Hey guys,
I surprisingly got accepted into Rice after being deferred from the ED pool, however such situation has caused complications.
There was no requirement of anything dealing with “IDOC forms” during the ED round. So, basically to cut to the chase, I did not submit my IDOC forms until the day decisions came out (last Friday), which is when I even learned of what IDOC forms were by logging onto esther and finding that no financial aid information was available to me. I have read that it takes 8-10 business days for IDOC to reach the desired school, and after emailing Rice this morning, they told me that they “We are generally able to prepare a financial aid offer within two weeks of all application items being here in our office”.
So the estimated timeline of me finally finding out how much my financial aid package is places me around the 3rd/last week of April, not giving me much of a window between then and the May 1st due date to appeal.
Is this window enough for me to appeal to their financial aid office in the event of me not receiving enough? Running the net price calculator, Rice estimated my EFC to be 9k (my actual EFC on FAFSA is 7k), included 2.5k in perkins loans in my package, and left me with an estimated remaining cost after financial aid of ~9k. My family certainly is not able to contribute 9k, let alone any money, which leaves me basically with an estimated leftover cost in loans (including perkins) of 20.5k. Per year. Ouch.
I’ve read their net price calculator to be a good estimate of what Rice would actually give you, and if this is true, I’m pretty sure I’ll have to appeal whatever package they give me. So I guess my general questions are:
- How long does the "appealing" process take? Does it usually work? 2.. How accurate is Rice's net price calculator in comparison to the actual packages they give you?
- My family makes ~84k a year. Rice advertises their "For families whose income is $80,000 or less, Rice will meet 100% of need eligibility without loans" mantra greatly; could someone expand on this? I may be misunderstanding it, but if it holds true, why was I left with 9k leftover cost and given a 2.5k loan? Granted, my family makes above 80k, but barely.
Thank you so much for your response. Rice has been my #1 school since freshman year, making me work my butt off to make this dream become a reality. I was elated to be accepted, especially after the crushing deferral I received back in December. However, I’m not wiling to have 20k in loans each year. I have a full ride offer waiting for me at UH (which I’m not too enthusiastic to attend), but that would be the smarter decision to make.
Go Owls! (hopefully)