@joosthemoos I had that problem too! Try emailing finaid (generally faster & more helpful) – they sent me a pdf file, which I printed out, filled out, and faxed over. It takes care of that requirement.
From the high of being admitted, to the low of finding out you don’t get a dime from the school.
I wasn’t expecting FA, but hoped for some merit. All five public schools where he’s been admitted (three out of state) have given him merit. Full-pay just makes no sense, financially, especially when one parent is 74 and retired, and your EFC is 2/3 what the other parent makes.
The guy on the phone offered to transfer me to a FA counselor to talk about “options.” Has anyone ever had luck getting them to reconsider? Though if they do, getting $2K (for example) wouldn’t exactly help. I just feel like I need to ask so I can tell our son we did all we could.Thanks for any insights you have.
D was waitlisted and has been asked by Rice to submit continued interest in Rice in writing. Does anyone know the format of this letter? Something like Why Rice statement?
Waitlisted. I’m still going to try.
@MFHP96 You can try but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Last year I emailed admissions and told them my daughter had been offered scholarships at other schools and tried to get them to offer her something in order to commit. I got a very polite no. They sent an email as follows: “Every student who applies to Rice has the benefit of being considered for merit scholarships as the Committee reviews applications for admission decisions; a limited number of students ultimately receive merit awards. Less than three percent of all applicants received a merit award with their offer of admission, with about fifteen percent selected for admission to the Class of 2021. We do not have any kind of appeals process or scholarship matching process, since all students are automatically considered for these opportunities during our application review.” Rice was my daughter’s dream school and the best fit so we sent her there.
There is a recent thread that has excellent advice on dealing with wait lists, from some of the most experienced people on cc:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/2066161-how-often-does-kid-not-get-into-any-colleges-p1.html
Pages 1-6 are most relevant.
Thank you @Faulkner1897
@MFHP96 If you have other offers with good financial aid from respectable schools then the answer is obvious…pick one of those other schools. This is an undergraduate degree, no need to break the bank. Even if you were both in the prime of your careers and totally flush with money, full pay does not deliver an ROI, even at a school like Rice. They ought to call it “Fool Pay”.
Well, I guess that makes me a fool and, for various reasons, I’m happy to be so.
My son put a bowl of rice in a microwave in the rice box and he got in RD. That is key to admission, the creativity factor. I believe his creativity came through in the application because of this. His SAT mediocre at 1350 and was ranked 56/87 in high school. He was national merit participant, ACT score was pretty good, 29, and his AP scores were mostly all passing. We visited campus about 10 times to show our commitment and talked to the dean. He is a very cool man. He shook hands with my son, I’m sure he put in good word for johnny boy.
Like said ^^ my “the box” and my essay were pretty creative, (box was a pic from a Yves Saint Laurent fashion show bc I am passionate about high fashion) so I think that contributed to acceptance. My SAT wasn’t stellar but my GPA, rank, and ECs made up for it as well.
Pingpong you cannot be serious.
@Pingpong2 wow that is so creative
@ProllyBrokeSoon Indeed, so creative. I think I was blown away by how much thought went into his Rice box photo…
@SocraticSeminars I’m actually have a very similar situation. Same SAT, international EC awards, UT honors program, etc etc etc. Waitlisted at Rice 
I was accepted! Here’s my stats
ACT: 30
GPA: 4.0
I took 2 AP classes but I did not take the tests.
I only took 3 classes senior year. All dual enrollment, though
I took 24 hours worth of college classes for my entire high school career
I volunteer
I completed an internship
I excel in music
Any questions don’t hesitate to ask!
For my box pic, I put a tray of crawfish since that’s a delicacy where I’m from (New Orleans, Louisiana)
EDIT: I attended VISION 2018!
Does anyone know much about negotiating/asking for more financial aid? Rice is my #1 top choice but is unfortunately not a plausible choice without more aid. I received $15,000 as a trustee scholar on top of need-based aid that met my “EFC”. Still not close to being an option. Really disappointed but I want to do all that I can before totally giving up. Thanks.
To begin I was accepted RD Undecided Engineering.
Stats
Rank 2/208 ACT 36 SAT 1550(didn’t submit)
SAT 2- Math 800 Chem 800
16 AP classes (my school is big on APs)
GPA is hard to calculate bc my school does weird weighting (i.e. 6.67 is an A+ in an AP)
My essays were good in my opinion
Engineering essay about growing up loving building. Talked about visiting Rice in the why Rice essay. Talked about balancing the fact that I’m Jewish with being gay in the personal perspective/community essay.
HERES THE KICKER
My Box picture was the cast promo shoot for all stars 2 of drag race. I’m 90% sure the admissions committee either just doesn’t care about it or wants something lighthearted and creative.
ECs
President of Math Competition and Mu Alpha Theta.
Vice President of Gay Straight alliance
Volunteers with shepherd help organization and temple.
All district and state flutist.
Member of a few other clubs including student government and every honors society available.
@warrenbass It really depends. I have heard people get more money because of medical expensives being extreme because of a serious illness along with extreme medical bills more than normal.