Comparing FA Packages

Paying for College
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<p>Here's my situation: I'm a transfer applicant that was accepted to Washington University in St. Louis for the coming year and I received a very generous aid package, especially considering my status:</p>

<p>Eliot Scholarship: 18,800
Pell Grant: 4,500
Stafford Subsidized Loan: 2,000</p>

<p>Total Aid Package: 25,300</p>

<p>As grateful as I truly am, my first choice still remains Wesleyan University. However, I'm scared now that I will be forced to attend WashU if they do not give me comparable aid. My teacher/advisor mentioned using the FA package as leverage if Wesleyan's package is not as good, though I am confused about the use of the word scholarship in my FA package from WashU. Will Wesleyan think I applied for a scholarship (I didn't) and not count that as part of my actual need-based award or do they simply take the entire FA package into account and try to match it? Also, if I do end up asking Wesleyan for a better package, should I do so in person when visiting the school to be more effective? If they are willing to give me grants of around 15,000+, I see no problem handling the difference to attend my #1 choice, but I am worried about them because I'm not sure how Wes usually is with aid.</p>

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<p>bump...............</p>

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<p>Not familiar too much with either college. Is the Eliot Scholly need based?? Qualifying for a Pell grant, and them offering you below the minimum of the Stafford, CLEARLY you have need.</p>

<p>But here's how I'd approach it. The bottom line is the bottom line. It doesn't matter WHAT they call it, when you are done with your schooling, there will be monies you have to pay back (loans), and those you dont have to pay back (call them gifts). </p>

<p>Thats how I compare FA Packages....Oh that plus COA (which is OBVIOUS).</p>

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<p>On my financial aid letter, Wash U statese "financial assistance is based on two factors: academic merit adn your family's financial circumstances, and academic merit is the factor that establishes eligibility to be considered for financial assistance.</p>

<p>From another thread- which I thought was interesting.
I also noticed that on another thread you referred to your family as upper middle class, so I am thinking that Wesleyan calculated your need differently, and based aid on need, not merit.
Its always worth a shot asking them if they did calculate it differently, and mention your Pell.</p>

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<p>A lot of the "named" scholarships at Wesleyan are need-based also (e.g., I'm pretty sure the Etherington Scholars program for Conn CC grads is need-based), so the nomenclature should not throw them. OTOH, nothing beats a face-to-face meeting if you can swing it.</p>

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<p>emeraldkity - that's right. we're not extremely wealthy, but we have quite a bit in assets and "extra income." as far as income from work, my parents only show around 60k a year, so I'm wondering if that made WashU consider me need-based and then they decided to meet a lot of my need with a scholarship. </p>

<p>Wesleyan hasn't calculated my need yet as I have not even received an acceptance from them (decisions May 15th) but my EFC on the FAFSA is 11,000. I'm really hoping you all are right and that they just look at my package as "bottom line" offer from WashU that they will try and match altogether. </p>

<p>
[quote]
Qualifying for a Pell grant, and them offering you below the minimum of the Stafford, CLEARLY you have need

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Sorry, I may have gotten those two mixed up as I didn't have the FA award in front of me; one of the loans was 4500 and one was 2000.</p>

<p>I guess this thread is a little premature. I was just wanting to see what people's opinions were on how the word "scholarship" in my financial aid package would be viewed by Wesleyan. We'll see what happens, and from johnwesley's description it sounds like Wesleyan does give out scholarships to meet need. I'm also a little confused by this, from collegeboard.com:</p>

<p>Washington University in St. Louis:</p>

<p>Average percent of need met: 100%
Average financial aid package: $27,621
Average need-based loan: $4,375
Average need-based scholarship or grant award: $23,691
Average non-need based aid: $9,178 </p>

<p>Scholarships / grants: 80%
Loans / jobs: 20% </p>

<p>Wesleyan University:</p>

<p>Average percent of need met: 100%
Average financial aid package: $29,476
Average need-based loan: $2,881
*Average need-based scholarship or grant award: $25,765 *
Average non-need based aid: $46,608 </p>

<p>Scholarships / grants: 78%
Loans / jobs: 22% </p>

<p>Assuming the Eliot is a "need based scholarship award," then I should be able to try and negotiate something similar from Wesleyan, right?</p>

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<p>What is need is defined by the school. While WUSL uses FAFSA to define aid Wesleyan uses the Profile which takes into account assets. From what you've said this may affect you, reducing the aid offer from Wesleyan.</p>

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<p>So then that is my question: would it be proper to present Wesleyan with my FA award from WashU to try and get an equivalent amount of money, or is it likely that they will not consider it b/c of different "needs"? Do schools try to match even scholarship/grant money?</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Wesleyan hasn't calculated my need yet as I have not even received an acceptance from them (decisions May 15th)

[/quote]
</p>

<p>WHAT????? You mean this Wesleyan has not even accepted you yet???</p>

<p>Sorry, had to go back and re-read your OP. You are looking at transferring to Wesley. </p>

<p>When do you have to notify WashU of your acceptance? And my guess would be that if word got out of schools competing with one another on the basis of finaid...price, it would ruin the spiraling inflationary costs of a college education as we know it (which would be a good thing). Clearly some schools will compete with one another to some degree... regionally perhaps, or those with similar offerings. </p>

