<p>Okay, so I've been reading this forum almost every day since I decided to apply to schools, and I was hoping someone who knows more than me can check out this offer?</p>
<p>My situation is a little weird. I'll be 25 this summer, and will graduate with my AA this week. I have medical problems (which have gotten a lot better), so I've been living with my parents and haven't worked since last year. I've received two financial aid offers so far, from Hampshire College and Mount Holyoke College. I put my deposit down at MHC and just received the financial aid offer today (it's my own fault it was so late).</p>
<p>Hampshire calculated my need as an Independent student and my EFC would be $3061 for the 2013-2014 year. They gave me:
Pell Grant- $5645
Fed Subsidized Loan- $4500
Fed Unsubsidized Loan- $6000
Work Study- $2600
So I believe I would be paying about $10,500 a year (for two years).</p>
<p>MHC decided to calculate my need as a Dependent student, since I live with my parents, and therefore needed my parents' info. </p>
<p>MHC calculated my family's EFC to be $4500 a year and gave me:
Mount Holyoke College Grants and Scholarships- $39251<br>
Federal Pell Grant- 5645<br>
Work Study- $2100
Loan: They didn't calculate how much I should use for loans, but the options are there.
So my net cost per year would be $12100 (again for two years). </p>
<p>Is MHC's offer a good one? I will be paying for college completely by myself, like I have for the past two years. Could I appeal based on the fact that I'll be 25 and my parents are not paying for anything? Or do you think that this offer is as good as it will get? </p>
<p>Also, would I be able to cover the net cost of $12100 with just federal loans? I don't have any savings. I am planning to get a job this summer to help with the costs, but that won't really make a dent.</p>
<p>Are you able to continue to live at home if you go to Hampshire? If not, I believe your estimate of what you need to pay is very low…I think tuition, room, board, fees is more than $28,000 a year.</p>
<p>I believe MHC uses the Profile…is that correct? If so, your independent status is for FAFSA purposes. Your aid at MHC is very good…but you do have to cover the remaining costs…you certainly can ask if they will reconsider your situation as an independent student. However, you received the maximum Pell Grant which makes me think you had a VERY low FAFSA EFC even as a dependent student. If your FAFSA EFC was $0, it won’t get any lower if you are considered independent. </p>
<p>Your Direct Loan as a junior dependent student (assuming that will be your status) should be $7500. </p>
<p>Another thing you need to look at…what are the BILLABLE costs…tuition, fees, room, board. Other costs such as personal expenses, travel, and books are not billed to you by the university. If you add in the $7500 Direct loan, will your billable costs be covered?</p>
<p>If MHC considered you an independent student, you would be eligible for more Direct Loan money, this is worth asking about.</p>
<p>Your aid package only covers $18,745 of which $9500 is loans and $2600 is work study so you really couldn’t even consider it aid. Unless you got additional grants or something it does not add up.</p>
<p>You can appeal but you won’t win the appeal simply because you will be 25. Keep in mind that while you may be independent for federal aid, you may not necessarily be independent for institutional aid, because it is the school that decides how and what criteria it is going to use to disburse their money.</p>
<p>Most schools (including Hampshire & Mount Holyoke ) have policies regarding their institutional aid in place that if you start as a dependent student, you finish as a dependent student, even if you meet other criteria that may make you independent.</p>
<p>Hampshire’s policy
</p>
<p>Mount Holyoke’s Policy</p>
<p>
</a></p>
<p>The net-net is that if you go to mount Holyoke, you will be a dependent student until you graduate.</p>
<p>You can’t afford Hampshire. As BrendanK stated, the costs there are $55K. You are only getting $5645 in Pell leaving you with almost $50K in loans and work study.</p>
<p>Mt Holyoke is much more workable. The cost is $54K and you are getting $45K in grants. With a Direct loan and work study you should be able to swing that.</p>
<p>Sybbie. I agree that these schools set their own policies with regard to their institutional aid. But…this student has not yet started attending MHC. Would her dependent status elsewhere affect her status at MHC? </p>
<p>Plus, what she would need is additional Direct loans which are federal monies. Can MHC say she is a dependent for THOSE? I thought dependency for the Direct loan amounts was determined by the FAFSA dependency questions…but I could be wrong.</p>
<p>I agree, however, with Erin’s dad. The $7500 Direct loan (the amount for a dependent student) should cover the billable costs to MHC. Then if the student gets a job, they can earn money for personal expenses and books.</p>
<p>Hampshire is not affordable, unless the OP omitted something in her aid description on this thread.</p>
<p>Nope. They said since she was 24 living at home (which OP stated was her situation), she is a dependent student. She can go to Hampshire and be independent (and as an independent student, she can also borrow the full cost of attendance). This seems like a no brainer to me; MHC is giving almost 40k in need based aid as a dependent student . All things considered it is an excellent package.</p>
<p>On another thread, the OP said she got $37207 in grants and $10,500 in loans from Hampshire College. That is very different than what she posted here.</p>
<p>Also she’s a Francis Perkins scholar at MHC.</p>
<p>OP stated, “Also, would I be able to cover the net cost of $12100 with just federal loans? I don’t have any savings. I am planning to get a job this summer to help with the costs, but that won’t really make a dent.”</p>
<p>I strongly disagree with this statement. Working 10-12 weeks over the summer at 40-45 hours/week, earning $8/hour will result in saving $3-4,000. I would say 30% or more of the total is an awfully good dent.</p>
<p>Also, the $2,600 of Work Study assumes only working 8-10 hours/week during the school year. If you work another 4 or 5 hours each week and pick up another job over Christmas break, you can easily earn another $2,000/year or more.</p>
<p>Too many students discount their ability to earn money as a viable means of reducing loans. It eliminates the “dream” of undergraduate years as a luxury resort, but it will give you far more options when you graduate, not to mention a far better appreciation of the work invested to obtain that degree.</p>
<p>Rmldad, while I agree with you that students should work and save, I do want to clarify that most schools won’t let them exceed their work-study allocations. In fact, at most schools, work-study allocations are not guaranteed jobs. Once a student has found a ws job on campus and has earned the funds allocated, that’s it. In order to earn more $, she would need a job off-campus and I’m not sure of the viability of getting a job near Mt Holyoke.</p>
<p>I’m sorry for my delayed response. Thank you for all your responses! I really appreciate the advice. I don’t have any friends or family members who have gone to college, except my older brother who took out the whole cost in private loans (he and my parents really didn’t know better and he so badly wanted to go), which has been a nightmare, so I’m trying to be cautious. </p>
<p>thumper1 is correct: "On another thread, the OP said she got $37207 in grants and $10,500 in loans from Hampshire College. That is very different than what she posted here.</p>
<p>Also she’s a Francis Perkins scholar at MHC."
I didn’t mean to omit that information. I was trying to compare the costs of the two colleges with one calculating me as a dependent student and one calculating me as an independent student, but I was going too fast.</p>
<p>And sybbie719, thanks for outlining that for me! I was thinking in the cut and dry terms of FAFSA and didn’t really think about different institutions having their own rules. I’m still a little bit confused (but I can ask MHC financial aid) because I’m still getting a ton of aid, although my parents aren’t that poor (they make about 55k a year). But I’m very happy they’re giving me so much, since I will be paying for college myself.</p>
<p>rmldad, you’re right. I can probably put a small dent in the net cost by finding a job and working for a couple of months at least.</p>
<p>I’m going to MHC this fall and I’m super excited. I’ll call financial aid to see about the federal loan amount and all that.
Thanks again for all the advice!</p>