<p>Hi guys, I just got accepted ED to the University of Pennsylvania, and received the financial aid package:</p>
<p>Financial Aid Notice
Cost of Attendance $62,300
Expected Family Contribution $37,930
Expected Parent Contribution $35,400<br>
Expected Student Contribution $2,530<br>
Your Financial Aid Award
Scholarships/Grants/Work Study<br>
Feinman Family Scholarship $5,000<br>
Penn Grant $8,375<br>
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) $4,000<br>
Estimated Pell Grant $3,695<br>
Federal Work-Study (FWS) $3,300<br>
Total Financial Aid Eligibility $24,370</p>
<p>Therefore I am paying $35,000+! This is much much more than expected. Family total income = around $80,000, and no special assets or anything.</p>
<p>Penn website says someone like myself should have $50,000 in aid, but I'm receiving literally half of that. A</a> Look at the Facts</p>
<p>How do I appeal for ED? I only see the Financial Aid online, but no place to appeal? Do you think it will be recalculated? My EFC should drop from 35,000 to around 15,000!</p>
<p>The CollegeBoard NPC says a total cost of $13,500. Anything less than $20,000 is all I really need, just can’t figure out what’s so drastically different! </p>
<p>Anyone know how soon I can appeal? I haven’t paid the enrollment deposit yet either.</p>
<p>That’s the the median, and you are not in the lowest part of that group. As Bluebayou, asks, did you run the NPC? Do so and see what that comes up with. </p>
<p>You should get your estimated PROFILE to have in front of you and a parent with you as well, for a phone conference with financial aid to come up with a detailed reasoning as to how they came up with this aid package for you. Do you have a non custodial parent situation? Do you have a family business in the picture? What is the value of your home? What is your EFC from the FAFSA estimator? Run your numbers through another NPC like Georgetown’s or Brown’s or Cornells’ and some colleges on your list and see what they come up with. Better if no merit money is in the picture for the schools as that will skew results. </p>
<p>What do you consider special assets? All assets, yours, your siblings, your parents’ are in consideration including value of home, do realize. </p>
<p>Before you call the Financial aid Director, have all the info that I am asking you and directing you, in front of you. If you come out way off in all counts, then perhaps there is an issue, but otherwise, that may well be your award.</p>
<p>You’ve been given a Pell Grant and a SEOG grant…yet your family contribution is high.</p>
<p>That suggest three possible things to me…maybe your primary home has a TON of equity…or you have a Non Custodial Parent…or your parents own a business and it has a net worth and/or has lots of deductions. Are any of my possible suggestions correct? </p>
<p>If you do have a NCP, then how did you do the net price calculator AND…how did you look at the Penn website and come up with that figure? Were you just putting in the income from ONE family? </p>
<p>if your parents own their own business then the worth wasn’t considered for FAFSA, and you got to qualify for Pell. CSS Profile will consider the value and will “add back in” some of the deductions.</p>
<p>Another clue that your parents own their own business is that you “qualify for Pell” …YET…you say that you can pay up to $20k per year for UPenn. Hmmmm…</p>
<p>Family total income = around $80,000</p>
<p>??? Do you have another sibling in college? How does someone qualify for Pell with that income unless there are multiples in college. If you do have an older sibling in college, what’s their EFC and aid been like???</p>
<p>BTW…your title is wrong…you weren’t “promised” anything.</p>
<p>Wait,a re you out of state? UPenn is a good school but it sounds like they are charging you $62,000 a year to attend! That’s ridiculous!! In another thread some knowledgeable parents pointed out that even $35,000 is really bad for a state school like University of Vermont; UPenn is obviously a higher calibre school but is it really worth twice as much??</p>
<p>Your best bet is to apply to be elreased from early decision contract. If this school wants you to get $35,000 in addition to loans then that’s obscene.</p>
<p>However, before you freak out, I want you to go back through the costs that Penn state used for cost of attendance. A lot of the schools I have seen include a lot of “fat” or “fluff” in there for some reason. I have seen schools that think you spend $1,000 for books, $2,000 for transportation, etc. etc. when most people spend only a fraction of that. This will NOT bridge the gap but it is improtant to differentiate between the actual DIRECT COSTS OF ATTENDANCE (the stuff that you are billed for, like tuition and dorm fees) and the miscellaneous expenses that you can manage by being frugal or findign cheaper alternatives (you don’t have to buy all of your books new, you don’t have to take a jumbo jet to college, etc.)</p>
<p>This is a prime example of why I do not like ED for those who need financial aid. Unless the student or someone involved in that student’s college process is well informed on how financial aid works, the guarantee to meet full need is misunderstood more times than it is understood. I’ve seen astute parents, educated parents, successful in business parents not grasp how this works. That if you have a family business, the NPC, the FAFSA EFC are not going to be anything near what the package may end up being even from one of the top 25 universities. From the schools that are listed as way up there in aid packages,even, you may not get what you expect and you could be way off. </p>
<p>It is doubtful this will be resolved this week, this month, this year even as it’s a week before Christmas and many college offices are closed. So the OP and others like him/her can sit and stew, and start out 2014 in a simmer, in stress, along with the parents, before this is resolved, if it can be resolved even.</p>