<p>You have to tread kind of lightly over negotiating finaid packages. </p>

<p>Although, if you are in at a school with a good package, and you can afford the balance, that is a slam dunk, then you have lots of leverage over any other schools on your list. </p>

<p>Meet this or we walk. You may want to say it nicer than that.....But if Wesl will not even let you know of acceptance or any other finaid before May 15, and the declaration deadline for Wash U is May 1....Well then, you're kind of in a bind. You'd have to ask for an extension from Wash U while you wait to get your "bird in the bush" offer from Wesley.</p>

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<p>What makes you think that this Wesley will match any other FA offer that you have? </p>

<p>Besides I'm confused. Did you get a Pell Grant? With a FAFSA EFC of $11k??</p>

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<p>
[quote]
You mean this Wesleyan has not even accepted you yet

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That's right. Decisions come out May 15th, and WashU gave me a decision in February. But there is no problem either as I've already "enrolled" at WashU by paying a $200 deposit which holds my place but is not binding. Obviously, they expect many transfer students to do this as they notify people much earlier than basically any other schools.</p>

<p>
[quote]
What makes you think that this Wesley will match any other FA offer that you have

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I was told by my teacher that schools will attempt to "close the gap" between another FA package if you present them with the financial award and it is from a peer school. In this case, WashU and Wesleyan are very much peer schools so I assume Wesleyan will at least give it some thought.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Did you get a Pell Grant? With a FAFSA EFC of $11k??

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yep. Is that odd? I really don't know that much about financial aid.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Did you get a Pell Grant? With a FAFSA EFC of $11k?? </p>

<p>Yep. Is that odd? I really don't know that much about financial aid.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yes very odd. The max your EFC can be to be eligible for a PELL grant is @ 4100 (and then you would only get @ $200 - you have to have a zero EFC to get the max PELL which is $4310). PELL is a federal grant awarded following strict federal guidelines - no wiggle room for interpretation. Or is the 11000 EFC the one calculated using the institutional methodology? If so the PELL grant may be based on your FAFSA EFC which may be lower. Except it not possible to have a Pell grant of $4500 - the maximum is $4310. Something is wrong with the numbers.</p>

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<p>Well, like I said, I think I mixed those two numbers up when I typed them as I didn't have the FA award in front of me: it's more likely that the Stafford Loan is 4500 and the Pell is 2000. Either way, I received 18,800 in scholarships and 6,500 in government subsidized loans. But I'll check it tonight when I get home to make sure I didn't put the wrong names down for those loans. </p>

<p>The 11,000 EFC is from the FAFSA. I do not know my EFC using the institutional methodology, but I guess I should go figure that out so I can get a better idea of the numbers Wes will be working with.</p>

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<p>Sorry Brand - I had not read all the post so did not see that you had already said you mixed some numbers up. But If your FAFSA EFC is 11000 it must be something other that a Pell grant - anything over @4100 you are ineligible for Pell. Good luck with all of this. Kind of stressful all this waiting and trying to figure out numbers! Especially the waiting!!</p>

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<p>haha thanks! I guess I will have to be patient.</p>

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<p>Even if the loans and pell were mixed up in the OP, even $2000.00 is way too much Pell for someone with an 11k EFC. With that high of an EFC on your FAFSA, you DO NOT qualify for Pell...and I would suggest contacting the FA Office because something is TERRIBLY wrong!</p>

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<p>ok sorry, I got home and checked it out; it was actually a perkins loan, not a pell grant. dunno how I got those confused, so the final package was:</p>

<p>Eliot Scholarship 18,800
Perkins Loan 2,000
Stafford Loan, Sub. 4,500</p>

<p>They also offered me a 2,000 work-study but I declined it because the hourly breakdown is something like 6.50/hr. and I think my grades are more important than that small difference in price.</p>

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<p>Perkins makes more sense
but assuming you are going to earn less than minimum wage at a job does not
You can often get your workstudy increased & if you decline the $2,000, you still have to come up with it.
Additionally, many jobs on campus pay at least double that amount, my D I think earned $15 an hour.
But the biggest perk for workstudy besides the contacts on campus you make and help structuring your time, is that work study money, as part of an finaid package, does not count towards income available for tuition like your summer job will- it is generally used for books and personal expenses.</p>

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<p>SO much of this is like....gambling. So you bet 2 red chips ($200 Ha Ha), that your package from wesleyan will be -better than that of Wash U?</p>

<p>Good luck to you. I'm still a relative newby to the whole thing here but by May 15, Wesley will already have formed their Freshmen Class. They may have an idea of how much Finaid they will be able to offer to potential transfers and make you an offer. Now again, I look at things sometimes from too practical a strandpoint and it looks conservative but here's the scenario.</p>

<p>(Nikkil knows this stuff FAR Better than I but let me throw this out there).</p>

<p>I am Wes Finaid Director. I have some funds to share with outstanding transfer students, people that admissions, or the coaching staff....whoever....Really want to get on Campus. I pick a group of the stars from that group and make them a Finaid Package with the moneys that I have available. Till is starting to run dry...but we WANT these students. I send the package to you. You come back to me within 3 days and say "Well Wash U is giving me this!!! </p>

<p>I think I know what my reaction would be.</p>

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<p>Maybe his EFC is 1100 - therefore , the PELL ??</p>