High school senior, counterparts and classmates get scholarships, I get none. reason?

Question

I have solid academic performance top of class at well known high school, applied to dozens of scholarships outside of my colleges, made it into Duke and UNC, but got no scholarships or financial aid while classmates of similar status, grades, activities get tons of money to go to college, I get none. Is there a reason behind this? Is it because I submitted my Fafsa at the last minute? my EFC is $35,000.

Yes i am a minority, I'm well respected for my art, I have a 3 year old brother at home, won very presteigious awards, was Junior marshall last year, almost have a 5.0 GPA, got National Merit Semifinalist, won Business and Science Olympiad awards on the state level. I hope that's enough new information to tell me what's wrong with me. If anyone knows this is just because of the Fasfa, let me know, because I need a d**n good come back for my parents who are on the verge of psychological breakdown. (Their friends children are all apparently doing better than m

Answer 1

there are more applicants than scholarships, so it's often luck.  relax and focus on your studies.  continue to apply.  diversify yourself with employment and volunteer work, too.  scholarships are usually unrelated to government grants.

Answer 2

Your EFC is way too high to receive any Title IV funding, except possibly unsubsidized stafford loans.  As far as scholarships, you are requesting to be sponsored for money by a limited source, so scrutiny will be used.  There could be several reasons as to why you did not get approved for scholarships, but the bottom line comes down to, the people who have made the decisions believed their money was better placed with other candidates.  Don't be too hard on yourself.  With an EFC of 35000 (and that isn't a dollar amount) it doesn't sound like your family should have any issue paying for your schooling anyway.  Good Luck