<p>I heard a rumor (so please tell me if it's true or unsubstantiated or a mixture of both) that CMU gives excellent aid the first year to reel in students, so to speak, and then drops it lower in future years.</p>
<p>I'm committed to attending, and my parents are committed to paying it in part/full (I will probably end up taking on some of the financial burden and paying them back under my undergraduate years). But obviously it would hurt quite a bit to lose any aid, since right now it's an eminently affordable option, but $57,000 or so a year is pretty huge.</p>
<p>On the financial aid award the grant I received (which is the majority of my financial aid package) is listed as "Carnegie Mellon Undergraduate Grant". Is this purely need-based or merit-based or some combination? And assuming my grades remain acceptable (≥3.0) and my family's financial situation doesn't change significantly, how likely is it that the grant will be reduced in future years?</p>
<p>Grant is need based.</p>
<p>The amount you receive each year in financial aid usually remains the same throughout unless you change financially. However, what people don’t realize, is that every year you are eligible for a greater federal loan and of course CMU will give you that as part of your financial aid package. As a freshmen you’ll have a $5500 loan as part of your financial aid package, sophomore year it will be 6500, and junior/senior year 7500. So your loans will go up a bit, and grants down in proportion.</p>
<p>Your financial aid package amount itself virtually stays the same. Of course you will hear plenty of stories of families short-changed, but all the ones I’ve heard are from people who don’t seem to even understand how the process works and just expect the money every year like its a scholarship…</p>
<p>It can also go the other way. The grant money CMU was awarding me almost doubled this year with the inclusion of a named scholarship and more money. My family’s financial circumstances haven’t changed. We’re on the higher end of middle-class, but I’m still shouldering quite a bit in loans (3 other college-age siblings). I really have no idea what happened or why they decided to give me more, but… hey, I ain’t complainin’.</p>
<p>Unless your financial situation changes significantly, and you keep your GPA above 2.0, your financial aid is pretty much guaranteed to never go down, and in all likelihood will increase. My family is upper-middle class and barely qualified for financial aid. Going into sophomore year, CMU increased my grant and scholarship to the point where they are giving me “more” than what my family needs according to FAFSA (they matched FAFSA at first). And that’s with pretty ****ty freshman grades (under 3.0)!!</p>
<p>D’s was the same sophomore year.
Things got “funky” unior year when EFC changed b/c a second sibling was in college. CMU did OK – nothing unexpected and certainly no decline- just saw some loans that weren’t there in the first two years.
We are holding breadth to see what senior year brings.</p>
<p>I suspect if your grades are downright awful that could cause problems.
Anyone willing to share that experience – bad/low grades-- what was the impact on your financial aid?</p>
<p>My D knew a few people who had parents loose jobs along the way and they had to transfer to their state u and could no longer make it work at CMU. very sad</p>
<p>i just saw my financial aid letter for the 2011-12 school year, doesnt look so great and my family’s efc is pretty low. how do you qualify for merit scholarships at cmu? do you have to apply for it? </p>
<p>or are there any other ways to increase financial aid?</p>
<p>=(</p>
<p>I’m officially worried- it’s June 1 and I still have nothing showing under SIO for next year.</p>
<p>Upperclassmen - freshman-- has your package been posted?</p>
<p>How’s it look relative to last year? My EFC is within a few hundred bucks of last year -so hoping no significant changes.
Had EFC of $20ks and got $30k ish in grants – no loans.</p>