<p>Thank you for some support lms2032! Colleges should not punish those of us who save our money! I have friends with BMW’s who got tons of financial aid. Also, why should the college give not a cent of loans to someone who can’t pay a dime and expect me to pay $120,000 in loans? I appreciate that the lower class in America has so many opportunities, but people shouldn’t be left wishing they were poor and African American. The system should make people content with who they are ideally. Ugh…</p>
<p>But life isn’t fair. It’s just sad when it would be easy to make it fairer and yet nothing is done.</p>
<p>wow I had a completely different experience with the FA office… we originally got no FA whatsoever until my dad stopped by, chatted a bit, and then the next day I got a $10K award in my email</p>
<p>Weird… my parents stopped by during Previews and the lady said she would send me an email about negotiating for a better award, and I still haven’t gotten one (they went on Monday and it’s Thursday).
I originally got a tiny award, and definitely need some more to attend.</p>
<p>Once again biology you are presenting a false image. They calculated your efc to be over the COA. You are not being made to pay 120k in student loans. You didn’t receieve any financial aid, that’s it. If you had reieved financial aid there wouldn’t be any loans as apart of your package. They list the stafford loan as a suggesting if you would like to take it out. Even kids who get a full ride through fin aid have the option of getting a stafford loan for personal needs. </p>
<p>African American has nothing to do with fin aid. I assure you if your family was the same but black you would still be receiving no aid. </p>
<p>“I apperciate that the lower class in America has so many opportunities”</p>
<p>Do you even know how stupid that^ sounds? They don’t have opportunities.</p>
<p>I am not presenting a false image. My EFC (by FAFSA) is well below tuition. But (as I stated two posts ago) Williams makes it impossible for someone like me to get aid by making their EFC way higher. Did they avoid giving me loans in their package? Yes. Did they also give me an EFC which was $15000 per year more than FAFSA? Yes. Their no loan policy really means nothing.</p>
<p>Additionally, lower class people in the US have great opportunities relative to other free market systems. Questbridge? No tuition for people that make less than $60,000?</p>
<p>First of all, did you try a face-to-face talk with the financial aid office to explain that your family would not be able to pay the tuition? If you didn’t know, often, a personal talk with them really helps to make a difference in what they expect you to pay. I suggest calling them if you can’t see them face-to-face. Just earnestly explain that no, your family can’t pay all the amount, and that you would really like to attend Williams but that you really need more money. </p>
<p>Second of all, I don’t appreciate that sentence: “I appreciate that the lower class in America has so many opportunities, but people shouldn’t be left wishing they were poor”
Yea, well, if you were in my shoes, you wouldn’t be wishing that you were poor. Sure, having a $0 EFC on the FAFSA is nice, but I’d rather live in a house rather than an apartment, I’d rather not have to worry about gas/electric bills, I’d rather not worry about our family’s complete lack of a retirement plan due to low income, even if that meant we had a little more income and had to pay a little more tuition. It’s not paradise being “poor” or lower-middle-class, believe me. Please be more sensitive when venting your anger.</p>
<p>biology91: I am truly sorry that you are so disappointed. Yes, things are unfair.</p>
<p>However, let me explain something.</p>
<p>FAFSA is used mostly by schools that do a lot of gapping.</p>
<p>Schools like Williams all use the CSS Profile which does yield a significantly higher EFC. Your result would have been the same at many schools and almost all of Williams’ peer institutions.</p>
<p>The FAFSA only schools don’t promise to meet need.</p>
<p>For some, it’s a better strategy to apply to FAFSA only schools if they have assets or non-custodial parents.</p>
<p>Others do better at need-blind, meet all your need institutions.</p>
<p>Some don’t qualify for FA anywhere, and some go to their state institutions for lower tuitions.</p>
<p>My point here is that Williams giving a different EFC than FAFSA is totally expected. That’s why the CSS Profile is used.</p>
<p>If Williams gave you no aid, by their institutional methodology you don’t qualify for aid and you and your family can manage the tuition. You obviously not agree.</p>
<p>Information on loans is given as a mere courtesy in case you wanted to use them.</p>
<p>That does not mean that loans are part of their FA. From what you’ve said, you did not get FA. You merely got information about loans.</p>
<p>I hope you are able to attend a school that you enjoy and can afford. I really do.</p>
<p>You give a very nice explanation of how financial aid works. However when you say</p>
<p>“Schools like Williams all use the CSS Profile which does yield a significantly higher EFC. Your result would have been the same at many schools and almost all of Williams’ peer institutions.”</p>
<p>you need to know that that is not the case for some of us. My son applied to all CSS profile schools. The offer that he got from Williams was the lowest of the bunch by $5000 to $9000. When this was pointed out to the Williams Financial Aid Department, they reluctantly added about $1500 to his offer. (The only reason he got any aid at all is because he had a sibling enrolled at Williams at the time.) There is just something different about the way Williams evaluates need for some of us. Of course we ended up sending him there anyway because it was the best match for him. But it hasn’t been easy.</p>
<p>Frankly, as an alum, I think the “no loans” policy is counterproductive and silly. There is absolutely no reason why a Williams student can’t shoulder $20k in loans if needed (the amount the government says would be reasonable for ANY student - Williams or not - to carry). Williams already has among the lower percentage of Pell Grant recipients in its student body among liberal arts college, and that extra money could go a long way toward supporting more of them, or simply in dealing with its budget difficulties.</p>
<p>When my d. applied (before the so-called no-loan policy), Williams was right in the middle of the pack in financial aid. I know it will differ from student to student. I think we could all wish it was a bit more transparent.</p>
<p>^Allowing students to graduate with no student loans is “counterproductive and silly”? </p>
<p>You sure about that? It has been shown that having student loans limits a students opportunities later on in life, but I guess, following your logic, not having any debt when you graduate is “silly” and “counterproductive”.</p>
<p>$247 a month over 10 years (which requires a salary of $29k a year, on 10% of income, or $19k a year on 15% of income) does NOTHING to limit student opportunities later in life. What it does do, however, is ensure students are personally invested in their own education. Without them, it still further divides Williams students from the experience of the “unwashed”.</p>
<p>Yes, counterproductive and silly, especially given what else the College could be spending money on.</p>
<p>Isn’t it the “unwashed” who are getting grant aid instead of loans? It’s the finanical aid kids who have campus jobs and summer earnings expectations as well. There’s no way to mandate the other 50% of students to personally pay back whatever loans you might want them to have to take out. We’re very grateful for the generous financial aid at Williams but don’t think kids like my daughter don’t have skin in the game. She’ll be working very hard this summer to come up with her expected contribution and spending money for next year.</p>
<p>The wealthy would just have their families pay off their loans, and good for them for having the ability. The “unwashed” (I took this to mean working class, correct me if I am wrong) might have their choices limited by the pressure to come up with that $247/mo over ten years. That’s not a small amount of money.</p>
<p>I don’t think the policy will survive anyway. The financial aid discussion at Previews included assurance that the class of 2013 would be grandfathered in if the policy changes. I took that as when the policy changes.</p>