can an appeal letter close a $36K gap???

Paying for College
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<p>My daughter signed an NLI at a school (private 4 yr), that meets 75% of the family's need. It is on collegeboard.com.as well as many FA guidebooks. Subtracting our EFC from that and coming up with the 75% figure, and then lowering that a bit just in case, we felt that if that was what the school offered, we could handle it. She signed the NLI last fall and thus, did not apply anywhere else. The package we rec'd meets 26% of our need, and of that package, 37% is loans. WE are sick to our stomachs and can't believe that this is happening. From reading many posts on these boards, this is a common scenario - so many schools offer paltry packages, even to honors students that are excellent candidates. </p>

<p>We are now in the process of appealing this award. there is a $36,000 gap between the award and the full cost to attend. So this is bad. Has anyone had any luck with appeal letters? I was going to include the information from collegeboard.com in the letter. I have had a few conversations with the FA person and she is hard to read. she never sounds too hopeful for us. And it is not like we are rich, our EFC is around 5K, my husband's income dropped way down in 2009, but we have some savings she was asking about that is not a retirement fund, so I don't know if that is the problem. It is 108K, so is that alot to have as non-retirement savings?? enough to skew the numbers against us?</p>

<p>If any experienced parents have been through something similar, with the appeal or NLI, or anything, i would welcome any advice. thanks.</p>

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<p>No information, but I would suggest that you also post this in the Athletic Recruit section of the board, since more of the folks there are likely to be familiar with LOI issues. Some of your $108K in savings would have been “protected” based on your age for FAFSA purposes, and the rest would be assessed at a relatively low rate – your EFC seems to indicate that.</p>

<p>Has your D had a conversation about this with the college’s coach?</p>

<p>(Select “College Admissions” then “Specialty College Admissions Topics” and then the “Athletic Recruits” section within that.)</p>

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<p>Is this a CSS school? If so, then EFC is rather meaningless.</p>

<p>What is this 75% figure? Is that an “average”? If so, that is meaningless and this why…</p>

<p>If half the students have a need of 20k and get 20k in aid, and the other half have a need of 20k and get $10k, then the average need met is 75%…which is a figure that no one got. Right? </p>

<p>I’m sorry that your D didn’t apply to any other school. Can she quickly apply to another school in your area that is still accepting applications? </p>

<p>What state do you live in?</p>

<p>Did she sign NIL for a sport? Was it for a sport that doesn’t have an athletic scholarship?</p>

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<p>Hi Mom2collegekids, I have read so many of your posts while researching my problem. Thanks to you and arabrab for weighing in, you know so much! </p>

<p>Anyhow, this is the original thread from my post last fall when I was trying to figure out what she should do <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/810038-d1-school-wants-d-sign-but.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/810038-d1-school-wants-d-sign-but.html&lt;/a&gt;. (you don’t have to read it because it is 27 posts long, but fyi)</p>

<p>idk what a CSS school is. is that a school that uses the CSS profile in calculating FA? The school uses CSS & FAFSA, it is a private, liberal arts 4 yr school in NYC. We live in NY. There is a $1000 scholarship attached to the NLI, to make it legal. It is for a sport, and the sport has a small budget, with her being a freshman, she would get more $$ in the future, based on performance. but the school costs $53K to attend, and as I said in the beginning, we thought the FA pkg would be around $25 -30K, which would be around 75% of our need. We are getting $15,700. I thought that if a school says 75% of the need is met, it is cost-efc x 75%. apparently I am really wrong on that.</p>

<p>in the appeal letter, I was going to use that reasoning to ask for the reconsideration. What do you think of that strategy? We are not taking care of any sick relatives, so there is no Story there, the only medical related $$$ that apparently is not on FAFSA is that we have ridiculously high medical insurance premiums ($700 per month) and must pay the first $3000 out of pocket. we have around $19000 in medical and dental expenses each year. Is that something that would impact our plea? I don’t know if that is alot or other people have these costs too. </p>

<p>finally, the FA officer told me to actually put the figure in the letter that would make the difference for us. That seems so scary, because it is so big. I am so confused and need help. thank you</p>

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<p>I thought that if a school says 75% of the need is met, it is cost-efc x 75%. apparently I am really wrong on that.</p>

<p>Where does “the school” say it meets 75% of need? </p>

<p>I think the school meets an average of 75% of need. That “average” info is very misleading. People see that and think it’s a given without thinking that unless the school is super rich, there’s no way that they can guarantee to meet 75% of need. What if everyone had an EFC of 0? </p>

<p>And…this is a CSS profile school, therefore what they consider your need can be different than what FAFSA says is your need. </p>

<p>In your appeal just be honest. Tell them that from Collegeboard, you thought that when it said that the average need met is 75%, that that meant they would meet 75% of your need. Therefore, you thought that since your EFC is X, that your D would be given .75 of X. </p>

<p>In your appeal, include proof of your medical expenses. I don’t think they will consider insurance premium payments, but perhaps. </p>

<p>Mention the NLI and tell them that without more aid your D will not be attending their school. Period.</p>

<p>I would also contact the coach and just say that at this point the school is not affordable. If you had known the reality of the limited aid you would have gotten, your D would never have signed that NLI. Ask him/her if they are willing to contact the Director of Financial Aid to request more money for your D. </p>

<p>Then, as a back up, I’d be looking for other schools. </p>

<p>It’s a shame that they have kids signing NLI’s without some kind of preliminary FA package. They don’t expect kids to agree to ED offers until FA packages are seen. </p>

<p>What exactly is in the FA package?</p>

<p>Where else can your D quickly apply?</p>

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<p>The following quote from your Nov 2009 thread seems to indicate that you knew this was a problem. What changed your mind about getting a solid FA number before your daughter signed her NLI?

