<p>Going back to ancient history (aka post #38), the deadline to be considered for merit aid at College of Charleston is the same as the EA deadline (Dec. 1, I think) If your D applied after 12/1, she was automatically out of the running for merit aid.</p>
<p>Cindy, I don’t blame you for not wanting to pay full freight. Most of us do not want to do so. In my opinion, your chances are small in getting anything. It is late in the process and there are so many families out there who CAN’T pay the costs that are working with financial aid offices. Also, I’ve heard that state schools do not have the flexibility.</p>
<p>However, I would ask your D to talk to financial aid and admissions about any possibility of any funds there that she would qualify for, since she so wants to go to W&M but its extra cost and the options available of two other less expensive schools is causing issues with the parents. A little bit of $$s would so sweeten the deal. That is what my son pretty much said to the college of his choice and he did get a merit award doubled. Also if you fill out the FAFSA, (which you may have to do anyways to even get merit money at state schools, some of them anyways) your D can borrow up to $5500 in Stafford loans. If she really wants to go to the more expensive school, she should pay for some of the additional cost. THat is what we did with our son. He is going to a school that costs more than many of his choices and both he and we are borrowing, scrimping, using current earnings and savings to meet the costs. He is also working during the term to make extra money and will be working double shifts this summer as he did last summer.</p>
<p>Merit aid is a very subjective thing. My D received two merit aid offers. One was truly “merit aid”, as it was awarded to her before we even filed the FAFSA. The other, according to the college website, was a combination of need and academic accomplishment. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t feel bad at all about paying full freight for school. Many of my D’s friends are going to college without any kind of FA. However, I would always encourage people who think that they may not qualify for FA to apply anyway. Our EFC was 46K and we still got aid, along with notifications for things like Stafford loans. You never know.</p>
<p>Your daughter was accepted as a “full pay” student.</p>
<p>Is it fair to students who were rejected, at least in part for needing aid, for you to come back, after the fact, and claim “oops we need aid”?</p>
<p>Of course life isn’t fair but how many “full pay” admittees are going to pull this scam?</p>
<p>College admission to a particular elite school is not like buying a car produced on an assembly line. There are as many cars produced as there are buyers. W&M only has room for so many students. For your daughter to have a place, she had to take it away from someone else; a classic zero sum game.</p>
<p>You had a competive advantage in obtaining a limited opportunity by not asking for aid. Its like bidding for a unique and limited artifact and then claiming you can’t pay the agreed upon price.</p>
<p>Merit aid’s been mentioned several times in recent posts, but just to reiterate: there are two very limited merit scholarship programs at W&M, which are reserved for either its very top applicants or for students who have overcome adversity/will add diversity to the college (which may sometimes be a ‘merit within need’ award). There are no other merit awards that are applied to tuition. If there were, they’d long since have been awarded.</p>
<p>I do think it would be a good idea to file the FAFSA belatedly, get a Stafford student loan (still available per W&M’s website), and possibly inquire about work-study opportunities.</p>
<p>Most state schools are need blind. They just gap if they can’t or don’t want to meet the need so I don’t think it’s an issue about looking for aid. It doesn’t hurt to ask.</p>
<p>I knew D’s school gave little merit aid and so we expected nothing (and that’s what she got). We don’t feel like chumps.
The more competitive schools ( like W & M…) don’t need to use money to lure in top students , so they don’t give much. What I do see in my (affluent) suburban area are a lot of parents who feel that their child is somehow “entitled” to merit aid. This seems to be a bragging point for some folks, but I am not impressed as it differs by school.</p>
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<p>I know what you mean. I hate it even more when I paid a fortune for a seat on a plane and the person next to me paid a pittance!</p>
<p>I know that at many selective colleges, a full 50% are full freight payers. You won’t be the only one, by any means. Lower tier colleges often discount tuition by giving automatic scholarships to those with certain GPAs or test scores. </p>
<p>As for getting any college to deal, I remember something that Michael Eisner said when talking about the art of the deal while at Disney. He said that you really can’t deal unless you are willing to walk away if you don’t get what you want. And that is why a person often can’t get a deal from a car dealer or a college.</p>
<p>Just a general comment regarding who “should” pay for a child’s college education. I haven’t read the entire thread, but am just responding to the original post. </p>
<p>Although I personally think that the “system” of who gets financial aid and who doesn’t is a tad bit messed up in this country, and although I personally would prefer that we had a system that funds higher education somewhat like what I saw when living in a Scandinavian country (kids are tracked in hs to prep them for higher ed at either the University or Technical/Trade level) the fact remains that our system is what it is. </p>
<p>If I want my child to attend school, then I have to make hard choices based on what I can afford- or not. Or what I am willing to spend-or not. Or what I am willing to do-or not- to make my child’s education possible. This is true for families of all income levels and regardless of the type of higher education the child pursues.</p>
<p>One of D’s LACs send a note with acceptance letters advising families that if they had not applied for aid as part of freshman application that the college wouldn’t consider them for financial aid until they were juniors.</p>
<p>arabrab, do you mind naming the school? It seems like a harsh policy in the current economy.</p>
<p>yes barbara, I believe you said this before in another post. I thought all colleges were required by federal law to allow everyone fill out a FAFSA every year?</p>
<p>Yes, they are. The school can refuse to process a student for institutional aid, but I believe that they have to admininster government aid should the student qualify for it.</p>
<p>Skidmore is the school. I don’t think anyone can stop you from filling out a FAFSA, and if your eligible for Pell grant $ then I assume Skidmore would let you get that. I took their note to mean that they would not allocate any of the financial aid they (Skidmore) control, which would include grants, scholarships, and (possibly) federal work-study $ to students who hadn’t originally applied during the admission process. I assume (but don’t know for sure) that they’d probably look at things differently if there was a major change in circumstances – perhaps a family that suddenly can’t afford school because of a job loss. Since they never promised that they were need-blind, this doesn’t seem unreasonable.</p>