Financial Aid Compared to Other Schools??

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northeastern University
1

<p>Okay so as I've posted on here before, I was waitlisted at NEU and it's my top choice. Sounds like it was due to the huge number of people that applied undeclared, because my guidance counselor and I thought I would get in somewhat easily, comparing myself to the people they accepted from my school through early action...</p>

<p>...anyway, I called them, am writing a letter, sending my April progress report, etc. in hopes of getting in off the waitlist. An admissions guy told my guidance counselor that if I call back in late April, they can give me a good idea about if I'll get in off the waitlist, so I don't have to make a nonrefundable deposit on another school.</p>

<p>But <em>IF</em> I get in, I'll be in a bind most likely, because I won't know about financial aid and that is a BIG thing for me. </p>

<p>I was wondering if NEU gave more, less, or about the same as other schools you got accepeted to... my family is not in a good financial situation, as my mom has been disabled and out of work for many years and most schools have been REALLY generous so far... like so far I've gotten basically full tuition at most schools I've received fin. aid info from, through a combo of scholarships, grants, and loans (UMass Amherst, Boston University, Emerson College, New York University).</p>

<p>But I've seen a LOT of people on here saying they've only gotten like $14K at MOST, and that's making me super nervous!</p>

<p>I'm not asking anyone to tell me their family's annual income or anything, because I don't even know that about my family. I'm just wondering if most of the people who have been posting about financial aid have been from fairly affluent families??</p>

<p>Also.... do you think they'll give me less aid if I'm coming in off the waitlist?? I mean my scores and GPA are well above their averages, so it's not like I'm "below their standards"...</p>

<p>So sorry this was so long but I'm really looking for some insight because I will be SCREWED if I find out right before the deposit deadline that I'm accepted to NEU, put a deposit down, and THEN find out that I'll still owe like $30,000 a year there.</p>

2

<p>I don’t know about Northeastern, but I think that it is hard to get finaid when coming off the waitlist. They’ve probably already used up all their funds unless they have more people declining offers than they anticipated. My son was offered a $10K/yr scholarship plus some work study and loans for another $8.5K. That would be a lot of debt to take on (projecting similar amounts the next 4-5 years) and still leaves him over $30K short. We decided it was too much to take on. Son was put on waitlist at Holy Cross with clear statement there would be no aid for anyone on the list, so he will also pass on that. No harm in asking though what the likelihood of aid is and how much is typical for waitlisted students coming in.</p>

3

<p>Bostonian- NEU is my top choice as well. I was so bummed when i got waitlisted. My family doesn’t make alot of money either so my financial aid is HUGE for me. They said 4,600 people were waitlisted soo im not too confident about the results. I thnk with the economy though alot of epople wont be able to go there but at the same time they mihgt not have as much aid to give out… :-(</p>

4

<p>They waitlisted THAT MANY people?!?!?! Ahhhhhhhh!</p>

<p>I don’t know what to do or think anymore :frowning: I want to go there so badly but I don’t know if I can without being over $100,000 in debt when I get out… :frowning: This is so annoying. This is the ONLY school I didn’t get into and it’s looking like the ONLY school that won’t give me substantial financial aid if I’m accepted… Heck, even NYU offered me almost $30,000 in grants & scholarships with another $24,000 in loans to cover the whole cost. And I thought they were terrible with financial aid.</p>

5

<p>Dear Bostonian34: GO TO NYU! You will get an amazing education, in one of the greatest cities in the world. A very close friend of mine’s son just graduated from NYU and he absolutely loved it. And they are offering you $30K plus? If ANYONE offered my daugther $30K or more, I wouldn’t even be on these boards! Please think about what a difference that $100K in debt will make in your life. Believe me, you don’t know how hard it is to pay off debt when you’re an adult and have all kinds of demands on you. GO TO NYU and GOOD LUCK!</p>

6

<p>Haha well I’m definitely considering & thinking about NYU and I know it’s a great school, but I’m not sure I’m ready for a huuuuuuge city and huuuuuuuge school. I know Boston and NEU are big, but they are like half the size of NYC and I’m familiar with the city. Plus I love the co-op part of NEU so much…</p>