</p>

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<p>what changed our mind was that we researched the school’s FA awards from multiple sources, (current guidebooks, collegeboard.com) spoke with an FA person, and therefore thought that since we saw numbers such as 75%, 79% of need met, and dollar amounts listed in these places, that we too would be getting this type of award. We also thought that because she was a recruited athlete, that somehow that categorization would give her a slight edge when they were allocating the FA$$, (similar to the way the A students can get more merit $$$ when FA pkgs are put together )</p>

<p>Mom2college kids: we are talking to some of the other schools she was going to apply to before she signed, and a few of them would allow a late application, so we are exploring that alternative, but it really sucks. If she had just applied in the fall, well, woulda shoulda coulda I guess. hindsight…</p>

<p>at least she is the first, we will never do this again with the other kids. Thanks for the help with the letter - I am working on it today and want to have it ready for tomorrow. The FA office said to make it short, bullet points. My daughter wants to include a short letter from herself stating her educational/career plans, and I don’t know if I should let her. sort of a: if I come to this school I plan on doing this… I don’t want to do anything to jeoprodize it.</p>

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<p>Have you talked with the NCAA hotline to make sure you’re clear on your options and what each would mean in terms of your daughter’s future ability to compete?</p>

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<p>we know that if she does not go to this school, she cannot compete for one year. however, I have not spoken to them regarding the FA pkg details being the reason she would pull out. I did speak to them last year regarding the signing and I understood that if she pulls out for any reason, FA being one of them, that she cannot compete. I don’t think that will change.</p>

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<p>Well, I think it’s pretty cr@ppy of a school to expect a signed NLI without them also showing a firm FA package.</p>

<p>The reason is this…once you sign, they now are in the power position and don’t have any motivation to give a great FA package because they know that parents will go into debt to prevent their child from losing a year of eligibility. Gee, there was nothing stopping them from giving you zero financial aid…seriously. They’ve got you by the …uh…you know. </p>

<p>Very cr@ppy of this school and if this doesn’t work out financially for you, I’d let them know that. </p>

<p>In the meantime, I would contact NCAA and find out about any eligibility loopholes in regards to financial aid issues.</p>

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<p>yes it is pretty crappy and takes all the fun and excitement out of it. :(</p>

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<p>I am no expert, but I think your D could compete at a D-2 or D-3 school her freshman year if she chooses to go that route.</p>

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<p>We have already contacted one of the D3 schools she was considering. And if it doesn’t work out at the school she signed with, we are going to beg the AD, the coach- whoever - to let her compete at another school, D1, D2, D3, wherever she ends up which I have no idea where that would be. I don’t know if she will be able to - but maybe based on the circumstances.</p>

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<p>$700 is not above normal for health insurance costs. Either is paying the $3,000 out of pocket. So I don’t think that will help.</p>

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<p>That was $700 a month (actually it is a bit more) for insurance premiums. You are the first person to say that this amount is not that unusual. most people are shocked when they hear our med insurance costs, with the OOP at 3K. Did you think it was $700 per year? anyhow, thanks for the advice, because I don’t want to include anything that will not help us, and this could come off as “whining” to a FA officer. which I don’t want to do.</p>

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<p>^^It’s pretty close to our premiums per month for a family of 5. Coinsurance is $800 per person per year max…or $4000 total. Our annual medical costs run about $16,000 to $17,0000 and we’re pretty much the middle of the middle class. I’m hoping the new initiatives will bring the cost of insurance down. Just relaying medical just to tell you that you aren’t alone. All in all that just doesn’t seem correct that they would lock an athlete with a letter of intent but not put the finaid on the table. That’s just crappy of them.</p>

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<p>It’s good to know others are paying what we are and it is ridiculous. So high, we are a family of 5 too, no big health issues either. </p>

<p>Thanks for all the support. It is awful to be in this position - but comforting somehow to know there are those out there “rooting” for us. If I am lucky enough that this works out, once I pour the champagne and drink a toast, I will stumble to the pc in a drunken stupor and relay the news. If it is bad, I will drink the first bottle of whatever and stumble to the computer and relay the news…</p>

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<p>Put in your medical expenses, including the insurance costs. It’s not high for NY because NY has high medical insurance (because of state regulations) however it can’t hurt you. </p>

<p>If you have no $ in retirement accounts, you need to explain in your letter that this savings is your only retirement. If that’s what the fa officer was fixated upon, you need to respond to his/her concerns. Also try to think of anything else he/she said and try to respond to that in your letter.</p>

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<p>$700 in premiums for a family is good. Mine cost about $1500 for a family of 4 but includes dental. Often people don’t know the real cost of health insurance because the employer often covers part of the cost.</p>

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<p>Yeah, my self-employed BIL pays $1000 a month for a family of three. Not that that doesn’t suck.</p>