<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>If you have any advice, I'd love to hear it. </p>
<p>My S applied EDII. (Yes, he became enamored with CMU at a SBW and his interviewer convinced him that ED was the way to go - esp. since he's applying to SCS. We know how awesome CMU is, so we didn't try to dissuade him.) We used the early estimator and the result was an 11K grant and 7 K in subsidized student loans for Year 1 (and the usual 2.5K in work study). The early estimate was based on half a year's salary for my DH (he was out of work for 2 years prior). We can afford to pay CMU the fees for Year 1, but next year our monthly salary will be no higher than it is now and we can't afford more - yet CMU will see the higher overall earnings for the year and it's reasonable that they would reduce or eliminate the grant. We realize that we'll need loans and we're OK with that, but we want to avoid making any stupid mistakes during this process that would lead us into more debt than necessary. </p>
<p>My questions (mostly based on wishful thinking I admit) are...</p>
<p>Do you think it's possible that CMU might add a merit scholarship in their ED financial aid offer this year? (I don't see why they would since they've already estimated that they can meet our "full need" using other means.) </p>
<p>Is it within the realm of possibility that they would offer a scholarship <em>next</em> year when our financial need is much lower, even though they didn't offer one this year? (Will they still remember his National Merit Finalist standing when next year comes along?)</p>
<p>Would a peer university's Early Action acceptance with merit aid (e.g., RPI) make any difference in an ED discussion with CMU? I would think not since we are simply supposed to commit, but.... </p>
<p>Since I have information that might be important (important to me but maybe not to CMU) should I try to explain some of my "background" financial information <em>before</em> they send the financial offer letter that would accompany an ED acceptance, or simply wait to see what their financial offer is? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I would give as much background as possible when completing your CSS Profile. There is a free text section where you can identify extenuating circumstances.</p>
<p>My son is attending another school, however, when he was accepted at CMU last year, he did not receive financial aid, but did recieve a merit scholarship and when it was less than other schools, CMU raised it - they have an excellent appeal process. They seem to reserve their merit aid for those students who are just above the limit for aid, but being middle class cannot afford a school like CMU.</p>
<p>OP
Congrats!</p>
<p>There is an “extenuating circumstances” form and a “reduced income form” to complete if your income for 2011 is expected to be at least $5000 less than it was in 2010. (see website – the current years forms are up now-- similar forms will pop up in March-ish for the 2011-12 financial cycle.) CMU will adjust your package (you’ll need pay stubs etc) if there is evidence that the EFC is off base given job loss or other extenuating expenses (high and unusual medical). The model used at CMU (and other places) is that it’s expected that the parent will find another job within 6 months and that is build into the revised aid package. At the end of 2011 (the middle of your child’s freshman year) they will have your new FAFSA (when you apply for aid for sophomore year) and if your estimate right now of the income loss and anticipated 2011 income level is on target - all is fine. If however, when completing the “reduced income form” you underestimated, and in fact your income goes back to previous 2010 levels (which you hope you it does) then your package would be revised mid year as is appropriate based on the original FAFSA modeling. That revision can be a shock - b/c it retros the entire year’s package.</p>
<p>The best course of action is to contact the admissions officer now and send all this information to them so they can anticipate the package.
For all ED packages, these are only estimates until such time as your 2010 W2s and completed tax forms are in hand-- at which point the package will be finalized.</p>
<p>Regarding your package on merit aid in subsequent years-- nope. The limited numbers of scholarships are given at entry and are not available later. (that is on the web site and they stand by it) Your financial aid package however changes each year in accordance with your newly filed FAFSAs. It can go up or down and the proportion of grants/work study/loans can also change.
Not to disappoint- and others can chime in-- but subsequent packages aren’t always as favorable as upon entry-- CMU is not a school that promises to meet unmet need after the freshman year.</p>
<p>If you applied to RPI and have a package in hand that exceeds CMU’s package, by all means submit it to CMU. But by signing ED agreements, you did sign off on attending CMU. In your case, with the loss of employment, that is an acceptable reason to decline an offer (which of course you are not going to do anyways-- but it’s a bargaining tool.)</p>
<p>Again congrats- -feel free to PM me if you want to talk private financial issues.</p>
<p>Thought that CMU offered Grants, not merit. Its been a while since DS attended. </p>
<p>DS’s competitive-peer Grant was extended yearly and unconditional other than 2.0 gpa. His grants did not increase until his final year. His final senior year 05-06, they increased the Grant, although our FAFSA income did not change by much but our outstanding loans increased because of the PLUS. In total, our FAFSA which included DS’s UGMA-college fund, indicated that we net even from the previous year. We even alerted the FA office that we were OK since the financial markets were much improved in 2005 and that the student loan rates was even less than the previous year of 2004. We were unable to rescind the extra grant but were successful in declining the workstudy. </p>
<p>Perhaps DS had very good grades, double majored, and worked unpaid for a prof, that CMU decided to reward DS with something extra.? We would so think.</p>
<p>Story relationship:
To us it was a big black box. You’d need to contact them. It took us until the end of Dec and after ED1 was out, to get it straighten out.</p>
<p>Thanks for your comments - very useful and informative!</p>
<p>This article in the NY Times “The Choice” blog, is interesting. </p>
<p>[The</a> Case for Early Decision - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/the-case-for-early-decision/]The”>The Case for Early Decision - The New York Times)</p>