<p>i also have to pay 3,000/yr as my student contribution</p>
<p>but, i guess i just chose to read the offer this way:</p>
<p>Price Tag of your Dream School: $53,000/yr
(Insert Infomercial Voice) Get it now for JUST: THREE FUCl(ING THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!!</p>
<p>(and the small-print would be the part where you get to study AND work at an Ivy League University)</p>
<p>oh, and also... i don't know if this equation applies to you, but it does to me</p>
<p>low income + smart enough for Cornell = outside sholarships ftw</p>
<p>"The upper class suburb I grew up in sure wasn't like that - my sympathies, OP.</p>
<p>I'm starting to think this is a total lie, and if so, that's just pathetic. I looked at your posting history because I remembered your upper class prep comment, and also found this Transfer Colleges Twice Since you're planning on transferring out of Cornell since it's cold and miserable and falling apart, maybe you'll get better FA at your new college? Good luck. I hope you're happier in your dirt poor poverty stricken/upper class utopia down South."</p>
<p>I'm sorry, but your post is nowhere near "Any Explanation?" or polite. It was full of rude smart @$$ remarks.</p>
<p>Also - for the hundredth time, I am not COMPLAINING about the price. Can I make this anymore clear? I am ANNOYED by the fact there are other schools that may have met my full need without loans and Cornell said they would and didn't, and am asking if this is normal, i.e. do all 0 efc students graduate with $12,000 in debt. I will try this once again: $12,000 is a great bargain for a Cornell education. I simply have questions about financial aid that should not be met with this hateful finger-wagging.</p>
<p>I don't understand why you keep on talking about 12,000 debt. You are asked to contribute 3000/year through work study. It is a very conservative amount. You could easily earn that by working 10-12 hours/week while at Cornell. There is no school that would offer you financial aid without some sort of work study. You have a choice to work for it or take out a loan. If Cornell's aid had 10000 work study component to it then I could understand why you would think it's misleading, but in this case Cornell is being more than reasonable.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I am ANNOYED by the fact there are other schools that may have met my full need without loans and Cornell said they would and didn't, and am asking if this is normal, i.e. do all 0 efc students graduate with $12,000 in debt. I will try this once again: $12,000 is a great bargain for a Cornell education.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You have absolutely no reason to be annoyed at Cornell. None. Zip. Nada. Cornell has met your full personal need to be a student at Cornell. Nobody ever said that Cornell would be required to help you support your family in the process.</p>
<p>Realize this: Many positive EFC students graduate with debt. My family had an EFC of $22k and I graduated with $15k in debt. And many 0 EFC students likewise graduate in debt as well due to various reasons -- e.g. they didn't want to work as much, or they wanted to spend a semester abroad where they wouldn't be able to have a job. But yet, many 0 EFC students now graduate with no debt because their student jobs cover all of their incidental expenses.</p>
<p>As has been stated before, aside from the military academies, every single school in this country has a self-help component to its financial aid package. And on average, you are expected to contribute around $3k a year to the costs of your education. For the most part, this is non-negotiable. If you can go to school, you can have a job. And if you don't want a job, you can take out loans. </p>
<p>But by all means, if you think there are schools who will absolve you of the self-help component, you are free to transfer out. I know Princeton, pretty much the richest school in the country, requires $2300 of self-help funding during the academic year and another $1000 over the summer. So under your circumstances you would be $13,200 in the hole at Princeton.</p>
<p>If you have legitimate questions about the financial aid process, you can set up an appointment in Day Hall. </p>
<p>But coming on a message board and complaining about your 'unfair' financial aid package even though it comprises the same terms and conditions that every other student on campus faces is not going to garner a lot of respect. </p>
<p>What's particularly lamentable about your case is that you seem more interested in being annoyed at Cornell about your financial situation than inquiring about what proactive steps can be taken to help to alleviate your burden and help your situation. This is where your energy should lie... not in being annoyed by a simple policy.</p>
<p>I've already suggested the need for you to talk over everything you are facing with somebody in student services. And I've already mentioned ROTC, but have you looked into becoming an RA (free board, food, and stipend!), living in a co-op (which offers incredible cost savings for room and board!), or even volunteering for the Ithaca Fire Department (which would come with a free room)?</p>
<p>... and for the last time, if you work a little bit, buy used books online, cut back on housing expenses etc. you will NOT graduate with any debt.</p>
<p>Look, I'm sorry if I offended you, but you're starting to sound like a jackass. I wasn't being sarcastic when I wished you luck at your new school - I'm a transfer myself and know the hassle of transferring and worrying about FA (except that I have a job, work all summer, and will graduate with about $80K in loans, not $12K). So I'm not the smart-ass here. </p>
<p>To answer your question about the $12K in debt - Cornell promised that if your EFC is 0, you can graduate debt free. Work-study is part of your FA - not every student is offered it, it's need based. Take their offer of work-study, and you will graduate with NO debt. Cornell is providing you everything you need to graduate with no debt, just like they promised. So I don't understand why you feel cheated. You are getting your end of the deal, don't you get it? You can graduate DEBT FREE. They have provided a specific job (work study) just for you, as well as giving you close to a free ride.</p>
<p>This guy doesnt deserve our sympathies, hes made that point loud and clear. I'm sorry but I just cant respect someone whos never held down a real job before and is trying to cry out against cornell's very very generous aid program. Your lucky you got in, almost no schools in this country meet full need, maybe less than 50 of the 3000 institutions in this country so stop crying and get a job, no excuses you can work nights if you have to do something "more important" during the day.</p>
<p>"Went into Greenstar the other evening and found the eatery full of premade sushi crammed into plastic trays. ***??? Not only is it packed in plastic trays you just throw out but it's full of mercury laden fish pulled out of the waters of TAIWAN??? First of all, isn't that the same as CHINA, the country Greenstar has a product ban on??? And secondly, there are basically NO laws or regulations concerning the over fishing of the area and the killing of DOLPHINS!!! "</p>
