<p>My financial aid package got cut in half in comparison to last year....
and in the academic year of 2010, i will have an additional sibling in college (so a total of three college students in my family) AND my school's tuition went up by a couple thousand.
I am not an international student, and essentially, I'm panicking...</p>
<p>FED SEOF $2,500
Pell Grant $3,600
Stafford Loan: 4,500
Work study: $2,300
Total: $12,900 </p>
<p>Tuition: $58,000 </p>
<p>FAFSA EFC: 1621
(not a mistake, yes, 1621) </p>
<p>Anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do? </p>
<p>My school didn't give me anything, everything came from the federal government (which I dont really understand because my school is a school that claims that it meets all of need based aid...) </p>
<p>I am already appealing, but if worst comes to worst, is there anything else I can do? (other than transfer...haha)</p>
<p>Sophie, there is no institutional aid in your package. Did you complete all of the financial aid forms your school requires? It looks like you did the FAFSA and got all of the federally funded aid to which you are entitled. BUT does your school also require either the Profile or a school financial aid application form that you didn’t complete?</p>
<p>You need to contact the financial aid office at your school to find out either what is missing from your application or why your aid was reduced.</p>
<p>Yes, i did complete all the required documents for my school (collegeboard’s css profile and additional paperwork required by school as well as fafsa). </p>
<p>Also, the two other students in college are my siblings. </p>
<p>I don’t have a noncustodial parent. </p>
<p>I’ve checked online (financial aid website) and everything on my financial aid checklist has been completed. </p>
<p>I will try contacting the financial aid office to find out if it is a mistake. I’m already in the process of trying to appeal, but I’ve heard that chances are, nothing will change… unless I can provide additional information.</p>
<p>Also recommend you go back and read your paperwork from freshman and sophomore year. Make sure none of your institutional aid was only for two years. Make sure that if there was GPA requirements that needed to be met you fulfilled them. Best advice is to be totally knowledgeable about what you had freshman and sophomore year as well as reviewing your FAFSA from all three years looking for any changes or differences. I would also do what you are doing and that is to set an appointment time either face to face or via phone with a a financial aid officer. The more knowledgeable you are about the specifics of what was in place the prior two years the better you will be positioned to ask questions and respond to questions.</p>
<p>Thank you momofthreeboys,
I will definitely look back at my FAFSA from previous years. I actually used my fafsa from last year as a guideline for this year’s fafsa, so i dont think there are dramatic differences, but I will most definitely look into that. </p>
<p>Sadly, the school that I attend does not give scholarships (everything is based on need!)</p>
<p>I have a 3.8 cumulative GPA, so I sure hope that it wasn’t my grades… </p>
<p>I simply do not what is wrong with my fin aid package this year.</p>
<p>Are you sure your financial aid award is complete? It is conceivable that your school figured out the federal aid before the institutional aid, and hasn’t listed your institutional aid yet. </p>
<p>If your appeal falls through, you can take a leave of absence to figure out what you need to do next. You are in a better position to have a change of plans as a rising junior than a rising senior.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!
So I’ve contacted my financial office, and it was, in fact, a mistake! (One of my siblings in college wasn’t counted!)
Hopefully, I’ll be hearing some good news, and everything will work out.</p>
<p>According to my financial aid office, I’ve entered the university as a sophomore (bc AP credits). Therefore, I no longer qualify for some of the federal aids that the university thought that I had qualified for last year. I still can’t believe that this would disqualify me from aid. :(</p>
<p>They did give me additional loans. I know that I am not entitled to any aid, but family contribution still amounts to 45,000+. Would you guys suggest that I transfer? I have two additional siblings in college (so another 80,000), but my siblings received lots more aid in comparison. The cost of my tuition is essentially the cost of my other two siblings combined.</p>
<p>Did you lose the Academic Competitiveness Grant? If so, there may be a loophole for you. If you took ANY college classes while you were still in high school, and if the cumulative gpa for those classes was at least a 3.0, you can receive the 2nd year ACG (which is $1300 rather than $750). If you did not take any college courses before, or if the gpa for classes you took is less than 3.0, you are out of luck for the ACG.</p>
<p>*
My school didn’t give me anything, everything came from the federal government (which I dont really understand because my school is a school that claims that it meets all of need based aid…) </p>
<p>They did give me additional loans. I know that I am not entitled to any aid, but family contribution still amounts to 45,000+. Would you guys suggest that I transfer? I have two additional siblings in college (so another 80,000), but my siblings received lots more aid in comparison. The cost of my tuition is essentially the cost of my other two siblings combined. *</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Sophie…which school is this?</p>
<p>You say that it claims to meet all need, yet in your case it doesn’t even come close.</p>
<p>Are you really able to matriculate anyway? I’m not trying to be snarky, but from what I’ve read so far it seems like they snatched away aid that was not only desirable but necessary for you to continue at this school.</p>
<p>thumper1,
Yes, my school does meet full aid.