<p>What often happens is that parents decide to go with it and borrow the money that they should not be borrowing in order to buy this dream for their kids. Then in the spring, they can see their class mates getting packages from like school or maybe not such like schools for much, much more. But to take that chance with a bird in hand, no other applications out there, no offers is just more than many can bear.</p>
<p>That’s why I don’t advise ED for those who need fin aid.</p>
<p>Ax, may not be a lot of “fat” in there as the cost load is $37K and the student can’t even really pick up a part time job during the school year for some extra money, as the aid already takes up work hours in the Work Study award, which is not guaranteed. The student has to get there with all that is needed to start the school year, buy books and supplies, and there is no moving on the tuition and fees, and little wiggle room on room and board. On campus is generally required unless s/he is a commuter. Also, if s/he isn’t covered with health insurance, that is required and isn’t in that figure. </p>
<p>Hopefully, this is a mistake. If there is something else in the picture, which I, like Mom2ck, suspect, that may be it.</p>
<p>Wow, do I have egg on my face! My bad!!! Yeah UPenn (NOT Penn State) then $62,000/year isn’t actually that bad! Also use of CSS profile makes more sense now – thanks for catching my mistake???</p>
<p>Anyway, I really would look for some fat in the cost of admission because there are often areas that are NOT direct charges by the university but their estimate on how much you should spend. THESE WILL NOT as I said before GET YOU TO THE NUMBER YOU WANT but it might help with budgeting and planning if you can afford the direct costs.</p>
<p>Here’s a toughie that I notice though !</p>
<p>They are something you want to CHECK OUT though. It says that (like most or all Ivys) they do not offer merit aid. So if you can’t get more need aid through them you might want to consider asking to be released from Early Decision!</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the input guys, and nope there’s no noncustodial parent and no family owned business. I currently have a brother completing his senior year at Northwestern then moving onto medical school, so that might be part of it. And yes we’re been through this whole process for my brother and he paid roughly $17000 a year for Northwestern, including room and board and everything, so my family was kind of expecting a similar package from Penn!</p>
<p>Well, if your brother is a senior now, he is not going to count as a student next year. So you are the only one in college. However, the number still looks awfully high to me, nearly 50% of income. What are the family assets including family home?</p>
<p>My guess is that Penn will throw in the $5500 Direct Student loans to bridge the gap by that much, maybe throw in a few thousand more and maybe some other loan. You do need to talk to someone there and get a handle on how this was calculated.</p>
<p>I’m also concerned about the PELL, as your EFC might have been cut in half due to how the questions were answered on the estimated PROFILE. When you actually fill out the FAFSA after 1/1/2014., you will only have ONE student in college and the estimator may have you credited for 2, simply the way the old PROFILE asks the quesions. If that is the case, Penn will come up with the difference. I 've seen that happen too. </p>
<p>Get out the numbers for your brother’s NWU financial aid and see what the deal is and go over this along with the NPC and FAFSA estimates when you talk to the UPenn Fin aid director. </p>
<p>From what I have seen Penn’s fin aid is lower than that of most of the Ivys, but you should find out how they are coming up with their numbers.</p>
<p>* I currently have a brother completing his senior year at Northwestern then moving onto medical school, so that might be part of it. *</p>
<p>Your brother is graduating. Did you count him and put “2 in college”??? If so, that needs to change. Your brother will be independent once he graduates and he’ll file his own FAFSA as a household of 1. He won’t be in your household and he won’t count as a 2nd child in college. Since money is an issue, then it’s not likely that your parents will be paying for his med school. Sounds like he’ll be taking out student loans for that. </p>
<p>smarty99, I think Penn will work with you to figure out the discrepancy. Follow the advice above and be prepared for your conversation with the financial aid officer. I wish you the best of luck.</p>
<p>In reality, many ED schools let you get out of ED for financial reason. If you say you can’t afford it, the school isn’t going to argue with you. Just make sure you do so as early as possible and well BEFORE other decisions come in so it doesn’t look like you are gaming the system.</p>
<p>Sam Lee, you’re missing the point. That quote is bunch of hooey. Applicants CAN’T weigh competing offers if they have one ED offer and have to decide to take it or leave it. If the applicant takes the ED offer, he or she may be unwittingly foregoing a far better opportunity elsewhere; if the applicant rejects the offer, he or she may find that offers from other schools aren’t as nearly as good. The opportunity to opt out of a ED acceptance is of no benefit to a student who needs to maximize an FA award. It’s just a dumb choice for a student looking for significant assistance.</p>
<p>There is the emotional momentum that goes with ED apps, that makes it very difficult to let go of the only bird one has in hand. Believe me, I see it all of the time. And I can tell you, as a parent, that even though I’ve been through all of this for 15 years and with 4 kids, I could get pushed right along if my child so wanted a school, applied ED, and the offer was over the financial line drawn, And yes, I’d draw that line higher than truly comfortable as well.</p>