<p>I appealed my financial aid award. I requested more aid being that I will not be getting assistance from my family...I also do not have a cosigner so I will not be able to take out a loan. I wil have to pay my tuition out of pocket which is a huge reason for the appeal also because I need workstudy. I will not name anyone but I spoke to a woman at the school who I believe handles appeals and is at the top of the financial department. I do not believe she makes the actual decisions however, she told me that due to my situation of no cosigner and no loan she requested the commitee give me a "generous amount". However, she also told me the school doesn't give full rides...so I'm confused as to what she may consider a generous amount. In my situation the only way id be able to go is if I was given something pretty dam close to a full ride, and she knows this, but she keeps telling me to wait? If they don't offer full rides, but shes knows I need pretty much a full ride what am I waiting for???????? </p>
<p>School is like 2 weeks away and I don't even know if I'm going yet!! I have not bought anything or packed at all because I'm waiting for the schools decision. </p>
<p>Has anyone ever been given a full ride to fordham or atleast pretty close to a full ride? Better yet has anyone ever been in a situaion where u don't have a cosigner and don't have any credit to take the loan out on ur own? What did u do?</p>
<p>I was given almost a full ride. All I had to do was take out the stafford loans they offered me. They gave me like $20,000 in an aid grant and then with pell and scholarship everything was paid for but I commuted. If you can get an apt near the city or live at home if you live close enough then you need to consider it.</p>
<p>I was given what is pretty close to a full ride in a complete scholarship. I was having to withdraw since I was having to take out about 13k in a private loan on top of about 6k in government loans and my dad paying 8k on Fordham’s 10 Month payment plan. I withdrew and set myself up at my backup university. The day after I got everything settled at my back up, I got a phone call from Fordham’s office of Financial Aid. They told me that I am being offered a full ride (and yes, they did say full ride). In their terms they mean full tuition and room (they don’t pay for your meal plan). It was an offer of 48k a year for all four years based on my academics, geographic location, leadership roles/working after school, and my financial need. </p>
<p>So its not impossible to get so much out of them. I appealed my first financial aid package and they only gave me 4k more, but once i got this generous offer, I was set to go and its the only reason that I am able to go to Fordham. Just keep your hopes up and keep calling. You need to tell them that you are in a serious bind for time. I’m sure that they’ll take that into consideration and try to get you an answer as soon as possible.</p>
<p>In the mean time, I feel for your situation. I know for a fact that Fordham offers full merit scholarships, but that is probably too late for you. I honestly cannot imagine how they can deny you full aid when it is impossible for you to take out a loan. Just make sure everyone in financial aid knows the full extent of your situation–they will have the heart to give you a full ride, but that may mean work-study jobs and federal loans. And keep calling them everyday. It’s not fair for them to make you wait this long before you know whether or not you can afford college.</p>
<p>I call pretty often and I kindly and politely remind this woman that school is just 2 weeks away and everytime I call she seems annoyed. She says I do not have to call and that she will call me when the decision is made. I do not remember her official school title but she seems to be on top of everything. The fact that school is so close and I still do not have anything prepared doesn’t seem to phase her…she just keeps telling me to wait. She says appeals can take up to 2 months and I might not get a decision until september W_TF??? So I’m just supposed to attend the school blindly hoping they give me a favorable decision? I sent in all my financial aid stuff a long time ago… I did the fafsa in march and css I did a little late but regardless…they didn’t even give me my award till the end of july! I appealed it right away and still waiting…</p>
<p>Full rides on scholarships at Fordham generally require an SAT well above 1400. At Fordham, sadly, too much emphasis is placed on the SAT score for scholarships (and sometimes grant money too.) There are people on scholarships at Fordham with high SAT scores and rather mediocre grades. There are many factors that go into aid/scholarship offers and for the life of me I have never been able to see anything remotely objective about it. Its all rather subjective if you ask me and thus results are variable and sometimes appear to be arbitrary. I know kids at Fordham carrying a LOT of debt, and they have done well at Fordham. It doesnt make much sense to me.</p>
<p>Fordham is not known for being generous…just basically adequate. Its better than NYU from what I can glean from comments, however.</p>
<p>citygirl I am in almost word-for-word the EXACT same position as you. It is ridiculous that we are waiting this long to find out a decision that will make or break our ability to attend Fordham. I am a transfer student who will be flying in from Texas. Tonight I finally caved in and bought my plane ticket blindly because I don’t want to wait until ticket prices get any higher. My parents will also be driving from the midwest to attend orientation. I’m an extremely dedicated 4.0 student and I come from a very poor family. I really hope something works out for both of us.</p>
