Does Baylor have your EFC listed as 3k or is it just that they are saying that’s what you need to pay after loans?
I don’t think Baylor meets need, so they probably know your federal EFC is zero but aren’t going to make that happen for you regardless.
@OHMomof2 – Yeah, that’s what’s weird. My EFC can’t change, right? The Pell must stay the same because that’s a federal program? My parent’s can’t give me that much money a year!
Each school calculates in their own way. Baylor may be looking at some misc asset. Don’t assume the Fafsa is some baseline.
The federal EFC determines how much Pell you can receive, your eligibility for federal loans (subsidized) and is used by many schools as a tool in calculating your financial aid package. However, few or no schools promise to meet it with their own funds. Schools that use their own funds either look at your federal EFC and come as close as they can, or require the CSS Profile and use that to calculate your need and a package that meets it (as best they can). Schools that promise to meet full need will match the Profile calculated need but most schools won’t.
->Also, does anyone know anything about Baylor’s University Scholars program? Does being in all the Honors Programs make the debt worth it?<-
For what it’s worth, a close friend of D1 is a recent graduate of Baylor Honors. She had amazing internships and job offers through her connections with the Honors program. She’s from a wealthy family, so never heard any financial concerns/burden, but always knew flattering things about the school, the program and her education. She did her part and was a top-notch student, but my impression is the program did an excellent job grooming her to be competitive in the workplace.
And, btw, she was homeschooled too.
Hi, unfortunately I was too lazy to read through 5 pages of helpful comments from others, so sorry if this is me repeating what others already said. Anyway, schools give more scholarship than the starting one they gave you. Contact your representative (i’m spacing on the name for what they’re called but oh well) for Baylor and try negotiating for more! Don’t just go into it blind and please do research so you sound well-prepared. Make sure you tell him/her how “you’d greatly prefer to go to Baylor but with money being such a big factor…your parents only earn $…you have _ other siblings…so you cant afford Baylor even though their education and their __, _, _ are so much better than the other school, but they’re offering full tuition and ___…” (http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/10/negotiate-the-best-possible-financial-aid-deal) Negotiate :)!
@3589Annabel – Thanks for the help. After reading your post, I sent them an email. Thanks
@PJackson – Interesting story, It’s relatable on every level except the money. Do you think that a Baylor job would pay more than an Iowa job? This is just conjecture, I realize
@forgetmenot98 Outside of investment banking, school prestige is of very limited importance, and Baylor and Iowa are on similar tiers, so I’d guess job opportunities are for hard-working students from either school.
Very few places guarantee to meet full need. Even then, each of them devises its own formula.
Baylor likes you well enough to admit you, and to offer you some aid. However, it may not like you well enough to offer you enough aid so as to become easily affordable for your family. This is very common. You should contact Baylor and verify that this is the full and complete aid package. If it is, you can ask them if they are willing to reconsider it because of X, Y, or Z. For specific advice about that, post a question in the Financial Aid Forum.
But you should be prepared to walk away from Baylor if the price can’t come down to something that your family can truly justify.
And no, the honors program at Baylor won’t magically get you anywhere that Iowa can’t.
Some of this is getting convoluted. What did Baylor offer? Do the math. Baylor costs 55-59k. If they offered you 35k, (a number you thought they might,) you’d still have to come up with the missing 20k x four years = 80k. And if any of their offer is actually loans, not free money, that’s no favor. The max you want loans to add up to, for four years, is 27k.
IF they increased their grant offer 10k, you’d still be short at least 10k/year.
The chances you’ll get them to match Iowa (and assuming you are reading Iowa right) are low, regardless of whether or not some guy in a media article got an extra 10k/year for each of his four kids, from wealthy colleges.
You can find the link to Baylor’s request for addl aid right on their web pages. If you post in the FA forum, be prepared to list what your offers from both really are, in case you’ve misinterpreted something.
@lookingforward – We got the numbers from Baylor. Officially, not including loans, they are giving me 40k a year. They said that this will go up some because of my honors program status and some other things. They said to expect another 5-7k. So that brings it up to 45k before loans. As total cost is 59k, the total debt would be 50k for four years. And for Iowa, yes, it is full tuition for merit, and full-ride if you include need based aid.
@usualhopeful – You have a good point.
@happymomof1 – See my response to @lookingforward. Thanks for the help. It’s looking bleak, but on the bright side my parents are seeing that it may not be a great idea to go that far into debt.
If they are willing to pay for Baylor then go there. It has a lot of kids that are religious and some that are not and it is a good school. I wonder what they would say about Texas A&M (which is less expensive)? It has breakaway ministries Bible study and quite a few Christian organizations that are really good. The nice thing about Baylor is that it has sports and is big enough that you can meet people from all over.
And for Iowa, yes, it is full tuition for merit, and full-ride if you include need based aid.
“Full ride” really means your aid gets so very close to the full COA, which is tuition, room & board, fees, books, personal and some consideration for travel costs. If you meant that, ok.
OP, I want to mention that my very religious young friend chose a big U in a big bad city. She knew her faith was strong enough, that she would find others who felt the same way, and that she would have opportunity to spread her message, including among those without her faith. She had a four years that was successful in every way. You don’t always need to be at a college that specifically includes religion in its mission. I’m not sure your family should look at this as "testing’ your faith by the college you choose. Maybe you’re being ‘directed’ to Iowa.
OP, do YOU actually want to be involved with Christian clubs at college, or is that a way of appeasing your parents? Why was it necessary to tell us about being in a Muslim home and being forced into adoption because your father died? Was this overseas? Anyway, it isn’t important. Your other posts make it a little confusing though. You didn’t mention the Christian element in your other post. To be blunt, your parents are being ridiculous. Your parent’s must understand that there are churches everywhere and probably a chapel on campus. You simply cannot afford to go to Baylor. If your parents want you to go to college, you must go to Iowa. Your parent’s can’t even insist you go to Baylor. College costs real money. I know grown adults in their 40s who are still paying off student loans. You don’t want to be in that situation. Your only viable option is Iowa, unless you choose one of the schools you don’t want to go to.
@Lindagaf – it was important for background info. I am interested in making my parents feel good, whatever that takes. But they are slowly coming around to Iowa. Thanks for the comments. It really is common sense. I definitely don’t want to be one of those forty year old guys struggling with debt.
Slowly but surely my parents are coming along. Thanks everyone for helping me!
Best wishes God bless! Keep us updated on the thread!