policies. So the best course of action would be to research the specific policy on merit scholarship of the schools you're interested in. Doing this will provide the most accurate context about their particular processes.