<p>@poetgrl: great comments and very constructive…</p>
<p>No, if your EFC is too high, you cannot go back to the other schools and say, but Vandy gave me 20k, why not you? Seems like Vandy gave you, a child of an employee- and a local kid- a nice gift, no matter how they word it or what they call it. Finaid appeals are for families either with radically changed financial circumstances (colleges ask for detail) or something unusual that couldn’t show on the Fafsa or CSS Profile (again, they ask for detail.) All this talk on CC about appealing is very misleading. The chances of getting even Wellesley to cough up 20k are slim.</p>
<p>Chaosakita,</p>
<p>If you have the kind if profile that will get you accepted at Wellesley, you almost certainly can get in somewhere that offer a full ride.</p>
<p>Take a gap year and apply to places that will throw major money at you. That way your parents won’t be able to stop you from attending a school that you choose. Because you will be able to pay it all yourself.</p>
<p>It is a snap to find out your FAFSA EFC, just use your own login.</p>
<p>I have to repeat, my money is NOT merit based. It says on my form that it says it’s “need-based.”</p>
<p>We don’t know if some of your aid was a “gift” because of your parent’s employment. Since your parents have a high income, can we guess that your Vandy parent is a highly paid person at Vandy? If so, then some/all of the grant seems to be a gift even if it says it’s need based. They probably couldn’t give you an endowed merit based, so they used their ability for flexibilty to give you $20k.</p>
<p>Your friend was able to get a better pkg from Vandy than Wellesley probably because Vandy dodn’t put loans in the FA pkg. You can try to do the reverse, but don’t expect much.</p>
<p>I think I would rather go to Vanderbilt than go to anywhere that would get me a full ride. I actually got some already (UT-Dallas and Alabama), but I think I prefer Vanderbilt even if I had a full ride.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why anyone thinks that I got money because my dad works there. I already disproved that earlier in the thread.</p>
<p>probably because you didn’t actually disprove it. Also, they know how Vandy works.</p>
<p>People here aren’t operating “in the dark” on these things. Many have some information even you might not have, wise as you are for your age. ;)</p>
<p>Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Poetgrl is right. </p>
<p>You really haven’t disproved that some/all of your grant wasn’t somehow related to your parent’s employment. Yes, it was issued as a need-based grant, but that may have been the only way that Vandy could officially make the offer.</p>
<p>It sounds like your parent is a well-paid employee, but hasn’t been employed long enough to qualify for one of their assured scholarships for employee’s children, so the school may have done an “end run.”</p>
<p>The bottom line is that Vandy is a no-loan school and likely doesn’t look at equity which could be another reason why other schools gave you less.</p>
<p>If you do go to Vandy, will your parents pay for you to live on campus, or will you be expected to commute?</p>
<p>Alright, if I didn’t make it clear, I disproved it because my parent said so. Unless you want to say you know better than them about their job benefits? I’ve asked them repeated times, and that’s the answer they gave me.</p>
<p>I will have to stay on campus because, like I said, we don’t live in the county where Vanderbilt wants us to commute. But if you’re using this as a reason as to why I should go, I would prefer to hear it somewhere else. </p>
<p>I suppose I have the question as to why Vanderbilt gave so much money. Now I would like to know if there is any way I could try to get other colleges to be closer to their offer. Apparently, one reason Wellesley didn’t give aid was that they thought that I would receive tuition benefits from my parents’ job, even though I actually don’t.</p>
<p>You can call the financial aid offices of the schools and request that a counselor go over your app with you. Wellesley meets full need as “they define it”, and that is often what drives those schools that do their own aid calculations. You can get a wide variance in what the definition of need is to a group of schools. $20K vs nothing is a lot, however, so I would ask and check. But given that there are a number of schools that came up with zip, and only one with the $20, I don’t think it was a one school thing.</p>
<p>Also, Wellesley does belong to a group of schools that agree to use the same methodology in defining need. If you applied to other school in this group, it makes sense that the results are so similar. Vanderbilt is not in this group of mainly LACs.</p>
<p>I disproved it because my parent said so.
Honey, unless your parent works in fin aid or has a contact there willing to reveal the inside scoop, all your parent knows is that he/she does not qualify for discounts or benefits offered to longer-term employees. We are not disputing that.
We are saying, Vandy called it “need based.” That does not change you into a big-time need student. That could be, as noted, simply how they worded it, to get it approved. Nearly all grants are either need based or merit. One or the other.</p>
<p>On your financial aid forms for all the schools, whoever in your family filled it out put whether or not there is a tuition benefit offered by an employer. We have to assume you parent filled this out correctly. I highly doubt other schools assumed there is a benefit. If you have solid reason to know Wellesley assumed this- if they said so- then talk with them and ask for more. But again, if your family’s EFC is high, do not expect them to match 20k. You might get a few thousand dollars, IF they are not getting the acceptances they hoped for and need to lure you. But, outside Harvard, no school is a magic money pot.</p>
<p>Chaos–</p>
<p>I honestly have no preference, at all, for where you go to school. I’m not trying to tell you to go anywhere.</p>
<p>What you could do, if you want a real answer, from someone who knows the whys and wherefores of your particulare aid awards, is call and find out from the office at each school.</p>
<p>Good luck, wherever you end up. I’m sure you will do well.</p>
<p>I think after I receive 100% of my decisions, I will proceed to call my top choice schools and see if they can reconsider.</p>
<p>It looks like Emory gave me some aid, although not as much as Vandy’s, so I think it’s a bit odd that Wellesley offered me nothing.</p>
<p>Why you did not receive merit aid from Vandy, they probably gave you, exercised their professional judgement by giving you preferential packaging (which is not unusual) because your dad is an employee (even if he does not meet the requirement for the 70% tuition reduction). They just listed it as a scholarship.</p>
<p>I agree with Sybbie. Go to Vandy and have a great time.</p>
<p>We were in a similar situation with Vanderbilt. D applied to several schools and Vanderbilt gave significantly more need based money than any other school. D ended up following more merit money as our incomes fluctuate quite a bit and we wanted something more consistent.</p>
<p>Well, if nothing else, for future applicants, it is good to note that Vandy seems to give more need-based aid than other school.</p>
<p>Would one of your parents hit that five year mark during your time in school? If so, would the highly discounted tuition kick in then?</p>
<p>Unless your family’s income is over $300K a year, I can see $20K a year being reasonably influential with your parents.</p>
<p>I think the discounted tuition will kick in my last semester of college if I graduate in four years.</p>
<p>I agree with those who said they are calling it need based so they can offer you something b/c your dad works there. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.</p>