<p>There actually is a finaid checklist on the BC website, and a way to see what they have and have not received. I think BC is pretty good with keeping you posted on what they have and what they need from you. And ivwas worried that I was SUPPOSED to send everything in via idoc. It’s good to know that I did it right the first time. I think the finaid address is somewhere in Randolph MA</p>
<p>^ Can you just fax the returns to them?</p>
<p>Yes you can. The number is 617-522-2288</p>
<p>[Contact</a> Us - Boston College](<a href=“http://www.bc.edu/offices/stserv/contact.html]Contact”>http://www.bc.edu/offices/stserv/contact.html)</p>
<p>^ Thanks! :)</p>
<p>I had problems with financial aid around this time last year. I did not see my award until a week before the deadline to decide. One of my parents had problems sending in their tax forms. Keep calling them if you have problems, they are helpful, you just have to talk to them.</p>
<p>Update. I called this morning to ask about the lack of a financial award. My son is missing his 2009 income tax return, however he doesn’t need to file a return this year. They said that they sent a letter to us on Friday requesting specific information, so we’ll just have to wait until that arrives. BTW the Student Services number is 617-552-3300, and they were pleasant. Good luck everybody and thanks for the info.</p>
<p>Those who have already received BC financial aid offers: How was it? How does your expected BC contribution compare to your EFC (2x; 3x?) What is the ratio of loans to grants? Any info appreciated by those still waiting.</p>
<p>Still no award posted for my S who is not missing any docs, all were received by 3/1 deadline. Called and was told there is a glitch with the system. My S’s award expected to be up tomorrow. I’m not expecting anything but still want to see it!</p>
<p>i received a conditional offer from BC, and it was really generous. a majority of it was boston college scholarship, or grant, and less than 10k was loans and work study. the catch is, it was only a conditional offer, and im sure that it will change (and decrease) once they review my 2009 returns. but the generosity of the conditional award has kept my hopes high for a decent verified award</p>
<p>Can you give us any idea of how it compared to your EFC, eemmzz10? Thanks!</p>
<p>@eemmzz</p>
<p>how did you get a conditional reward?</p>
<p>Well i was accepted EA so we had a different timetable for our finaid stuff. We had to have everything in by November 15. But it was conditional because they need 2009 returns to give verified awards. And 2009 returns were not available by the deadlines for EA students</p>
<p>Whatever4</p>
<p>I have no idea what my efc is. But I can tell you that my award was well above the expected average award of 31000 for the 10-11 school year. As I said before though. This will most likely change</p>
<p>The FA package we got now, is it just for the 1st year? Can you expect this to be pretty much the same for the other 3 years, providing family income and all is similar. Is BC known to raise the price (decrease award) in subsequent years? Can I ask them to guarantee an FA package for all 4 years?</p>
<p>Dear all:</p>
<p>I called BC a few minutes ago and they said that ALL awards are considered conditional until a deposit is paid and a verification sheet is returned to the university. This sheet is only aailable after the deposit is made. So I guess my conditional award is my real award :)</p>
<p>to imgdoc</p>
<p>BC finaid is based solely on need, so they do not tend to decrease based on the number of years you attend. If you need the money, you will generally receive it (up to what BC considers your “need” anyway). The price of college will always be increasing, so you cannot really factor that in to your financial requests from BC. And I highly doubt you can guarantee any award from BC</p>
<p>Yep I called BC today and second what eemmzz said about the conditional thing.</p>
<p>And to the earlier poster who wanted to know about the generosity of the package, I thought that they were VERY ungenerous to me. My EFC is in the ballpark of 20K and they expect me to come up with 50K… O_O WHATT?</p>
<p>I’m appealing…-_-</p>
<p>Couple of things to think about:</p>
<p>1) Your federal EFC – the number that spits out after you submit fafsa – is only used by BC for federal aid eligibility, i.e., Pell grants, and Stafford loans. Other than that, Federal EFC is meaningless in the world of BC grants.</p>
<p>2) The CSS Profile is what primarily drives BC grant aid.</p>
<p>3) All financial aid offices have to follow internal policies and procedures – they need to treat similar cases the same. Thus, to appeal, you need to submit additional information, or an explanation of something non-standard on your application. All colleges will assume that EVERYONE wants more grant $$, so just asking for more cash without additional information is probably of little value.</p>
<p>4) BC is not known to be generous with aid, relative to what it considers its peer group.</p>
<p>emm: you should definitely request a “conditional” award based on your 2009 tax info (assuming that you have submitted it by now.)</p>
<p>I don’t remember what my FAFSA or CSS Profile EFC was (I believe it was about 40,000). However, Colgate calculated my family’s EFC to be about 31,000 (which is still a HUGE stretch, but manageable with loans).</p>
<p>BC, unfortunately, gave me close to nothing in terms of FA. All I got was about 3,000 in federal loans and 2,500 in work/study. There’s no way on earth I can come up with almost 50,000 unless I take on massive debt.</p>
<p>My main problem is that my parents have a high income now (220 K combined) but they were both immigrants and only very recently started making this much money. They are both in their fifties and were making only half as much 10 years ago. I am definitely planning on appealing my FA at BC but I’m wondering if it would be a legitimate argument to show how drastically my parents’ incomes have increased the last 5-10 years and how our 2009 reported income (the highest in my parents’ lifetime) is not at all a reflective indicator of their true means. The problem is, the gap is so large that I doubt BC will be able to meet my full need.</p>
<p>queen:</p>
<p>Sure, go ahead and ask. The worst that will happen is an unfavorable response. But just understand that fafsa/profile is a measurement of a point of time, by design. They only accounts for fluctuating income in the year that it happens. </p>
<p>BC does meet full need, as they define it. For example, some colleges cap home equity. Others do not.</p>
<p>I’ve called BC about my FA award because everything is in, but they requested me to clarify my parents (they are divorced but live together because my mom can’t take care of my younger sister due to her work schedule) situation. I already sent in the divorce papers and all my tax returns and the papers stating my dad has sole custody of me…and I can’t get through to them. The person at student services tried to connect me to the FA supervisor but she wasn’t in…</p>