Which school is generally better for merit aid: Notre Dame or Boston University?

Boston University is usually the more realistic place to look for merit aid. Notre Dame does have merit scholarships, but they are much fewer in number and the school is much more centered on need-based aid.

For a student who is specifically counting on merit to make a college affordable, BU tends to provide more opportunities to be considered for non-need-based awards. Its named scholarships are still very competitive, but merit is part of the conversation there in a way that it usually is not at Notre Dame. At Notre Dame, most students should assume that affordability will depend far more on the financial aid package tied to family need than on winning a merit award.

That makes the practical answer pretty straightforward. If your family may qualify for substantial need-based aid, Notre Dame can still end up being affordable and sometimes surprisingly so. But if your family is less likely to qualify for much need-based help and you are hoping academic or overall profile strength will translate into scholarship money, BU is typically the better bet.

I would treat Notre Dame merit as a long-shot bonus and BU merit as competitive but more central to the process. In other words, for merit aid alone, BU usually has the edge.