BC Unaffordable for us

Unfortunately, it looks like BC is going to be unaffordable for our family and my son. He was admitted into the BC CSOM and it was his first choice. We made the trek across country for Eagle Day but in the end the finances just didn’t pencil out.

We tried an appeal but it was didn’t change much.

Once again, for families with decent income but living in expensive, high cost geographies financial aid can be very disappointing.

DadforExcellence:
I’m sorry to hear this.
Replies like this are always very disappointing to hear. BC is not alone in this regard.

If you look through past CC replies in this BC section, you’ll see a mix of those thrilled with the FA that BC awarded them, as well as those disappointed, like you.

BC should do a better job of clarifying the meaning of “meeting 100% of demonstrated need”.

To be fair to BC, before your son applied to BC, did you run your family financial numbers through the “BC’s Net Price Calculator” link on BC’s Financial Services website?

And if you did, were the aid numbers any different than the aid that BC told you they will give you?

Part of the problem each year is the number of students who apply to BC or other schools, only to worry about “if their family can afford it” after they’ve been accepted.

Yes JPM. We did run the calculator ahead of time. But, as a family, we did have some extenuating financial circumstances/past debts that needed to be taken into consideration. But, BC’s aid rep says they are not allowed to take into consideration events that happened in the past and are only ‘forward looking’ regarding income and assets. We were surprised about this since other schools factored it all in. Thus, the resulting gap is too big. My son is disappointed but at the same time he understands. Sometimes it feels as though I failed him in some way though…

@DADforExcellence you didn’t fail your son. It’s very unfortunate that you got hit with some difficult financial circumstances at an especially bad time, but that’s beyond your control. All the best to your son wherever he goes. I’m sure he’ll make the most of it. I understand how he feels, as I ended up at a school my family could realistically afford, as my first choice (MANY years ago) came up with a very weak aid package.

I`m sorry that this happened. However, I am a current student at BC, and I totally understand this. BC is not the best with financial aid. I have had a few friends that have had to take leaves of absences due to financial aid. This year, 2017, tuition + room/board totaled $71,000. Imagine that over four years. And each, they increase it by 3%!