<p>In looking at various threads it seems everyone has a different perspective on FA. In some previous years students were very happy with FA. Now the current vibe is not so good. For those who have received FA, how did it compare with other offers from comparable schools. My EFC is around 12K.</p>
<p>My FAFSA EFC is around 3k. My parents make around $52,000 a year and we will have 2 kids in college next year. Here is what I got.</p>
<p>Merit Scholarship – $10,000.00
Wake Forest College Scholarship (need-based) – $8,450.00
Wake Forest Auxiliary Scholarship (need-based) – $2,300.00
Pell Grant – $1,300.00
Federal SEOG – $2,000.00
Federal Work-Study – $2,000.00
Federal Perkins Loan – $4,000.00
Sub. Stafford Loan – $3,500.00</p>
<p>TOTAL: $33,550.00
COA = 52,082.00</p>
<p>Uh, so yeah. Their aid sucks, and I even got a merit scholarship,and less than 3% of accepted students get offered one…</p>
<p>rocker:</p>
<p>did you run the efc calculator on Collegeboard for the Institutional Methodology (“IM”)? Your aid seems like a large gap, and Wake Forest claims to meet 100% of demonstated need. Thus, WF must’ve calculated your IM efc as $33k, which is significantly different than the fafsa efc. Call the finaid office and ask them to walk you through the IM efc calculation – it should be based on both income and assets. Perhaps they made a mistake? Do you have any other non-merit offers to which you can compare? For example, xx private school awarded you $45k in need-based aid (including loans).</p>
<p>When did you get your financial aid offer? Has anyone else gotten theirs?</p>
<p>bluebayou, </p>
<p>Yes, I did. It was around 6-7k in IM Methodology. My parents have hardly any assets…no savings, retirement funds, stocks, nada. All we have is our business (which is a used-car business and it is tanking), and a second house which its mortgage exceeds the current value of the house.</p>
<p>I have no idea, I even got a call on Friday from them congratulating me on my admissions, scholarship, and if I had any questions or concerns about Wake. At that time, I did not have my FinAid letter, and they told me it looked “very favorable” for me and hoped the best that I could attend. So, I was expecting something really grand, and this not it. I do not mind the loans, as I do expect to take some loans out for Wake, but after my summer earning allowance, my parents are expected to give about $16,600 or so. That is too much. I just do now appreciate how they got my hopes all high with that phone call and now it’s completely crushed.</p>
<p>I have not received my FinAid letter from one of Wake’s peer school, so I do not have anything to base their EFC on. Also, my state flagship gave me more money through the Pell Grant – $2,200.00. I thought every school gives the same amount in Federal Aid? I guess I was wrong…</p>
<p>Rocker- I have the same FAFSA Efc as you. The IM could be different, so if your parents have large home equity or savings or whatever IM considers, that could explain the difference. But my package was $10k higher at 45k, which included $16k in loans. It appears in my case, my IM EFC is the same 6-7k you mentioned. Our numbers are about the same except they “generously” gave me $10k more is loans.</p>
<p>$16k in loans PLUS 6500 efc (after $2k in Work Study) is disappointing. I was under the impression Wake capped loans at $4000, but I guess I misunderstood. In any event, it made my decision a no-brainer.</p>
<p>Your point about the Pell amount seems correct. Shouldn’t it be the same at every school? You should call about that issue, and then write them to ask for a reconsideration, that is if Wake is where you really want to attend. Good luck.</p>