I found this article while browsing a college advice blog (http://thecollegesolutionblog.com/).  I thought that it had some really good advice that you don’t always hear when trying to figure out the whole “financial aid thing”. 

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/article/what-college-aid-officers-wont-tell-you/276393/

We get asked ALL THE TIME about certain organizations that send letters announcing to students that they’ve been nominated to be in this “highly prestigous” program, or chosen from a pool of students to participate in this expensive summer leadership opportunity. There are pros (travel, exposure to neat opportunities) and cons ($$$, opportunity less unique than anticipated) to all of these and it is debatable as to whether or not they hold any merit with college admission reps. Sometimes students are provided some great learning experiences and other times, the whole program exists to puff up a student’s (or parent’s) ego (”purchase this book that has YOUR KID’S name in it!” Who looks at these books anyway??). Read this article to get several perspectives.