I was very pleased to be accepted but my I was offered considerably less than I was expecting with my financial aid. All the other schools I got into are about as affordable but I would really like to go to UW. If I accepted the current package, I would be taking on about $56,000 in debt which is more than I’m comfortable with. Do I have any chance of getting more money in the form of grants? I haven’t heard much about people negotiating for more aid, does it ever work?
The financial aid website suggests the following:
“My financial aid award is not enough to cover my expenses. What are my options? … Talk to one of our counselors to see if any adjustments can be made to your award.”
http://www.washington.edu/students/osfa/contactus/contactus.html
While $56K seems like a lot, it is a relatively modest amount of loans for four years of college that you would pay off over an extended period of time after you graduate. But since they offered, you may as well contact them to see if some of those loans can be converted to grants, work study or other forms of aid.
ill have $18k in student loans
Talk to the financial aid office and see if there are any other options. Personally, I would not take out $56,000 in loans for an undergraduate degree, regardless of your major.