The June post was when I first contacted the aid office; however, they don’t process appeals until mid July. They’ve done all they can by giving me additional loans, but unfortunately, that might not be enough. </p>
<p>kelsmom,
I didn’t take any community college classes; however, I did take enough APs to make me a sophomore when I entered as a freshman. From what I understand, for FCG, you get $750 and then $1300 your sophomore year as long as you meet the requirements. I do meet all requirements (GPA, etc); however, because I entered as a sophomore (there was no way, I thought APs were ever going to hurt me! haha), I dont qualify?
Do you know anything about this?</p>
<p>mom2collegekids,
I’m sorry, but I will not share which school this is. I’ve really enjoyed my time there, and I would hate to damage its reputation in any way. By no means will I hold a grudge or dislike this school because of this, because to tell the truth, I know that I am not entitled to anything at all, and I’m already really fortunate to have received anything.
But I will say this, it’s not NYU and it’s consider one of the top 20 universities in the US. </p>
<p>Gardna,
You’re not being “snarky” in any way! You’re just stating the truth. Even though it will be hard to even pay for the first half of the school year, I think I will be doing all I can to pay for the first half (apply to all scholarships I can!!) and then I will definitely try to transfer during the second half of the school year.</p>
<p>*I’m sorry, but I will not share which school this is. I’ve really enjoyed my time there, and I would hate to damage its reputation in any way. By no means will I hold a grudge or dislike this school because of this, because to tell the truth, I know that I am not entitled to anything at all, and I’m already really fortunate to have received anything.
But I will say this, it’s not NYU and it’s consider one of the top 20 universities in the US.
*</p>
<p>Are you certain that this school says it meets need? If so, have you asked the school about that? You have need, yet they’re not giving you anything. Ask them about that.</p>
<p>Sophie, I hope this all works out for you. This thread as you are posting it makes NO SENSE.</p>
<p>In your OP, you mention that you qualify for a portion of the Pell Grant. This means that your EFC per FAFSA is on the low side. However, your posted award had NO institutional grants or aid in it. That makes NO SENSE for a school that meets full need. Schools that meet full need and cost in the $58K range per year use institutional awards to fill need.</p>
<p>Now…the only thing that might be the case…the OP’s family might be entitled to the federally funded aid per the FAFSA…this is federally funded aid that a student is entitled to receive per the FAFSA EFC. HOWEVER, at the same time, if the student’s family has significant assets (e.g. second home or other real estate, a business, large savings or the like), this student might NOT qualify for institutional need based aid at the college. </p>
<p>It’s hard for me to imagine a situation where a family would qualify for a portion of the Pell but not qualify for institutionally funded need based aid…but it could happen.</p>
<p>Something is very funny about this story…it just doesn’t line up…especially with multiple students in college at the same time. Sorry…the story just doesn’t add up.</p>
<p>This is really hard to understand, in the original post you say they cut your aid in half. That would mean they didn’t come close to meeting your need the first year. How did you pay?</p>
<p>If your EFC is 1600 and this school meets need, there should be a large grant from the institution.</p>
<p>You are not slamming the school by disclosing it. People can help if they have more info.</p>
<p>It’s fine if you don’t want to share, but that kind of means that there’s not much that people here – even people who might be familiar with (or even work at) the school can do to help you. </p>
<p>The issue here is the term “meets need”. Even with a low EFC, many schools “meet full need” by slamming you with a bunch of unaffordable and probably unacceptable loans (literally, I’ve seen aid packages that contained links to private student loan company websites and “suggested loan amounts” – that’s like seeing a homeless guy on the side of the street and tossing a slip of paper with instructions on how to get a bank loan into his cup. I’ve never understood how people can suggest huge loans are a form of “financial aid”, especially when the loans could be “offered” from virtually any school in the country).</p>
(One of my siblings in college wasn’t counted!)
</p>