Hey everyone, I am in a bit of a bind here and not quite sure what to do.
For some context, I got accepted to Kansas State’s 5-year Masters of Architecture program - which is fairly selective, 180 out of 400 applicants are chosen each year. I also got an early offer of admission, which I think they extend to about 1/3 of the admitted students. I also received a waiver for in-state tuition (I’m from Missouri). The estimated annual cost is about $20,000 a year.
Anyway, I received my financial aid letter in the mail, and I was in no way prepared for what I got. Basically, I received not one dime in merit or leadership scholarships, even though I was more than qualified for some of the lowest-tier ones (27 ACT and 4.0 GPA, both high school and my 30 dual credit hours). The dual credit will put a decent dent in tuition expenses as well as my personal savings (about 5k). However, the problem is that the college of architecture rarely, if ever, awards scholarships to freshmen. That was a fact, the admissions rep told us that almost all of the money goes to the upperclassmen.
My entire financial aid package was loans. A 5,500 federal loan and up to 20,000 parent PLUS loan. With that aid package, it is not financially realistic for me to enter this program. I would have to take up to 15,000 in private loans under my own name (with cosigner). The parent PLUS loan is simply not an option, because my dad (who constitutes 90% of our income) will be unemployed as of May this summer. He is getting a severance package of about 20,000 but considering that he is almost all of our income and still does not have another job lined up, we are going to need all of that and my parents are not in a position to take out a loan that big. Not only that - dad is willing to cosign but he will not pay for my student loans so they will all have to be under my name if I want them.
We contacted the financial aid office as far as the unemployment and a couple other factors that impacted our EFC pretty significantly (i.e. 15 weeks mandatory overtime that bumped our income up way high) and we are going to have to wait until May to file the paperwork and receive professional judgement on our federal aid. However, since I am not eligible for university-wide scholarships, the fin. aid office said that the college of architecture would be the ones to determine how much scholarship aid I can have. We are going to try to talk to them and explain our circumstances, and ask if they would be willing to review my financial aid package considering the unusual circumstances. As I mentioned above, we are trying to appeal our sky-high EFC number because overtime bumped our income up by about $20,000 a year more than what we have made for the past decade in that one specific year, hopefully I will receive some of the Pell Grant. Has anyone had a similar experience to this that can offer me some advice? This is my first-choice school and under normal circumstances would have been somewhat affordable so I would be heartbroken if I did not get to go.
You can contact the school to find out about a special circumstances consideration because of the job loss. BUT no school on the planet will consider this until it actually HAPPENS. So don’t be disappointed if that is part of the process.
You are an OOS student. You already GOT a significant discount in that you have instate tuition. This school does not meet full need for all accepted students. A $5500 student loan is likely all you would have gotten anyway.
You say you were at the lower tier for merit awards…that being the case, it’s very very possible that there were a lot of students with better stats who actually got those merit awards.
You can inquire about a special circumstances consideration…but I also hope you have an affordable option in your application pile.
Ther os NOTHING “odd” about you financial circumstances…at all. Other students have parents who lose jobs. Colleges have a process to deal with this once the parent has actually lost their job.
You knew about the financial issues in October when you started this other thread. You also said your dad was planning to use his severance to buy a house.
I hope you took the advice in that October thread to have affordable options on your list.
And this one…
You knew your EFC was well over what your parents would pay…in October.
Congrats on your acceptance.
I think you need to take a day to mourn and move on.
I don’t see a scenario where this college is affordable to you-- even if you can piece together year one, then what???
Take pride in having been admitted- and start to get excited about one of your other, affordable choices. Because this one ain’t it.
I agree with @blossom. I work in financial aid. Even if you were to get a Professional Judgment adjustment to account for a job loss, the very most you will get is probably a Pell grant. You are not realistically going to get enough money to make this school possible.
I know this stinks. You are not the first to have this happen, and you won’t be the last. You need to regroup and figure out an alternative plan that is affordable.
Wow. Thank you everyone for the optimistic responses. I have not given up yet and I was asking about people who have actually had experiences appealing financial aid. The odd circumstance was that the college of architecture does not give freshmen scholarships.
If you are seeking optimistic but unrealistic responses then CC is not the place to look. The advice others have given is sound even if it is not what you want to hear.
@thumper1 no, you misunderstand. I got early admitted because my academic stats were towards the top quarter of applicants this year. That’s why were shocked because I got no merit aid. Combined with my high school grades (4.0 cumulative, even with honors/AP on a weighted scale), I also have a 4.0 college GPA in my 30 dual credit hours. That includes some general education classes along with advanced physics, chem, etc. That is why we were shocked that I got no additional merit aid-and wanted to appeal to see if I might be given even a small merit award.
If this is the school policy…then it’s not an “odd circumstance” at all.
I agree with Blossom…and others upstream. Move on.
If your parents can’t pay the family contribution a year…and the cost right now is $20,000…this school is not affordable.
And like I said…you already have reduction to instate tuition rates…so you have already received a discounted cost of attendance.
What “aid” are you looking for? Most of the need based aid at public universities are in the form of federal and state aid, neither which you qualify for. With the exception of a small number of schools most public universities simply have no need based aid to give.
You are an OOS student applying to Kansas ( the school was actually looking to make money as a result of you attending).
For the scholarships listed on K-states website while your grades and scores were above the ** minimum** requirements I am willing to bet money that your stats are no where near the top of the applicant pool, which is where the merit money went.
Hopefully you have some options that are financially feasible for your family.
I’m sorry OP but I agree with all the above responders. OOS publics are not known to be generous with merit aid. You were accepted into a competitive major which makes the school even less likely to offer merit aid.
