<p>3.8 UW 1960 SAT 32 ACT $35,000 grant. $45,500 total</p>
<p>where can you view how much merit aid you receive? I can’t find it anywhere.</p>
<p>There’s a link along with those leading to decision letter and finaid. No link probably means no scholarship.</p>
<p>I’m not a very happy camper with BU’s financial aid right now. My family’s EFC was 14k and I got exactly $0 from BU not one scholarship or grant. They let me know my eligibility for government loans and that was it. I know the whole “we accept students based on merit not financial need” thing. But I would rather they rejected me than accept me and offer me no assistance. If I met BU’s academic standards enough to warrant acceptance then why no financial aid when others are getting 30-40k? That’s poor policy.</p>
<p>Edit: 3.3 GPA, 1960 SAT, 33 ACT, and my school doesn’t rank.</p>
<p>@notakid
Thats strange because I have some friends who are less qualified who got 20k+ at BU. By less qualified I mean that I was accepted to top colleges such as Northwestern, which they did not. I am hoping that they have not released the Bell scholarships and this is why I have no scholarship tab.</p>
<p>Does anyone have a merit decision tab, but received none?</p>
<p>Can someone please provide some information and advice on how we can appeal to try and get more grants? I have a 3.8+ UW GPA and 1950 SAT and 30 ACT. Also I could use some opinions on whether or not I have a good chance of earning grants above 7,000. </p>
<p>I am also hoping that the Bell Scholarship decisions havent came out yet!!</p>
<p>3.2 uw
1980 sat
top 15%
45k total</p>
<p>To mrvc, or any others that can say, how constant are the awards each year to students. My son rec’d a pretty decent grant this past year. However, I am concerned whether the award will be the same or similar in his sophomore, junior & senior years? Once a student is accepted, does BU make every effort to retain them? The easiest way to do that would be to maintain that level of aide. Am really concerned. Thanks.</p>
<p>I didn’t get any institutional aid from BU, and judging from this post, I’m not the only one who is disappointed because of a lack of need based scholarship. I’m appealing except I don’t know what to write in the letter. Can anyone who appealed and met with them help me out? This is what I have so far:</p>
<p>" Thank you for your assistance with financial aid upon my acceptance to Boston University. It is one of my top choices, and though I knew that it would come with a comparably high price tag, I was willing to pay it. However, I expected that in addition to federal grants and loans I would also receive some institutional aid. My parents combined make only about $40,000 yearly and that has to be spread out amongst a family of 8, as well as other needs. We used the Collegeboard EFC tool to estimate how much it would cost to attend Boston University and the total came to about $15,000 yearly. I was hoping to see a similar number when I opened the financial aid page. I understand that an estimate from Collegeboard isnt necessarily what is given out but I also looked at the Need-Based Scholarship webpage. It stated that students who scored 2010 upwards on their SAT as well as come from families that make up $40,000 per year are eligible for an average of $42,000. The middle 50% of those receiving aid get at least $28,300 to $38,800. I scored a total of 2130 and my parents on average make $40,000 yearly. Please take another look at my financial aid file. I would love to attend Boston University this coming September and I hope that you and the rest of the Financial Aid committee play a big step in making that possible. Thanks so much!"</p>
<p>@JDR140 From personal experience as a junior here, BU does maintain the aid from one year to the next. For BU grant aid, the renewal criteria is: meeting all eligibility for need based aid and satisfactorily completing at least 12 credits each semester and maintain at least a 2.00 cumulative grade point average. Since most students take 16 credits or more each semester, and far surpass the cumulative GPA, it’s pretty easy to keep. You just need to keep up on reapplication deadlines and all. If anything, the student loan component gets a little bigger because students are allowed to take more federally as they progress through.</p>
<p>Is it too late to ask for some grant money? I didn’t hand in ccs profile because my college counselor told me if I checked off that I didn’t need financial aid on my common app to not hand one in. Now that I look at the costs I could really use some money. </p>
<p>GPA unweighted is 98/100
SATs/ACTs: 1780(I know)/27(I know)
School Rank: doesn’t rank but in first quintile.</p>
<p>Also to clarify the GPA is with honors and AP classes.</p>
<p>Familyguy, it can’t hurt to ask, but it probably won’t help. BU has limited funds and has probably run through them.</p>
<p>@ Frenzied2012: Your letter lays out your situation well, and shows that you’re aware of their criteria for granting aid. Do you live anywhere near BU? If so, I read that visiting the financial aid office can also help. Send the email, but also look into visiting if you’re able to. also, maybe your guidance counselor can write a letter in your support?
Good luck!</p>
<p>For what it is worth, D is an Eng. freshman. We went to the engineering open house for admitted students - made an appt. to talk to a fin.aid. counselor at the open house and was told that the appeal amounts were between $500 and $2,000. We were able to appeal due to husband’s loss of job for part of the year. Our appeal was a few days past the deadline but they knew it was coming. We received an extra $1,000 BU grant. </p>
<p>Don’t appeal expecting to receive huge amounts, it just doesn’t happen.</p>
<p>I would definitely do this in person and have all your tax etc. documents with you. If I remember correctly, you have to have extenuating circumstances in order to appeal, like job loss or illness etc.</p>
<p>She did receive over 30,000 in BU grants which I hope she receives every year!!</p>
<p>@Lauren591, Thanks so much for the feedback. My son has a pretty decent GPA & has enough credits this year. Our income increased from the prior year on our taxes, and was hoping that that would not hurt him, in terms of maintaining the same level of aide. Thanks again.</p>
<p>So did anyone else get two competing offers? I got one for a deans scholarship then one for 30k in grants. These were one different letters with the same amount of federal aid both post marked on March 24. I’m so anxious. It’s my first choice and I can only afford to go there with the larger packet. I’m totes calling in the morning, I just want to know if I, alone in this unfortunate situation.</p>
<p>@AdeleRose: Thanks! I mailed in the letter today with all of our documentation. I’m planning on seeing them on the April 9th Open House. I’ll let everyone know how that goes!</p>
<p>@Frenzied2012: You’re welcome, and good luck! I’ve talked to a number of people I know with kids who got into BU with little or no aid, and it just seems they are not good about giving out financial aid. We ourselves are giving up on it. But I hope they’ll reconsider your situation and give you what you need. Just don’t go into huge debt to go to BU – it’s not worth it. (Feel free to send a private message if you want me to comment on your other options, as I’ve taught at several Boston-area colleges including BU and know people who teach/taught at many others.)</p>
<p>Be sure to bring in any academic info you have since you applied to BU – the latest grades, any new EC achievements, etc. – to show that you’re keeping up your grades and effort in the home stretch. Best wishes!</p>
<p>I just called them bc the same thing happened to me where I got no money from BU at all. My dad lost his job this year and I think they screwed it up cause our income was the most its ever been last year but now he’s unemployed and trying to start a business so our income is 1/3 or less of what it was last year and is going to stay that way for some time, and we have this huge medical bill were trying to fight off. The guy said that they don’t take in sat scores and stuff into account for need based aid like this, they only use scores for merit aid. So basically you can still get money if ur scores aren’t that great just bc u need money to go there</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID Pro using CC App</p>