How do I appeal financial aid as a student? Do I just call the office and explain why I need more help?Or do I fill out a paper?? By what day would I know if they are giving me more? It’s a private school and they covered “all my need” but I just cant afford to pay that much money.(FAFSA isnt so good at calculating EFC)
Help!! My college decision depends on this
Is this a FAFSA only school? or did you have to submit CSS??
Is this for Berkeley? If so, UCB has generous calculations for instate kids (which you are).
What is your family income? UCB has that middle class calculation or scholarship (or whatever it’s called). If your family’s earnings are too high, then that’s the issue.
How much does your family want to pay???
Actually,this is for Cornell. Im basically deciding between Berkeley and Cornell.
UCB is FAFSA only but Cornell took my CSS profile too.
For my case, I am like 1000 dollars above the cut off line for Berkeley middle class thingy, so I have to pay full instate tuition,room&board,etc.
I was wondering if I could use offers from other private universities that are offering me more aid and appeal the decision at Cornell
One of my other privates is giving me like 7000 more (net cost is only abt 2000 difference though)
What is the other private?
I’m not sure Cornell would view a lot of other schools as ‘peers’ in terms of financial aid. Were those other awards from the other private schools merit-based or need-based?
They were need-based from Carnegie Mellon
Do you think its worth a try?
I would have thought Cornell would have given more than CMU. So yes that may be worth a try in terms of approaching it from asking them to check the calculations. I don’t think you should approach it as in asking them to match CMU. What does the offer look like? Does it have a student loan?
Yeah but its riculous. I would literally have 0 dollar income after paying my family contribution because of mortgage and all that
Hebear…are you the student or the parent?
You say the school covered your need fully. What more can you expect?
Can you afford CMU? You could go there.
I think what a school might think is meeting “full need” and what a parent and/or student feel is meeting “full need” may not always match. I would guess there are plenty of people shocked at their EFC.
Yes,that is exactly what I mean. I am the student and my parents want me to go through the whole appealing process by myself, so I need help:( Do I write a formal email to the school? What should I say?
Sometimes there is a form on the webpage. It tells you what forms to submit for your situation (loss of employment, death of parent, medical expenses) and you follow the directions. You can always call the FA office.
You email the head of admissions or an adcom you already have relationship with. You say you want to go to that school but your family cannot afford it (explain why briefly). Then you ask if there is any possibility of getting additional aid.
Be sincere and to the point.
Someone will get back to you with either the details of the process or a no.
The day after you email, call and follow up if no one has gotten back to you yet.
Be humble but persistent.
@mom2collegekids “Is this for Berkeley? If so, UCB has generous calculations for instate kids (which you are).”
FYI: The instate California kids don’t really receive “generous” financial aid packages. @heybluebear is correct when he says the FAFSA EFC is not helpful to California families’ budgets.
Most of the California families who are REALLY “Middle Class” for California, don’t qualify for the Middle Class Scholarship; it’s “limits” are “before” taxes. Most of our two-parent families who work past this limit are taxed insanely by our state taxes. My family is included in this group. We make over the amount listed before taxes, and that puts us in a different and more expensive tax bracket. Overall, we make “under” the limits AFTER taxes, but it doesn’t help us with costs. So even though we saved for our kids and live in a modest home, we can just afford the tuition, but we can’t afford the housing-given the high cost of property in California. (No, we don’t want a pity party. We just think that its insane when OOS students want to claim instate residency in California, having contributed minimally to the state costs for their education but adding higher costs overall for the rest of us.)
DD received a $300 scholarship the first year, and that was it.
@Heybluebear, I totally get where you are coming from. Ask Cornell for more money based on any additional costs you will incur in your expenses for winter gear?
Ill call the financial office first and see if I need to email them again. Thank you all for your help!!