My son was accepted to his ED school at a private school. However, did not receive any financial aid. Due to change in f circumstances, we cannot afford the full cost of the college. My son is also upset because at time of interview, it was implied there would be financial aid. How does he go about dealing the offer?
Thanks
mama64
Sorry, I meant declining the acceptance.
mama64
Did your son applied for financial aid / merit-based scholarships?
Hi @mama64 –
Was the offer significantly different that you expected based on the Net Price Calculator? Have your circumstances changed since you filled out the CSS/Profile or the school’s financial aid form? Have you called and talked with the financial aid office to see what the process might be to have your aid reconsidered in light of the new circumstances? Colleges really want the students who were admitted ED to attend, so it would be good to check with them before turning down the offer.
If you find that their final offer is inadequate, your son should send an email to admissions and request withdrawal from the ED agreement because the offered financial aid is inadequate. They will let you know the process from that point.
Since many other schools have January 1 deadlines, you will want to resolve this promptly so that he can submit other applications if he wants.
Good luck.
Yes, we did the whole CSS thing, and in the Common App stated he is applying for financial aid. The FAFSA is due later. We thought he would at least get enough to meet state school cost, but “zero” is the letter we received.
Arabrab,
My son is still dealing with finals. Will the financial aid office talk with a parent? Or does my son have to call in? My son is still 17.
Thanks.
Some schools will talk the parents.
If the school did not award your son any scholarships / financial aid, I think your son can decline the admission.
You need to call the school. Did a parent lose a job? If the NPC indicated a generous aid package, then you need to understand what happened. (My DS did not apply ED because the EFCs were too expensive for us.)
Applications are due very soon. Has your son submitted any other applications? You need to make your list carefully, so you are not in the same “full pay” situation with his other acceptances.
If there has been a change of circumstances, you should call the school´s financial aid office and talk to them about it and ask if they can adjust the FA package.
If nothing changes you can decline due to finances.
Were you expecting need based aid or merit aid? Did the NPC indicate you would get aid? Do you have examples/evidence that your child would get a merit scholarship? (e.g., is it stated on Website or have you noticed that other similar stat students have gotten merit)
I would definitely ask…for example, at our Flagship State U they do auto scholarships based on your GPA/SAT.
My DD did 2 years at a 0-100 HS and 2 years at a IB HS so we had no idea what her 4.0-based GPA was and either did the scholarship computer program. Her scores were high enough where a scholarship was expected. An email inquiring if this was an oversight fixed it right away.
But in any case, if the financial aid does not meet your family’s need, you can decline admission.
If you can’t afford the school, you can decline.
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We thought he would at least get enough to meet state school cost
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This is a private school, which likely has a cost of $65k+. If your state school costs about $35k, then were you expecting about $30k in aid, but got zero?
If so, that suggests that your income/assets are quite high…or do you have a business or take business deductions?
You were expecting a lot more aid than what you got. Did you use the NPC on the website?
Are you sure that you didn’t make an error on CSS?
To update all kind enough to post, we did have a change in circumstance and thought it was demonstrated in the CSS. I am trying to reach the financial aid office now to see what can be done.
Good luck! I think many parents worry about a “change in circumstance”. I hope the school comes through for you.
@mama64 If the change in circumstance is a job loss, then the school’s position may be that it wants to wait and see if a new job is found. A school doesn’t want to give more money, only to have a situation where the parent finds a new job within a very short time.
If the change in circumstance is “providing support for a relative,” then schools likely will not consider that.
When is the school expecting a deposit/acceptance?
My son is also upset because at time of interview, it was implied there would be financial aid
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Who did the interviewing? An admission’s officer? An alum? Was the person given your full financial info? or was the person only told that there was some sort of change in circumstance?