<p>In a twist of fate, CMU will be in Atlanta tomorrow for an information session, and we will be attending. Last week I got great advice when I asked about the Early Decision option for Technical kids at CMU. On their website, it says CMU guarantees to meet "100% Demonstrated Need" for those kids accepted through ED. I know most people here feel it's best not to go ED, but we are still undecided. Can anyone suggest questions I should ask tomorrow or anything else we need to know? Thanks again!</p>
<p>ugadog99, have you gone to CMU’s website and plugged in your family’s numbers into their FinAid calculator? That might give you an idea of how they view your “need.” You might ask the rep what portion of the need-based FinAid is in the form of grants (free money) and how much is in student loans, work study, parent loans, other. If you know that %, you’ll be able to kinda calculate how much your D is likely to get. However, I am not sure they will tell you that. Most schools seem to keep a veil over the allocation of their grants vs. loans formulas. </p>
<p>To apply ED to CMU, your D will need to travel to CMU for her portfolio review, I believe, as their regional audition dates do not meet the early deadlines.</p>
<p>Keep us informed of what you learn. And much good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks, madbean. I have looked at the aid calculator. I’m just trying to see if there are any specific questions to ask about the ED/100% demonstrated need situation. We are going to have to make a decision soon regarding the direction we are going. </p>
<p>I know we are going to have to go up for the portfolio review since the deadline for ED interview is at some point in November.</p>
<p>Right, ugadog99, I hear you. Since they guarantee to meet 100% demonstrated need, the question becomes how much of that do they meet by loans/debt to student or parent and how much do they meet by grant aid. It always seems tricky to me to read/hear that a school meets 100% of the need by giving (some or even mostly) loans. My suggestion was to see if they could give you a range of loan to grant aid they use in meeting full need.</p>
<p>We just got back and really had none of our questions answered. Of course, I didn’t expect to know anything because this was just a recruiter. What we did find out is a lot of cool facts and received confirmation that CMU is definitely my daughter’s number one pick. I’m off to email financial aid officer now to try and get some answers about this 100% demonstrated need thing.</p>
<p>Good luck on your questioning, ugadog99, but I got none of my questions answered even after we got our FA offer. For example, I asked why we didn’t get work-study, since they obviously thought us deserving of FA, and they said, well, those are our parameters, or some such. I just had to leave it at that. And, p.s., it turns out students can get work in the department without being on work study!</p>
<p>I have been able to get most of my questions answered. I’m still left with that one major question: If, for whatever reason, the amount I’m able to pay and the aid they give is extremely different, can we get out of the ED. I have run our numbers through the Estimator on the CMU site (not the calculator) and have received a reply. If my expected portion stays in the range they are saying, I can swing it. They just will not answer that question, though.</p>
<p>It’s my understanding that the only honorable way to exit an ED acceptance is if there is a discrepancy in financial aid. I also have been told that and ED acceptance is not a legally binding contract (and I have witnessed kids who announced ED acceptances to, e.g., Columbia, but then matriculated RD at Harvard, so these incidents do occur.)</p>
<p>Of course, the ethical problem is that your student would not, in good faith, make other applications if there has been an ED acceptance, and financial offers don’t always come in time to meet deadlines at other schools. That’s the main reason none of my own kids ever applied ED.</p>
<p>I’d be very wary of any Fianncial Aid office offering 100% Demonstrated Need. The Financial Aid offices like to disguise aid in the form of loans - student loans and parent loans. The bulk of many of the aid packages we received were very heavy on the loan portion. It was quite deflating after deciphering the financial plan offered.</p>
<p>There are three forms of “free money” from an aid office: talent scholarship, academic scholarship and federal grants. The Federal grants are based on tax returns and financial statements. The feds have very stringent guidelines in effect that the FA offices must follow. They are not free to dole out federal money outside of the formula. That leaves academic and talent scholarships.</p>
<p>In my opinion only - funds are very tight and competitive within the Drama Departments. We had a few amazing talent offers from second tier schools. The first tier schools didn’t make as competive talent offers because they didn’t need to. The next person in line, just as talented, was willing to pay anything for the spot.</p>