7

<p>I just got my aid from NEU… $23200 total in grants and scholarships… and NO need-based aid… Northeastern, why? Northeastern was my top choice before this… now I have no idea what to do… all my other schools including BU offered me more aid…</p>

8

<p>23k is pretty high actually. Pretty sure that’s a half-scholarship.</p>

9

<p>Yeah 23k sounds pretty good!!! </p>

<p>BU gave me a TON of aid too. Too bad they don’t have majors I want. AHHH I’m seriously just so mad. NEU was the one school I really wanted to go to and it was one of only 2 I didn’t get into (also waitlisted at Conn College)…</p>

10

<p>We are still waiting for our financial aid package from NEU. We have 20 days to make a housing deposit, somewhere. THis is unbelievable.</p>

11

<p>I wouldn’t be complaining about 23k at all, would leave you with only about 100,000 total to make up – not great, but certainly a lot better than most other people’s situations, including mine</p>

12

<p>All together I got $26100 from Northeastern for financial aid, but about $10,000 of it is loans and work study, and $16400 is in grants. I don’t know if that is considered a lot, but I received a substantial amount more from other schools and I will not be able to afford it at NEU if I can’t receive more aid. Does anyone know if they give out more? or can be flexible? I’m at the point where I’m willing to beg because NEU is my #1 school, if only I could afford it…</p>

13

<p>“good” to see that im not the only 1 with a stingy financial aid award… kids who go to NEU must be rich because i dont know how lower middle class families like mine could afford to go there, my parents had a EFC around 2000 but theres still 18000 left in unmet need…</p>

14

<p>nyc91/ did u get any university grant??</p>

15

<p>my EFC was a little under $4,000 but I have to come up with the other unmet $20,000, it’s definitely going to be hard, I hope there is some way to get more aid.</p>

16

<p>Janice i got a 16000 deans scholarship, and are university grants the same as federal grants? im guessing their not so no i didnt get any university grants… federal pell/SEOG i got 6300</p>

<p>rest was loans and work study</p>

17

<p>Well, y’all got more than I did last year. I got a 14k grant and 10k federal loans. No work study.</p>

<p>Northeastern students are not rich. My parents sold my sister’s car to pay for my tuition. Sure there are some people who talk about how they have summer houses in three different states, but so what? There will be those people at any college.</p>

18

<p>I received $25,000 in grants and work study. $7,500 in loans. It makes for roughly $32,500 total.</p>

<p>At BC, I received $45,000 ($5,000 in loans). At BU, I received $51,000 (No loans).</p>

<p>Due to this, Northeastern has ceased to be a choice. It’s between BC and BU now.</p>

19

<p>Yeah both BC and BU gave me SUCH great packages. Which is frustrating because they’re both great schools, but I want to go to NORTHEASTERN haha. BC and BU don’t have the music industry stuff I’m interested in.</p>

<p>So my guidance counselor and I called NEU today to see how the waitlist thing was progressing and they had basically no info, they haven’t gotten enough stuff back from accepted students yet to know how many people they’ll take off the waitlist.</p>

<p>But he DID say that me being an undeclared major will help me during the process, versus how it was the reason I DIDN’T get in initially. So weird.</p>

20

<p>Personally, I really wanted to go to Northeastern myself, because of its well-regarded business program and co-op. I was really fixated on going there, but of course, all of that enthusiasm has drained away due to a poor financial aid package.</p>

<p>All in all, it really boils down to money. Had those loans been replaced by grants, even that would have been a little more enticing. But, heck, I got into better universities that have handed out way better packages, so by and large, NEU is dead in my books.</p>

<p>One of my childhood dreams smashed with a hammer. I’m not too sad about it either. Oh well, it’s a recession, so it’s best to be pragmatic.</p>

<p>I will visit BC this Sunday. On Tuesday, I will make a final decision between BU and BC and pay the enrollment fee.</p>

<p>Pity really… I was actually interested in this school, and all they needed to do was to give a slightly better financial aid package to seal the deal.</p>