<p>Howdy all,</p>
<p>I was accepted EA to Chicago, and was thrilled, as UC has long been my top choice. However, I was deemed ineligible to receive need-based financial aid, which makes my attending Chicago totally impossible. I am (upper?) middle-class, but my income situation is rather complicated, and there is no way I can afford $60,000 a year. I understand there are a few merit scholarships, but I'm not going to bank on receiving one. So, where do I go from here? My mom is going to contact the financial aid office, but she also suggested I contact my admissions rep to reiterate my serious interest in the school. Is this a good idea? She seems convinced that the folks at admissions hold sway over the financial aid department.</p>
<p>Thanks,</p>
<p>Jake</p>
<p>jake,</p>
<p>the admissions have done their job, they granted you EA, they are not holding you down on the FA. You should start dealing with the FA office now. If you are not qualified for merit and the need based scholarship/aid, the best you can do is the Stafford loan of about $5500, which will not do too much to the gap. Either your parents have to come up the $250K for four years, co-sign for parents plus loan or just don’t go.</p>
<p>jake1313, I am sitting here in almost the same exact scenario as you. My parents’ combined income is like 150k, and the UChicago estimate was only 5800 a year, and then a few other loans. The most my parents could contribute is like 20k a year, and that leaves almost 120k in debt for me over 4 years if I attended.</p>
<p>It sucks so much because UChicago is my dream school too, and I was so excited to gain admission, and then my heart sank when I saw how much they expected my family to contribute.</p>
<p>I have signed up for one of the student overnight things in April, as it said online on UChicago’s website that families can meet with a financial aid counselor then. I hope that both of us can work it out somehow.</p>