<p>Thanks, I totally feel ur pain as well. To have to purchase a plane ticket and not even be sure if ur gunna put it to use must really suck. Have u bought school supplies yet? I haven’t…there are a lot of things I need to buy for the apartment and for school in general and I can’t risk purchasing those items and have them go to waste. I’m not sure if I should just go buy them anyway because I don’t want to be buying stuff the day before I move in rushing and all because the school thought it would be nice they wait a few days before my suposed move in day to let me know of my decision. I’m just really frantic and flustered right now. </p>
<p>Do you have a co signer for a student loan?</p>
<p>I actually received my final decision yesterday(2 days before intended move in day), and my appeal was denied…twice. When it was denied the first time I sent it back in again for reconsideration, and then was denied again which really sucks
I wouldnt care about the price so much if i could take out a loan but with no cosigner and the inability to take out a loan, I would have to pay the WHOLE BALANCE in TOTAL OUT OF POCKET by this upcoming May…so sadly I withdrew. My financial counselor at the school simply said the school had run out of funds because its so late in the year alreayd. Im kind of angry because I had sent in all my FA stuff a long time ago…and I only got my first decision after the 4th of July. Once I got it I appealed immediately and didnt get my official decision until yesterday So for the school to say that its late in the year and that they ran out of funds such BS!! </p>
<p>Well anyways, I plan to build my credit over the next year so I wont need a co-signer next time. Hopefully the school will accept me again for Fall 2011. I have already started my new application and will be submitting it this September!!</p>
<p>citygirl1018, I am SO sorry to hear that Fordham LC is not going to work out for you this year. It is simply not affordable for a lot of people. It is also NOT worth going into massive debt for undergraduate education at Fordham or any other school. I urge you to take a closer look at the SUNY schools (perhaps even for Spring 2011 admission) rather than try to finance a private education on your own and I wish you the best of luck.</p>
<p>citygirl – so sorry for your disappointing outcome from Fordham. Wanted to chime in and say that I agree with Sandkmom. Perhaps consider a SUNY or CC for two years and a transfer later. NO UG school is worth the kind of debt you are considering. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>Aww thanks guys
Fordham said they simply ran out of funds.
It isn’t so much a finacial issue tho because I wouldn’t care much the price of the school is if I was able to take out a loan. Let’s face it hardly anyone would be able to go to school if they couldn’t take out loans. But when ur paying out of pocket its a WHOLE different ballgame.
I was told if I apply again for next Fall I would probably get in again. I plan on building my credit over this next year, hopefully 1 yr of good credit is enough to take out a student loan!
These companies know they are loaning to students…I’m sure they’re not expecting PERFECT credit…atleast I hope not!</p>
<p>citygirl1018, PLEASE, be very careful with this thinking. If you are able to get such a loan and finance a private undergraduate education you will be paying it off FOR YEARS. There is a reason that it is difficult for students to get enough credit to do this. An undergraduate degree from Fordham or any other school will not get you the salary that you will need to comfortably pay off this kind of debt…in this economy you will be lucky to find work at all…and you will be sacrificing your future for a few years in college. </p>
<p>I know I sound like a parent here and you probably don’t want to hear it. But after 14 years of paying off my H’s law school loans and the sacrifices we made to manage that monthly payment, I see this from a different point of view then you do. And that was at least for a graduate level education. </p>
<p>I know you wanted to transfer to Fordham so obviously you are somehow paying for another school. Perhaps you could finish your schooling there and if it’s a CC, transfer to a SUNY when you are done. Taking a year off to work may lead to better credit and even a greater appreciation for money vs. debt but you also might find yourself unable to go back to school for whatever reason. It happens all the time…life just gets in the way.</p>
<p>Whatever you decide, I wish you good luck!</p>
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<p>And btw, it is MUCH more difficult for student’s to get credit due to recent changes in the law.</p>
<p>Its not like I wouldn’t get FA I would still be getting FA. What I meant was I would have been able to go and it wouldn’t have been as much of an issue if I could take out a loan.
I plan on venturing into a career that will give me a high salary anyways.
But I understand what ur saying…
However I do need to go to a school where I can dorm because living at home is not an option.</p>
<p>Megan09, if you’re still keeping track of this thread, do you think part of the reason fordham gave you a full ride was because you already withdrew?</p>
