While every college has scholarship money available for students in need, those funds aren’t unlimited. Most schools tend to offer the largest financial aid packages to the applicants they most covet. To boost your chances of receiving a scholarship or financial aid, apply to schools where your grades and test scores will put you in the top 25 to 30% of all applicants. The more the school “wants” you, and the more you fit the school’s ideal profile, the more likely you are to receive financial aid. Also keep geographic diversity in mind; most schools actively try to build a student body filled with students from around the region, the country, and the world. If you’re willing to go to a school hundreds of miles away, that might increase your odds of acceptance and of receiving financial aid.