<p>Your parents are paying $6k/year out-of-pocket for you to attend Fordham (in addition to a $19k/year loan), but would only need to pay $3k if you went to SLC? That sounds like a great deal. I don’t know if colleges who cover all direct costs (tuition and fees) also give grants for indirect costs like transportation, but I guess you could ask. </p>
<p>Thank you so much for all your help, again, everybody!
I’ve contacted SLC and am currently awaiting their response. But also…<br>
Fordham FINALLY responded back and they offered an additional $5,000 in a restricted scholarship. Factoring this into the estimated tuition, which is $45,208…this leaves my parents to pay out-of-pocket about $1,000-$2,000 including random fees, since colleges like to throw random fees for some reason. (sidenote: I will never understand where all these technology/medical fees come from…I haven’t even ever visited the nurse’s office?)
The thing is though…I still have over $10,000 in loans and though the amount my family has to pay has decreased…I still don’t want to put that stress on them again. Though they were able to (barely) pay in the past, it was mostly because of previously saved funds. My mom has often had to sell her precious items and heirlooms to get some extra money and I don’t want them to have to go through that again. This year, is going to be especially crazy, since my family in Bangladesh is acting up about my grandfather’s will and they’re requesting my dad to visit again to help amend the situation. Which means more periods of my dad NOT working. I just don’t want to see them being worried about having to pay for my education once more.
How can I convince Fordham to give me more aid? Honestly, at this rate, I’ll graduate with over $50,000 in debt and I don’t even live on campus. I’ve tried applying to the other restricted scholarships before but they’re really hard to reach-I’m surprised I even got this one…I don’t believe I’ve seen it on the website when I was researching Fordham’s scholarships. I know there was another scholarship that I definitely was eligible for since it was for high-achieving pre-med students but as I’ve said, they’ve been really hard to reach and I haven’t gotten much information on that scholarship. Should I mention this pre-med scholarship? Should I also emphasize SLC’s better package more? I know that Fordham’s a Jesuit school and they’re dedicated to helping students of need rise above.I feel like drowning in debt from all these loans would be the opposite of their mission and honestly, making a lot of money is not one of my life goals. Student debt is such a serious problem now in the US and I want to be a responsible citizen and contribute to this massive problem. </p>
<p>$50,000 of debt is no joke (that’s above the average amount of debt at Fordham, actually). Does anyone have any advice for what I should tell Fordham? I am definitely grateful for the amount they’ve already offered but my package is still very bad, especially in comparison to SLC’s package. </p>
<p>Thanks again for all the help! And sorry for the length! </p>
<p>You tell Fordham exactly what you are writing here. Give it your all. But truly, that is an awfully big gap to fill, and it’s usually highly unlikely that you will get a match. But you try and see what the alternatives are. The fact of the matter is that you are looking at PRIVATE schools that are very expensive and they can use their funds as they see fit. Neither guarantee to meet full need. You make your case, and see what happens. You’ve done well already. Good luck. </p>