<p>I just got accepted into Cornell for ED and the financial aid package gave us zero money.</p>
<p>Honestly, I have no clue as to what my parents make, but the letter said that our "finances were stable enough to fund my own college education."</p>
<p>***So basically, will this mean that I need to take out loan after loan, try to get enough scholarships, and get a job right when I get into college?</p>
<p>Presumably this means that your Expected Family Contribution estimate exceeded the cost of attendance....and therefore you did not qualify for need based aid. You're not the only one in that boat. Our EFC exceeded the cost of attendance for DS. That meant we did not qualify for any need based aid.</p>
<p>I think you should have thought about this before applying ED> when you apply ED this basically means you will go if accepted regardless of financial aid.</p>
<p>My understanding is that insufficient financial aid is an acceptable reason for not attending an ED school. Some schools calculate the EFC above what a family realistically can afford.</p>
<p>Try to negotiate some aid from Cornell.</p>
<p>Yeah, I got into the University of Chicago, and they gave me $0. I really don't get it at all, because although we have an expensive house and significant savings, we only make about 30k per year. Chicago costs like 42k. So unless I can appeal or get one of their merit scholarships, I can't go. I've got to figure out what I did wrong for other schools.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, they factor in the cost of your house to your ability to pay. Sucks for me, considering ours has quintupled in value over the eight years we've lived here. It's too expensive to buy a smaller house (it'd cost just as much, essentially), and renting an apartment here is over $1600/month for a one roomer. </p>
<p>I too, am expecting a $0 financial aid package. All I can do is get a job and apply for as many scholarships and loans as I can.</p>