Unless your financial situation has already changed, it’s unlikely you’ll see any adjustment for this year.
What CAN you afford, because it sounds like you need a commutable option.
“Wow. Thank you everyone for the optimistic responses. I have not given up yet and I was asking about people who have actually had experiences appealing financial aid. The odd circumstance was that the college of architecture does not give freshmen scholarships.”
Yes, there are dozens of posters here with experience appealing financial aid. And all of us would be happy to give you some tips IF your situation were one where our collective experience would help you. But it won’t. Getting a “one time only” 1800 in aid doesn’t get you a degree. Having the U somehow convert 5K of your loans to a grant doesn’t get you a degree. You are very confident (seemingly) that by next year, your financial situation will have changed materially, or that the financial aid fairy will somehow change the college’s policy on aid. Since neither of those things are going to happen (I truly hope your dad finds another job quickly at an even higher salary) it is clear that you cannot afford this college. You are trying to bridge the gap for your first year and we are all trying to tell you that going into a hole for freshman year when you can’t afford the rest of the years is a huge and devastating mistake. You will end up in debt with no degree- the worst possible outcome here.
What new facts are you going to present to a financial aid officer ? They told you up- front that the college of architecture does not award scholarships to Freshman. And now you are asking them to give you a scholarship for freshman year. And you are out of state- so you have zero leverage from the git-go since they are ALREADY giving you the discounted rate.
If I knew you in real life, I would buy you an ice cream, we’d walk around the block, and we’d start to get excited about one of your affordable options. But I can’t make the financial aid fairy show up at your house with a check for $20K for an out of state student at a college which does not award merit for freshmen.
@blossom , “There is No Financial Aid Fairy” is the title of the book I want to write someday.
Kelsmom- I will collaborate on that book with you. As I get older and I meet more people in real life, the fantasy world that people live in when it comes to money and their kids is a rich and wondrous one. I just had a hard conversation with a family member about her kid’s loans and why a PsyD (was offered no funding by the college) is “worth” gadziliions in loans because once he’s in private practice he’ll be able to pay them off lickety split.
I know Board Certified Psychiatrists who are struggling to stay on top of their loans, given the sorry state of reimbursements for mental health. But at least with the right licensing, they can pick up extra shifts on ER rotations on weekends and holidays when they aren’t seeing patients in their own practices- so that’s cash that’s free and clear with no arguing with an HMO or office overhead to pay. They can pick up shifts with a VA hospital or prison; some of them do forensic consulting or get court appointed freelance opportunities. But a PsyD who wants a private practice is going to have limited “extra cash” options for counseling- maybe divorce mediation? But that doesn’t pay nearly as well as people think. You read about psychologists who provide expert witness testimony (which can pay pretty well depending on which side you are on) but those folks are 60 years old, not newbies just starting out with a bucket of loans coming due.
Can’t wait for our book tour…
Ok. You are getting the Missouri Reciprocal award which is then in-state tuituion. It is not clear anywhere in the website if that can be stacked with other merit scholarships. If so they would be the in-state scholarships. Those are guaranteed if you meet the requirements. (My son goes there, was OOS so we know). With your stats it should have been $1000 a year. That is all assuming you applied before the Nov 1 merit scholarship deadline. The Leadership Involvement scholarships may only be for actual Kansas Residents. Did you apply separately for all the selective awards? They each required additional paperwork.
They are not huge on renegotiating but you could ask if you were considered for the Leadership scholarships being a Missouri Reciprocal student and if you got the thousand. The competitive awards may not be announced until March.
Just so you don’t feel so bad the departmental scholarships are not big. In S’s department all freshmen got around 1500 a year. The second year that doubled plus a bit. It isn’t a huge number and unless you get one of the very few bigger scholarships (usually much higher ACTs).
It doesn’t hurt to ask. The people there are nice but they can’t give away money based on what may happen. They still have to meet their financial requirements.
I would guess you aren’t going to get that number down by much. It is a great program and a great school but you have to go where you can afford it.
I’m sorry you’re in this situation, but you have to work with the budget you have. Your parents are making you pay for college on your own. Their income is too high to qualify for a Pell Grant. If/when your dad gets another job, which the college will expect him to do, you probably will still have too much family income to qualify. Right now your only sources of funding are the ~$5500/year federal student loan and whatever merit aid you might get with a 27 ACT/4.0 GPA. At most schools I don’t think it will be much.
@thumper1 is right that the OOS tuition waiver counts as aid. It’s just not enough. You basically need a full ride and it doesn’t sound like this college offers one. Did you apply to any affordable options? Are there any colleges you can commute to from home?
@momocarly actually yes, I filled out the supplemental application and I filled out that along with the general application well before their deadlines. I emailed fin. aid and Missouri Reciprocal is not stackable with any other general university scholarships, because each student only gets one of those so that counts as mine. For any additional merit aid it would have to come from within the college of architecture. The only good news is that admissions said that they work really hard to make sure upperclassmen receive funding and APDesign students have an advantage there because the program is so small, so my dad and I are wondering if finding private loans to cover the first year would be the best decision long-term so I can be on my way to earning a Master’s.
The problem is not “finding” private loans. The problem is paying them off.
@blossom with my family’s financial history no degree beyond a community college degree is ever going to be affordable to me (within the next decade at least) without loans of a pretty significant amount. I am willing to turn to loans as a last resort, but filling in that financial gap is crucial. I was hoping that since I was selected out of a pretty large pool of applicants, they may be willing to help me at least a little bit my first year and if I do well I should be able to find other opportunities, because there will be more funding available for me as a sophomore.