<p>i have been granted 50% tuition fees through FA which i am so grateful for (we asked for 75%) but i still need a bit more in order to be able to go. they said that we can send in a letter to appeal for more but my mom doesn't like the idea of having to 'beg' (so she calls it....) for more money. i'm so close to attending the school of my dreams.. i just need a few thousand more to secure the finances and i don't want to back out now :(. what should i do?</p>
<p>Can you get a summer job to make a couple grand?</p>
<p>If you appeal, you need to be able to show why the need is there, ie, finances changed since applying, unexpected medical costs, lost job, etc. Be factual, but also be passionate about how much you want to go. Do not play one school off another.
We did what you are doing (lesser amount) and we were successful in our appeal. In my case, I overestimated 2008 income.<br>
It is always worth trying.
zp</p>
<p>Allow me to second zuzu. With two children headed to BS this fall, we appealed several awards – and received more FA in every case.</p>
<p>While I take that point that one should not “play off” schools against one another, in the spirit of candor, I did tell schools of other FA offers if they were significantly different (read in our favor). Taking this action resulted in a plus-up of our award, though not always on par with the higher award. </p>
<p>Finally, lest we appear mercenary, neither of our two children in the end chose the school with the highest FA award.</p>
<p>I don’t think a 14 year old could really earn $2000 over 8 weeks. Working 20 hours/week at $8/hr (and that’s a generous wage) would only yield $1200 pre-tax. Most kids already have pretty busy summers pursuing/continuing the types of EC’s that got them into bs in the first place. This is not to say I think working to help earn money for books or some spending money is a bad thing; I just think kids do deserve their summers. I think the OP is looking for a lot more than that, as well. Sounds like they need another $10,000 or so. I would definitely talk to your mom about appealing. It is not begging if you really need that amount to go. That is a lot of money and it is a small percentage of people who earn enough to be full pay. There is no shame in not being able to afford it.</p>
<p>Anything under 6 grand won’t get taxed. I make over 6 in the summer as a tutor, the taxes aren’t that bad either. </p>
<p>A job looks a hell of alot better than going to camp “hopes and dreams” for a week. </p>
<p>Appeal, try and get outside of BS money? I got $2,000 from knowledge bowl and $3,000 from honor societies.</p>
<p>“Kids deserve their summers” may sound good in theory. However, my FP son won’t be going to any specialty camps or ECs this summer because every penny will be going to tuition. He will be babysitting his younger sister to save money to help pay for BS. I think having kids earn part of their tuition (no matter how small) is a good thing.<br>
Maybe the BS feels the OPs family can afford the rest of the tuition. More money isn’t always given to everyone who asks for it. It certainly wasn’t our experience. At 15 I worked full time every summer as a lifeguard in a day camp where I was in the sun, swimming and getting leadership experience teaching younger kids to swim. Work can be a great experience for kids.</p>
<p>thanks for the replies! i can’t really get a job cause my parents are totally overprotective and just won’t allow it. my mom just doesn’t like the idea of appealing cause you’d have to show off all bank statements etc and she feels such shame in that… and also she doesn’t want anyone to see how bad our economic problems are. it’s always been kept in the family cause everyone thinks we’re a good middle class family but in actuality my mom works extra jobs to help pay for medical bills and other expenses that there are, leaving our family with minimal savings despite my dad having a steady job as an engineer. i have one brother in uni and two other siblings in school… i’m sure the FA committee has taken this into account, but i just don’t know what else we can show them apart from our shriveled bank statements. but really, anything at all will make this less of a burden on my parents. $20,000 is already a lot of money, but because being granted $10,000 is totally unrealistic just anything from $500-$5000 will help a lot. (parents won’t even be able to visit me at school cause money is tight…) i guess the economy really affected my family in this case : (</p>
<p>“You’d have to show off all bank statements”- unfortunately, that is part of the financial aid process. How else would a school sort out who needs aid, and how much?</p>
<p>at first my mom was very reluctant to show the bank statements for the initial financial aid application. she didn’t think that we would get a lot cause they have high salaries and stuff… but for the appeal my mom just doesn’t want to do it anymore… too ‘embarrassing’ for her cause we look like a pretty wealthy family but the economic situation makes our situation very complicated. oh well. thanks for your help guys! i’m going to try get some money somehow</p>
<p>I don’t think you have to send copies of your bank statements- just input the amounts on the initial sss form which you already submitted. I know they recommended we send a monthly budget with our appeal. </p>
<p>Did you tell them about the medical bills the first time around? I know that IS one thing they try to take into account- unusual medical expenses. Make sure the school knows about those. It can’t hurt to appeal! At least you will know you did everything possible. Try telling your mom that many people (at least on CC) appeal/negotiate their awards so she knows it is not that unusual.</p>
<p>As a LAST RESORT- if you cannot afford it after appealing- consider reapplying to enter as a 10th or 11th grader. You’ll save your family loads of money and at least get to experience BS for a few years.</p>
<p>I wasn’t speaking of going to expensive summer camps. I was speaking of continuing with the important EC’s that may have already helped to gain admission to the bs in the first place. I DO AGREE that kids should certainly be able to take some responsibilty in helping to earn some money toward things they truly want. I am just saying that is not necessarily realistic to think a child could earn “a couple grand” over our very brief New England public school summers.
Italianborder…you are lucky to live in an area where you could find that type of employment. Most of the public middle schools in NH do not have those types of EC’s (junior nat. honor society, knowledge bowl) which you describe either.</p>