<p>Does anyone know if Fordham gives out any financial aid (other than merit money?) I read that some people got their merit awards in their acceptance packet. My daughter did not, so I am assuming she is not getting "scholarship" money. Is there any hope for financial aid?</p>
<p>What is your EFC?</p>
<p>What are your D’s stats?</p>
<p>EFC 7843</p>
<p>stats - 3.44 unweighted</p>
<p>1810 SAT</p>
<p>Fordham U</p>
<p>Test Scores Middle 50% of First-Year Students… Percent Who Submitted Scores
SAT Critical Reading: 560 - 660 90%
SAT Math: 570 - 660 90%
SAT Writing: 570 - 670 90%
ACT Composite: 25 - 29 29% </p>
<p>As you can see from the above, your D’s scores put her in the middle of “mid 50’s” - that isn’t usually the area where scholarships are awarded. Scholarships are usually awarded to those who are within the top 25% or less of accepted students.</p>
<p>As to financial aid…</p>
<p>Fordham has a Cost of Attendance of $37,000 per year.</p>
<p>Number who were judged to have need: 1,080
Number who were offered aid: 1,079
Number who had full need met: 235 (that would include students who had little need)</p>
<p>It doesn’t look like your D will get a FA package that won’t either have big loans in it or a big gap. </p>
<p>I hope this wasn’t your D’s first choice. Where else has she applied.</p>
<p>My son, 4 years ago, was in the mid 1200’s and we got 7,000 need-based aid, not nearly enough. They also gave him a small named scholarship for 7,000 though and the rest was work study of stafford loans. Unfortunately for us, that barely covered R & B but he knew that it was a long shot going in. The free app helped him just “see what happens”.
I also hope you have other colleges, you never know, but they aren’t known for great aid unless you have higher stats. They have scholarships for students that are admitted, one parent commented to me, her son got more later than before, but you can’t count on that.</p>
<p>oops…I don’t know why I put Fordham’s tuition rate as COA in the above post. I know that Fordham’s COA is $55k</p>
<p>Fordham (like many privates) just doesn’t have the endowment needed to meet the needs of students with lowish EFCs. A student with an EFC of $25k or less has a need of $30k+ … That’s a huge amount for most privates to cover. </p>
<p>If such a student has high stats (and the school wants the student to improve its profile), then it will award a combo of scholarships, grants, etc. </p>
<p>The harsh truth is that colleges carefully and strategically give their limited funds away in way that benefits them - to get the highest stats students. That can often mean that those with decent, but not top quartile, stats get inadequate aid.</p>
<p>I read all those statistics on collegeboard and Naviance, but was hoping that they were getting more generous! I guess they want to keep all those endowments to themselves! It is her top pick, so we will keep praying! LOL</p>
<p>One of the things I had to drum into my girls is that I was never worried about them being admitted anywhere, just affording it. There are many colleges, good colleges, that would admit them, but money, well that’s something else. None of my children could score high on SAT tests, but did well in school, my son got average SAT’s, but stayed on the deans list in college and has a decent GPA, high in his major.
As Mom2collegekids said, colleges know that these students can shine, but their stats don’t help them and unfortunately, that is what many look at. If you only have a limited amount of money, you have to give it out sparingly.
For instance, Drew didn’t meet full need, but at the time, before our income raised a bit, it exceeded in aid, all the 100% need colleges, because they wanted my son. He wanted them, so it worked out okay…I only hope my daughters can find a financial fit in the Spring, much harder than a general “fit”.</p>
<p>*I guess they want to keep all those endowments to themselves! *</p>
<p>Schools have to manage their endowments (in most case their rather small endowments) and they can only spend a part of the growth from their endowments (otherwise, they’d end up having no endowment). They aren’t keeping them to themselves. They want to be able to be generous, they just have to manage them. </p>
<p>It’s like a family’s own investments. You try not to spend any principal. You might spend some of your annual profits, but you have to reinvest some/most of your profits to grow your portfolio. </p>
<p>If Fordham is her top pick, then you really need to have her start developing other top picks. Otherwise, she will have a major disappointment in the spring. </p>
<p>My son applied to Fordham because they offered him free tuition. They sent us a nice viewbook that had a whole section on various financial situations. It was clear that they don’t meet need and that their packages include big (unaffordable) loans. The expectation for large Parent Plus loans was awful. </p>
<p>If you have no intention of taking out a big Parent Plus loan each year that your D is in school, then you need to be pro-active and help develop a new “love” for your D. :)</p>
<p>I agree with mom2collegekids that your daughter needs to find a true safety school.</p>
<p>A true safety is a school where she is likely to be admitted. If admitted, she is happy to attend and the school is a financially feasible option for your family. </p>
<p>Also remember that the vast majority of the ~4000 colleges in the country **do not **meet 100% of your demonstrated need. Those that do are amongst some of the most competitive when it comes to gaining admission.</p>
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<p>Also remember that you are first in line when it comes to paying for your child’s education. At the end of the day they are going where their grades and money will take them.</p>
<p>*A true safety is a school where she is likely to be admitted. If admitted, she is happy to attend and the school is a financially feasible option for your family. *</p>
<p>Yes, and a true financial safety is a school that your D would love to attend. If your D’s financial safety school is a school that she doesn’t like, she will be very unhappy if that ends up being her affordable choice.</p>
<p>She has already applied and been accepted to her safety schools. Her 2nd choice school is giving her a huge chunk of money, and along with her 529 plan - she would not have a dime of debt, but she is willing to take on debt to attend Fordham. We will see how it will work out come spring!</p>