<p>pinkfeather… high achieving gains you admission to the school. Just about everyone in Cornell is deserving.</p>
<p>When I said “eliminate financial aid” I was referring to grants not student loans.</p>
<p>I disagree, I think there should be grant aid. I agree that parents and students alike should be responsible for contributing for education, but financial aid programs such as Cornell’s only add to the diversity of a university. Additionally, if you look at Cornell’s financial aid policy, if you receive aid, almost every student is expected to make the same sacrifices to finance their education; the are expected to earn money in the summer and have a job during the school year to satisfy the work-study component of their financial aid package. Although, I agree with the fact that the current financial aid initiative at Cornell isn’t completely fair, you must realize it is only a starting point. Recently, I read an article in the Cornell Daily Sun about the financial aid initiative. The Sun interviewed one of the admissions directors and essentially she explained that what the financial aid initiative is trying to do is make Cornell affordable and accessible to everyone. They acknowledge the fact that the current initiative isn’t exactly fair for the middle class, but they intend to change that. In essence, to make Cornell accessible they started from the bottom up. Overall, I think what Cornell is doing is wonderful. Gradually, they are making an Ivy League education relatively cheap for every student that attends(even those at the very top of the economic ladder).</p>
<p>[Davis</a> Expounds on Changing Admissions Process | The Cornell Daily Sun](<a href=“http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2009/01/19/davis-expounds-changing-admissions-process]Davis”>Davis Expounds on Changing Admissions Process - The Cornell Daily Sun)</p>
<p>Sunset66- It’s a lot easier for a most middle class kids to pay back loans than someone who is poor. Even if their parents don’t help pay (which is the case for many middle class people), they don’t have to worry about supporting their families (which is the case for many lower-income people).</p>
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<p>OH. MY. GOD</p>
<p>That’s I really, really long time…I hate debt.</p>
<p>“they don’t have to worry about supporting their families (which is the case for many lower-income people).”</p>
<p>Yeah that’s true! I hate that I give up most of my summers and long vacations to help my dad at his store. He doesn’t hire anyone to save some money, which is understandable. I’ve been doing that since 8th grade. And the worst part is, I don’t get any money (I know it’s ironic that I would want some lol)</p>
<p>I put it down on my Cornell App, but I wrote why I don’t get paid and the reason I do it. Hopefully they don’t penalize me for working under the books.</p>
<p>Thank the Lord for grants, haha! And dewdrop87, good luck with that, I hope you win the lottery, you really need it!! (especially since the world will end in 2012!! lol)</p>
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<p>haha…get used to it 
It’s not bad though…I have a job that pays well and I have no other debt (paid off all my credit cards and I don’t own a car)…so I’m able to make the payments and live comfortably. </p>
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<p>Educational debt is a part of life…I have friends with significantly more debt that I do. However…I do cringe at the thought of the debt I will accumulate in medical school…oy vey. </p>
<p>My trick for surviving: I make my payment each month and try not to think about the total amount of debt. Like I said, if there is one thing I’m ok with being in debt for…it’s my education.</p>
<p>krock91…who is supporting the lower income families while their kid goes to Cornell for nothing or next to nothing? The middle class.</p>
<p>I think that Cornell should make education affordable for all students, but I don’t think they should get tangled up in the process of supporting students families. I think that Cornell should offer more loan based aid to lower income people (around the stafford limits, aka 5-9k per year) and cap maximum expenses around 40k if that works out financially.</p>
<p>there was a new article about this financial aid policy on the cornell sun yesterday…</p>
<p>basically, what i got from it was that…</p>
<p>Cornell is losing URM to other colleges that offer comparable packages…thus Cornell needs to offer a better deal (less loans) to URM and recruited ATHLETES…</p>
<p>in a game of numbers, Cornell is losing out on URM % so that means this is an investment Cornell is making to try to bolster itself up!</p>
<p>so if you have an EFC of 0 you get a full ride basically?</p>
<p>I’m so stressed about the amount of financial aid my family will get. I may have to decline my acceptance.</p>
<p>I also think that education is an investment, but there’s a limit to the madness, especially at an undergraduate level.</p>
<p>I like the way that 2nd box in the chart looks. The 2009 enhanced is what our packages will be based on right?</p>
<p>As far as sending poor kids for free, I really disagree with that. Of course they shouldn’t be expected to pay the full ride (heck, very few people should be stuck with that), but to let them graduate paying nothing is wrong, IMO. Eliminate the EFC, but heck, give them 10-15k in loans per year. Like someone else said, they’re getting the same education and will have the same opportunities once they graduate. It’s not like the people that pay more get the fancier lab equipment and the easier classes, so I still think they should have to pay something. I’m fine with them having to pay nothing out of pocket, but I believe they should have some loans for sure, even if it’s not a huge amount.</p>
<p>so whats happens for those above $120K, we get nothing!</p>
<p>well… you’ve got 120K! lol</p>
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<p>You might be eligible for non-need based loans such as the federal parent PLUS loan, unsubsidized stafford and private loans.</p>
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<p>That doesn’t mean a family can write a $50,000 check…especially if there are other children in college ;)</p>
<p>I think if you’re under 120K but your parents have significant savings/other assets, then you’re still screwed.
It’s not a simple cutoff - they take everything into account. And if you have other children in college, Cornell would not make your family pay the full $50k ticket.</p>
<p>if you have other children in college, Cornell would not make your family pay the full $50k ticket. </p>
<p>yes ^ that’s why there’s a section where you write your siblings and whatnot.
the whole point of filling in those fin aid things is so they can estimate what amount you could probably borrow and pay back in a reasonable about of time</p>
<p>I’m annoyed because my family makes just barely over the $120k cutoff where they limit loans to $3k, and I’m supposed to take out an extra $4.5k in loans (totaling $7k). How is that fair? :(</p>
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<p>^ yeah, but that $120K has to go toward paying the mortgage, paying the bills, paying for food, clothes, etc, and all of life’s other little things. Besides, it’s not like that $120K comes in like a lump sum, it’s accumulated over the whole year and is needed to pay for other things along the way.</p>
<p>Anyway, I’m beginning to grow worried, because UPenn and Cornell are both looking a bit too expensive, but I don’t know how willing I am to let an Ivy League education slip away… :[</p>
<p>Is this treatment of the middle class typical at Cornell? It seems like everyone at Cornell must either be: poor, middle class and in debt, or rich.</p>