Appealing Financial Aid at BU

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>So here’s my dilemna. I was accepted to BU with 16,500 (13,000 in grants and 3,500 in loans). My stats are:</p>

<p>3.27 UW (Hardest course load, 7 AP’s)
33 ACT
720 Chem, 760 Math2</p>

<p>Tell me if I’m wrong, but I think those are good enough for at least some Merit Aid. First off, what office should I talk to about possibly receiving merit aid, Office of Admissions or Office of Financial Aid? Also, considering the cost of BU is around 49,000 they clearly did not meet my expected Financial Need of 36,000 (49,000-13,000). I will appeal the decision, but is it better to just send my appeal in the mail or should I just make an appointment with the FA Office and present my case there? Would a phone call be ok or would it be more beneficial to go in person?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot</p>

<p>what is your class rank %?</p>

<p>My school doesn't rank....</p>

<p>i dunno, 3.27 is pretty low...even with Hard AP courses. Your ACT seems good though</p>

<p>Deans' Scholarship
These $10,000 renewable tuition scholarships are offered to selected academically talented students. While recipients have little or no calculated financial need, they have expected family contributions that do not substantially exceed the cost of attendance. To be considered, students must file the PROFILE and FAFSA by February 15.</p>

<p>Recipients' average high school GPA: 3.80
Average rank in class: top 6 percent
Average SAT score: Critical Reading and Math = 1384, Writing = 690
Average ACT score: 30</p>

<p>It states that it's usually for those with little or no financial need, but you got quite a chunk of change in grants so...</p>

<p>yea...but my total aid package expects me to pay more than double my EFC...but ya im appealing me decision</p>

<p>I don't know, pdoshi88. It sounds like you're in a rough spot because from what I can tell by just reading the acceptance thread, this year was wicked competitive. So even the stats on the BU website for merit scholarships might already be outdated/low for this year's applicant pool. And sorry, but a lot of people with better stats they you weren't given awards that were much better. Also, it sounds like you're asking for A LOT more, so hopefully you're a pretty persuasive person, because that won't be easy to get.</p>

<p>I would try to be very diplomatic when "negotiating" your package with BU. I imagine, you'd discuss this with FA office and not admissions.</p>

<p>If you have another school that offered you a more favorable package you can be like "I really want to go to BU, but (so and so) offered me a package that is more feasible for my family..."</p>

<p>I would just play the diplomacy card. Avoid words like appeal and even negotiate, because 13K in grants is pretty damn good, so you don't want to come off as ungrateful, even if BU didn't give you the best package.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice SpeakEasy...ya I have Case Western which is offering me </p>

<p>23k in scholarship
3k in grants
10k in loans </p>

<p>so I will present that to them...I can see that merit aid will be a lost cause so I will try to go for more grant money</p>

<p>Thanks a lot for your responses!</p>