Just checking that you know that 529 accounts are reported as parent assets, not student assets, even if the student is the beneficiary. This can make a big difference as student assets are assessed much more heavily than parent assets.
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Yes! Especially since Thornton is having an accepted students day next weekend.
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My son heard about his award last Tuesday evening. He auditioned in January.
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Same. Auditioned and accepted to JSoM in January. Did the award notice arrive via email, or did you have to go into a portal?
TIA!
I think Jacobs releases at different times by dept. What instrument is your kid?
My Dâs UG experience was long ago and under another system so I think itâs irrelevant. But for grad school (under the new system), she and her buddies were at IU and auditioned at the same time. I think that she knew that she was accepted. But all grad VP heard about awards on the last day. Her friends all heard in the afternoon of the last dayâŠand she got nothingâŠuntil maybe 5:00 when the award finally came through. I know that it was sent electronically but I donât know how and itâs been awhile.
This is a scary thought butâŠIâm not sure if IU always gives awardsâŠso it may be worth calling and asking. Where, howâŠand if there is no awardâŠwill they let you know thatâŠor do you just not hear anything!!!
I donât want to make you worryâŠbut alsoâŠit makes no sense to be waiting until 8 pm on 3.31 wondering âwhat the heck?â I would encourage you to callâŠand check out âthe processâ related to your kidâs instrument. That may give you some peace.
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Good idea. The acceptance came back in January. It was really nice to have that acceptance right away! I guess I prefer this method over waiting until end of March to know about acceptance and financials. Still waiting on both from two schools.
I decided to call this morning. I was told it could be as late as next week. This is frustrating since we are asked to make decisions by May 1. Anyways, I though Iâd share in case anyone else is not-so-patiently waiting.
He received it via email.
Question for the panel.
most of my sonâs schools are private so they obviously have more money to offer than his one state school. The state school wants to use the total out of pocket angle but I want to use % of total COA. Anyone have some good responses they have used to the state schools to offset or counter their position?
I may be misunderstanding you, so these thoughts may be irrelevant. 
Do you mean in terms of appealing/negotiating aid? I had always thought the out-of-pocket comparison is whatâs used. I can see how, if you want more from the State U, it could behoove you to use percentages, but for a private school it would work the opposite way.
They could be equal deals in terms of out-of-pocket costs, but state school will look like theyâre offering peanuts relative to the private school in terms of percent of COA. You could use that approach if you want to show the state school that private schools are helping out more, but I donât think it would hold much water, because everyone knows privates are ridiculously priced.
Iâm not sure if Iâm understanding your question, but this is how a comparison might look for us.
State U, $5k scholarship, COA 26K.
Private, $36k scholarship/aid, COAâŠ$26K!
State U is offering to support 16% of its original cost.
Private is offering to support 36%.
But everybody knows, State U costs $30 and the private costs $62.
The situation that would be better is:
State U is expensive (like ours) and so with a small scholarship, COA is $26
Private school has huge endowment, so with scholarship COA comes down to $15
Now, the state has a discrepancy to answer to.
Yes, appealing/negotiating.
My kid is doing undergrad at a state U. If this is a top choice and in for final consideration, Iâd just ask for straight up for what you are hoping for that would get him there. I think it is encouraging someone is prompting for info! If your current offers arenât helpful, you donât have to send them. âI am very interested in studying with Prof X at University of Y. But financially it will be an easier decision if âŠâ
I suspect a lot of these schools that may prioritize grad funding donât have boat load of funds sitting for UGs unless they are really needed for the program. But I can say my son doing VP was offered about 8-10K below what we were going to be paying at any of his cheapest private options if that is helpful (he got 2 offers at this price point from flagship Us). (low 20âs a few years ago). With that and a really great teacher fit, it was a no brainer at the time and zero regrets (other than covid was the worst - made us extra glad we didnât spend more).
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I donât understand. The state school has, say, COA of 60k and your cost will be 40k and you want to say to them that "private school X is offering us 50% off COA so can you do the same? Which would lower your cost to 30k instead of 40k?
Yeah, your numbers are a bit off but I would say your premise is correct. I get they donât want to work on that premise. They want the advantage of saying state school is so much cheaper than privates, which is true, but I also think state schools are bit too heavily dependent upon that argument. The state schools arenât exactly cheap either.
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I have never heard of that argument working.
Are you looking for increased merit aid or increased need-based aid?
I havenât either. Around here, the public university doesnât really reconsider aid. And if they did, they would likely remind you that you are already getting a reduced cost because you are a taxpayer in the state.
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Ours doesnât give aid, even though it costs 30k in state. We werenât offered aid at CU either.
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Both. Weâve had some financial changes since the 2021 AGI which what the current FAFSA is based.
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This is kinda my point. I know itâs probably a losing battle, but state schools are, in many cases, about half of privates but want to give aid and merit like they are well less than half.
Agreed. We have a private coming in at less than our own state school.
If you had a loss of a job or reduction in income you can ask the school if they have an appeal process/special circumstances review and if they do they may provide additional aid based on the new information. But it would be based on a formula/re-calculation, not because another school has a percentage of COA award.
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