<p>So I received my financial aid letter today, and it said that my family should be able to pay the full costs for college and thus offered me no aid. However, there is no way that we can afford paying $50k+ per year. I have always dreamed of going to Caltech, but now it seems like that may not be possible. Do any current students or other people have any advice on how it might be possible to cover the costs? I'm kind of desperate, so any advice would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>qwerty,
Your post doesn’t provide a lot of information. Are you a U.S. citizen? Did your family use an EFC calculator before you applied, does Caltech’s offer match any one of the online EFC calculators? If it doesn’t I’d suggest you double check your FAFSA & PROFILE to make sure no mistakes were made. You can also call the financial aid office at Caltech and see what suggestions they have. I can understand your desire to go to Caltech. I do hope you’ve applied to financial safeties as well. If Caltech doesn’t work out for your undergrad, hold on to it as your dream school for graduate studies. Good luck.</p>
<p>Caltech is hosting a webinar, maybe you can sign up for that. Can you give a hint as to your family financial situation, just generally? e.g. your family income is <$100K, $101-200, or >$200K, and asset range (in case parents have $millions in rental properties). This gives a better feel for whether Caltech is going to be generous or tight fisted.</p>
<p>There is a whole set of threads on FA. In order for anyone to help, you need to provide more details of your assets as suggested by SunDiego. </p>
<p>The EFC is the place to start as suggested by oaklandmom. If there is no mistake on your FAFSA/CSS Profile, it either means that your parents have very good income and/or assets. In many cases assets are not easily converted into cash. For example if you live in a house and the equity in it is $1 million, the school could take 5% of that and say your EFC is $50,000. The problem is that you cannot take out $50,000 at will from a house and an home equity loan will cost a lot.</p>
<p>CALTECH has become increasingly strict on FA and have discontinued merit aid and concentrate on the most needy. If there are special circumstances, you can appeal and it may work.</p>
<p>i got mine also and they said it’s just an estimate based on the CSS profile information. according to the webinar, you and your parents can write letters to explain your situation. </p>
<p>i was also wondering if i get money from outside scholarships and grants such as Cal Grant, can the money be used to cover part of the family and student contribution aka the money my family and i will have to pay or are they going to take the same amount of money away from what they had already given me?</p>
<p>You have to declare outside scholarships and grants to the institution and they will adjust the financial aid. For example they could reduce the loan element, eliminate work study or reduce amount of grant. It depends on your package and the amounts of grants you get. It is difficult to say</p>
<p>thank you mazewanderer! I guess i can contact the financial aid office for the specific details until everything is finalized.</p>
<p>yes, you need to contact the FA office with any scholarships you get and they will tell you how they will handle it. The key here is they will not provide more aid than the COA.</p>
<p>There is often a disconnect between the amount the colleges say you can afford and how much applicants are willing to pay. It’s usually not worth it to take out a lot in loans to pay for college. Hopefully, you applied to other schools that were possible to attend without receiving financial aid.</p>
<p>Hey everyone:</p>
<p>I find it absolutely outrageous that we have actually gone back to the times when only the rich could go to the best schools, without courting financial disaster.</p>
<p>My Great-grandfather was accepted to Columbia but couldn’t go because the tuition was too expensive. His family was NOT poor. I wonder how much that would have been in 1921?</p>
<p>I’m not a candidate for CIT, but I find it very tragic that some of you brilliant people will be priced out of this school. It has become the plague of America-“Let them eat credit.”</p>
<p>I’m no genius, but a FAFSA loan at 6% or so plus points in an environment where savings accounts earn almost nothing makes no sense. If your folks have the cash, they are forced to spend it. It is not prudent if you are middle class to decimate your savings, even for such a worthy cause. It is a deliberate assault on the middle class.</p>
<p>My Dad attended Oberlin in the Seventies and I think the total for the year was $6,000. It was very affordable for my Grandparents who were both teachers. It is well over $50,000 today. Show me two teachers in this country who will spend $200,000 comfortably on tuition for their kid today.</p>
<p>I’m still trying to figure out the logic of why being a poor genius gets you a full scholarship, while being a middle class genius jams you in the same “pay up” range as a rich genius who lives in Beverly Hills.</p>
<p>Sorry for the rant, but this thread really hit a nerve. Best of luck.</p>
<p>Caltech has excellent financial aid. Many students of average means get substantial aid in scholarships and grants. Caltech has one of the lowest student loan burdens upon graduation. Don’t let the “sticker price” dissuade you. Most don’t pay full price.</p>