<p>Does anyone know if you can negotiate with CMU is you applied Early Decision for better financial aid. My son's package came back with us owing approximately $28,000....any help?</p>
<p>I believe financial issues give you an out for early decision. So, it depends on if you withdrew your application to other schools. For this reason alone, I never understood the benefit of early decision since financial aid is big decision criteria.</p>
<p>Your negotiation is basically: Can’t afford to attend, will have to withdraw if they don’t give you more. So the problem becomes: What is your fallback?</p>
<p>We have no fall back…
We had to withdraw all other offers, that is what our letter said… my son gave up a full scholarship. I emailed CMU and explainned to them that it would be a financial hardship, but did not hear back from them yet. I am hopefuly they will reduce the tuition by a little…they did give him 2 grants an and outside scholarship, but we are still short!!</p>
<p>Did they not give you a FA package with the ED acceptance? That doesn’t seem fair since you have to withdraw all the other apps. How are you supposed to know if you need to back out?</p>
<p>Perhaps your school’s guidance counselor can be of some assistance? I don’t think that the fact that you gave up a full-ride is going to be influential, particularly, because most kids admitted ED to selective schools might well have qualified for significant scholarships at less selective schools. Is $28,000 fairly consistent with your family’s EFC as calculated under the federal methodology? If so, you may not have a lot of options. If your federal (FAFSA) EFC is much lower, then the school may be willing to work with you, and at a minimum should be willing to tell you what got them to the $28K number. It would be nice to confirm that it isn’t a mistake.</p>
<p>We were advised that unless you were applying to schools with truly generous FA policies, ED was a very big risk for families needing financial aid, particularly if they’re middle income families. I’m very sorry you’re feeling the impact of that now.</p>
<p>Did they not give you a FA package with the ED acceptance? That doesn’t seem fair since you have to withdraw all the other apps. How are you supposed to know if you need to back out?</p>
<p>No, I received the financial aid package last week…our estimate came in at $18,000 and the real package was $28,000. My son only applied to two colleges, he really wanted CMU. The letter stated that he had to withdraw all other offers as he applied EDII.</p>
<p>His full ride was from a state school. Our EFC came in at 30,000 which I am not sure why. I am divorced and they expect the non-custodial parent to contribute and he is not going to. He signed the form stating that too, but the letter stated that they considered his contribution. It is not fair that they are considering my son’s step-father’s income…he is not the father and therefore it shouldn’t even count. We also have a rental property that is worth nothing…due to the market, but that was factored in too. I really cannot afford to take out a huge loan with the way my job and the economy are. What are we to do? </p>
<p>We were under the impression that Early Decision met 100% financial aid…filled in the gap…well we need some filling LOL</p>
<p>Thanks for your thought and input, we are hoping that they drop it down a bit like by $10,000, that would be great. My son also applied for scholarships, and if he gets more than $7,000 the aid drops…it is a no win situation!!!</p>
<p>FAFSA considers the stepparents income - it’s just the way it is. While CMU does not use the Profile I don’t know if they consider extra property or divorced parents earnings. If your EFC from FAFSA is 30K then the school met your need.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input…not good news, but explains it to me.</p>