<p>Yesterday I called the financial aid office at the one of the colleges my son applied to. (I was in a panic because we're not able to get our IDOC documents in on time. The accountant is still working on 2009 tax returns for my husband's business...)
The person I spoke to in the fin aid office was SO nice and instantly put my mind at ease. And this was late on a Friday afternoon on a deadline day...
I've called a fin aid office one other time, and had a similar experience, so I just wanted to tell others not to be afraid of making a call when they're confused or panicked over something. In my experience it's quick and easy and gets you a straight, definite answer!
It also gave me a great impression of this college (Northwestern). I really hope my son gets in!</p>
<p>You can tell a lot about a school by what happens when you call one of the offices.</p>
<p>When older D was at Colgate I could call any office, and get a live person AND someone who understood my questions and could answer them. Stevens IT, however, makes you wait on hold to get anyone (sometimes as long as 45 minutes), and then they might tell you “someone” has to call you back. Last time no one did for two weeks - it took a letter to several layers of administration to get a reply. Brooklyn College is hopeless - no one answers the phone ever. We walked into FA and watched them ignore the phones. Thankfully Brooklyn is a fairly easy drive for us, or we would be screwed. We have even tried email and sometimes the answer indicates the reader didn’t understand the question.</p>
<p>Younger D is applying to transfer out of Brooklyn College, and I have had to call two of the colleges at different times (Barnard and Mt. Holyoke), and they are much like Colgate - helpful staff that answer the phone right away. D called Smith and also had a good experience.</p>
<p>My advice to anyone considering a college is to call the school at some point and see how easy it is to get through to a live person who is qualified to answer your questions. If it is a problem, that should be a factor in your decision.</p>
<p>I agree, with a caveat. Call when school is in regular session and offices are likely to be fully staffed! It can be more difficult to get answers from any office once May comes and they don’t have their student workers to offload the mundane tasks on!</p>
<p>I had excellent luck with Columbia’s Financial Aid office. They were able to answer my question, look at my documents, and update my profile very quickly. Talking to Penn State I was switched between six different people before someone even attempted to give me an answer.</p>