<p><em>facepalm</em></p>
<p>God, Taiwan =/= China</p>
<p>Back on topic, I would seriously KILL to only have to pay $12,000.</p>
<p>I guess some people can't get their point across without some extent of flaming, apparently.</p>
<p>yea, wow. these posters are harsh. financing college is a sensitive situation for many people, especially during this time of economic failure- > job losses and increased tuition rates- did anyone else just get that email about the cornell financial crisis? there is no need to be rude or condescending about it or explain your individual rags-to-riches stories. </p>
<p>there are ways you can fight the student contribution, as some astute and in-the-know poster mentioned. try that.</p>
<p>if nothing works, sit down and think hard about whether the 12k is a reasonable sacrifice for you. education is overpriced and we, as students, are the ones that have to pay for being talented enough for an education of greater quality. there are students who were not qualified to get in who could have afforded it, while there are those who were qualified but may not fully follow through because of finances. it's not fair but it is life.</p>
<p>And by the way, some other top tier schools do not do this. Harvard and Princeton have enough endowment to afford to let each and every student attend for free. Cornell's precarious situation as an "on the fringe" elite caliber university reduces overall endowment and forces them to pay for faculty of harvard quality with more money.</p>
<p>
[quote]
And by the way, some other top tier schools do not do this. Harvard and Princeton have enough endowment to afford to let each and every student attend for free. Cornell's precarious situation as an "on the fringe" elite caliber university reduces overall endowment and forces them to pay for faculty of harvard quality with more money.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I really have no idea what you are talking about here. As I mentioned previously, both Harvad and Princeton have a self-help component. I believe Harvard is $2500 and Princeton is $3300 a year.</p>
<p>And if you think that Cornell is paying their professors more than Harvard is, think again.</p>
<p>Of course there is an expectation of contribution
[quote]
** Student Contribution from Summer Earnings :
We normally expect that incoming students will earn money for college expenses by working during the summer. In most cases we believe a reasonable goal for US and Canadian students is approximately $150 - $200 per week during the summer vacation period. (Summer expectations for returning students are higher due to a longer summer working period.) Students who live abroad with their families have no expected summer contribution, and some students with extenuating circumstances may have a lower expectation. We realize that students may not be able to find a perfect summer job. However, we hope that students will make every effort to find a summer job, even if it is only part-time. If a student is not able to save enough of their summer earnings to meet all of the expectation, it may be possible to receive a loan through the Harvard Loan program to obtain the necessary resources. Please contact the Financial Aid Office if you wish to investigate this option.
[/quote]
**</p>
<p>It is not Cornell's responsibility to ensure your family's well-being. It is Cornell's responsibility to make sure you can afford the education. If you use your job earnings to buy a Playstation 3 or to send money back home, that's your business. If your family needs the money, then you gotta do what you gotta do. But, it is not Cornell's responsibility to make a $3500 donation to your family's income by covering your student contribution. The student contribution is expected of every student and is expected to be used to cover education, not to buy food for your family. In addition, the student contribution is low enough that even if you have to take out loans to cover it, you will still end up with reasonable debt. Any promise of no debt is assuming that you cover the EFC and the student contribution. I don't think this is misleading at all considering every school has a student self-help component and a EFC component. These are not hidden charges.</p>
<p>$12,000 in debt for a $200,000 education sounds like a fantastic deal to me. Rejoice on your good fortune instead of complaining.</p>
<p>Soccer_guy--- I see that earlier on in this post you stated that your parents divorced, the parent that you live with doesn't have a job, and the other parent refuses to pay child support, and that you had been living an upper class life style prior to the divorce. My understanding is that your other parent would be liable for tuition support even if the parent that you live with isn't working so your situation does not make a lot of sense to me.</p>
<p>ladybug, not sure what your asking. If you're talking about the CSS Profile where it makes you get info from your other parent...there is a form you can fill out to waive that if you have no contact with the other parent, as in my case.</p>
<p>I think what ladybug is hinting that is that if your other parent hasn't been supporting you for a while you might be able to hold them liable for child support payments and be able to garnish their wages for back-payment as a result.</p>
<p>Big</a> Spender - New York Times</p>
<p>^the article talks about how princeton has enough to pay for each student- and that harvard yale and stanford have a larger endowment.</p>
<p>and </p>
<p>Top</a> 500 Ranked Universities for Highest FT Faculty Salaries</p>
<p>^harvard is at number 3. cornell is at number 38. </p>
<p>i didn't mean to imply a cornell professor earns more than a harvard professor. to be ivy league competitive, faculty wise, and to have a much much smaller endowment- it is difficult to even be competitive. it gives a university severe financial strain. that was the point, cayuga.</p>
<p>
[quote]
^the article talks about how princeton has enough to pay for each student- and that harvard yale and stanford have a larger endowment.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>But the point still remains that even Princeton and Harvard require students to have a self-help component of roughly $3k a year to their financial aid packages. </p>
<p>
[quote]
i didn't mean to imply a cornell professor earns more than a harvard professor. to be ivy league competitive, faculty wise, and to have a much much smaller endowment- it is difficult to even be competitive. it gives a university severe financial strain. that was the point, cayuga.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Then you should have written what you meant, as opposed to what you wrote. It sounded like a seventh grader wrote your first post.</p>
<p>And I would not describe Cornell's situation vis-a-vis a school like Harvard as under "severe financial strain". Cornell has to do more with less, true, but at the end of the day, both institutions are still in the top five percent of the country's colleges and universities in terms of total financial resources.</p>