Anyone else get like practically NO financial aid?

<p>so im looking at my financial aid letter… and i get $4300 from a trustee scholarship and then $2900 from that work-study job thing… umm i really wasnt planning on gettin a job at penn freshman year. like does anyone actually do that? so apparently i have to contend with that $7200 and im wondering how that compares to what other people got… cause i know i am basically going to be dirt poor for the next four years</p>

<p>like everyone gets work study I think....</p>

<p>My financial aid is pretty sweet.... I'll have to pay 3,800.</p>

<p>whoah..... only four grand a year? that is crazy</p>

<p>I guess its cool. Except when you consider the 17 years of poverty I had to go through.... :)</p>

<p>shorty- the same here. got 7000. so my parents are going on a crazy scholarship hunt. <a href="http://www.fastweb.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.fastweb.com&lt;/a> has some scholarships.</p>

<p>lol im in the same boat - 4700 grant, 2900 work study. I'm now searching for scholarships like a madman.</p>

<p>um i got 9000 grant, 2500 work, and 2500 work study, and my dad makes pretty decent money.. you guys must be crazy rich if you guys are getting like a couple thou. total. still, either way i cut it, ill still owe my parents 120 k after i graduate, so that still sucks. yeah, thank god for fastweb...</p>

<p>ha HA i wish i was crazy rich... i am like such a bum. i dont even drive cause i dont have a car and take septa Everywhere.... yeah next year i can introduce all the freshmen to the green line. cause im such a pro at public transportation.
i dont bother doing the fastweb things cause they seem like total bs.... anyone actually win anything?</p>

<p>my college counselor at school recommended that we look at fastweb. it is legit.</p>

<p>same, no car but i can drive my mom's sometimes. it's a shame since 99% of seniors and like 50% juniors drive, and there's some that drive bmw's. i think it's b/c if you got in ED, they don't have to give you a good financial package b/c you don't really have a choice about accepting it or not.</p>

<p>haha well i got NOTHING except a few thou in loans, so yall are pretty lucky cuz its not like my familys rich</p>

<p>shorty, ive never taken the green line!! never had to.</p>

<p>I'm hoping to get the Mayor's scholarship - which is exclusively for Philadelphia students going to UPenn. It takes away all your loans and workstudy and makes them grant money essentially. That would clear up about 2,000 in workstudy money I have (so I wouldnt have an oncampus job), and 5,000 a year in student loans. Meaning, I walk out of college with 0 debt. God, I need that. lol.</p>

<p>I'm in the same boat, beachchic87! I got NOTHING in grants or work study, and like 5000 in loans, which still makes it completely unaffordable. We've appealed the decision, but if I still don't get some serious grants or work study, I won't be sending in my deposit check...</p>

<p>Damn thats harsh.</p>

<p>Would anybody mind posting annual income? I want to get a sense of what my family would get should I apply for financial aid.</p>

<p>Combined my parents income are around $90k
I have a twin brother, also applying for colleges so my parents have to pay twice the cost...haha...ahh crap
But my mom works at JHU and as benefits, they pay upwards of $15 k whereever we go.</p>

<p>last year I got 0.00</p>

<p>Yeah, bern, but you are international. And the admissions pool for international financial aid students is crazy competative. DId you apply for it?</p>

<p>However, appealing is always an option if you consider your financial aid package too low. Be sure to explain WHY it is too low though...</p>

<p>I only got a few, my parents aren't that rich. While others will be writing college essays, I'm going to be writing scholarship essays and sending them off.</p>

<p>will our finan. aid diminish as we become sophmores, juniors and seniors at penn? so basically will i get less aid each year im there?</p>

<p>mengcheng - you don't get "gapped" at Penn - your financial aid will change if your family circumstances do, which is why you reapply every year (AFAIK). I actually get more finaid now than I did as a freshman, to the extent that my tuition now costs less than my health insurance. Which I am not in the least bit upset about. <em>growls menacingly at american health"care" system</em></p>

<p>yeah I know that they don't guarantee aid for internationals however, if you are from canada or mexico (aka me) then they do guarantee to meet all your needs.</p>