<p>I feel like Ive let my youngest down. Great student who received a $13,500 per year scholarship at her dream school. We always told our kids we would pay up to the cost of attendance at a state school ($15,500 this calendar year) and rest needed to be covered by merit aid. Well, she received $10000 per year at her state school while at her dream school we would be paying $23,500 per year. So, with Stafford loan and work study it we could swing it according to our own stipulations. EFC= $27000. BUT husband -sole wage earner- lost job 11 months ago, no new job yet. Savings are rapidly depleting, area where we live has 17% unemployment, I found a part-time job at low pay and am thankful to have that. Im not comfortable taking PLUS loans when we really have no idea when he will find work. 40% of the income that produced that EFC was stock that of course has nosedived to20% of its original value. We have 2 other children in college next year; both are in private schools; one has full tuition scholarship and the other half-tuition. They both took out Stafford loans this year to reduce our cash layout which was still $28000. To make a long story short, she accepted at the state school where she will be fine but may not thrive as she would at the dream school. Today I find out that when I appealed for special consideration at the dream school, they reduced our EFC to zero. Meaning she is PELL grant eligible and state grant eligible and eligible for subsidized loans. So you may ask, why did I push her to accept at the state school before we heard back from our appeal? To obtain housing and to get in a special summer program to help her adjust to such a huge campus (her main concern about that school). I had no clue that our EFC would drop to zero. I feel like crying. We spent all last summer looking at 7 different schools because I never thought in a million years that my husband would still be out of work by college decision time. She is on spring break with friends so I dont have to discuss it with her yet. Just thought Id post this to warn people not to make a decision before you have explored all possibilities.</p>
<p>^^^
You can still drop out of the state school and accept the offer at the “dream school”. May lose some Fees, but I’m sure it’s possible</p>
<p>I wish it was that simple. She had a call from admissions at the dream school 5 days ago and she told them she wasn’t attending.</p>
<p>Huh? They came up with aid 5 days after the Dean called??</p>
<p>Call them back. Say, “Hey, when we said no, we did not know that your financial aid office was preparing a generous offer for us.”</p>
<p>yeah i completely agree with linda…if they make any trouble for you just tell them you didn’t have the updated facts with you when you made the decision and therefore haven’t done anything wrong. you might lose your deposit, but that’s about it really</p>
<p>So does anyone think it is unethical to retract the acceptance at the state school if the “dream school” has changed their aid?</p>
<p>Ethics and dreams are apples and oranges.</p>
<p>Don’t give it a second thought! State schools are over subscribed and need the space.</p>
<p>Call them or have daughter call. And if it works out do not give a second thought to state school.</p>
<p>Daughter only replied verbally? Is anything in writing? Hey, May 1 is the reply date for in writing and $$$. WORTH the try, as others are saying (and let us know the results)!</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s unethical at all. Circumstances changed and, as radimom said, it’s before May 1st. You could only make a decision based on the info you had at the time. If you request a refund in writing from your state school before 5/1, there’s probably a very good chance you will receive it but, of course, you’ll need to hear that her admission at Dream U is still in play.</p>
<p>“So does anyone think it is unethical to retract the acceptance at the state school if the “dream school” has changed their aid?”</p>
<p>It’s not considered unethical. That’s what colleges refer to as “summer melt” – students who accept a college, but then change their minds due to changes in finances, waitlist offers, etc. If a deposit has been paid, the student probably will lose that, but that’s the only penalty.</p>
<p>What would be considered unethical is accepting admission offers from two or more schools just to keep one’s options open. It’s also considered unethical to back out of an ED acceptance unless one is doing it for an urgent reason like a family emergency or the school’s not being able to meet the family’s financial aid needs.</p>
<p>I agree with everyone. Call them and explain your circumstances. When the dream school admitted your daughter. that meant they wanted her to attend and please let us know how the results. It is certainly worth a try.</p>
<p>If the phone call she received was from a student volunteer in the admissions offfice then I’m not sure her application was really taken out of consideration. We have been getting calls from colleges my daughter was accepted to but it is usually a student calling to ask if we have any questions. I haven’t interpreted these calls as asking for an official decision.</p>
<p>I don’t have a clear picture of what your status is. Even if Dream school can go in and change your federal EFC to 0, the pell grant would only be for $5000 or thereabouts. Does that really change the big picture, financially speaking? Yeah, she’d be able to get some subsidized loans, too, but that’s just more loans.</p>
<p>Does Dream school meet full-need? Do they do it with no (or low) loans? What is the aid policy at the Dream school? I mean, if it actually works out financially, I agree with everyone else. Get your daughter on the phone NOW wherever she is and have her call back the Dream school and try to find out exactly what her financial aid package would be. If it’s doable, then by all means ask to reverse that decision. I’m sure they’d understand.</p>
<p>They probably won’t consider a verbal decline on the phone as binding. Even if you sent in the response card, if you change your mind this early (not April 30), they should be accommodating. They really want kids to attend that they offer admissions.</p>
<p>Please tell us what happens!</p>
<p>How did things turn out?</p>
<p>Last year DD was accepted at a school and we appealed the FA offer due to special circumstances. They did not change the award and said they could do no more. She declined and then accepted at another school. 3 weeks later we received a new award in the mail which made attending more possible for the first school. We literally were going through the trash looking for forms etc from the 1st school. She phoned and sent a letter and all was well. Sometimes I don’t think the admissions and FA office have a lot of communication. Please tell us how it works out.</p>
<p>Update: Thanks for all the great feedback. I am delighted to say that a verbal decline was not binding. I probably jumped the gun as far as getting excited about a zero EFC (never thought I’d see one for our family but then I never thought the economy would tank either). Anyhow, the revised FA award now includes $6200 in federal grants, an academic competitiveness grant $750, Perkins loan $2000 and parental contribution of $7980 which is much more doable for us. Husband thinks it is nuts to consider this because the state school is so affordable. We have lots of discussion before DD gets home on Saturday ( I have not talked to her about it yet until I am sure H and I are on the same page). Can you put a price on a kid’s dream? Yep. But it did suddenly become much more affordable and SURELY by the time FAFSAs need to be filled out next year, H will be employed.</p>