I am currently an OOS student who got admitted to University of Michigan Ann-Arbor during Early Action. It’s been my number one choice for many years, but unfortunately it seems that the impending costs to attend may pose a significant barrier.
I just received my financial aid award and I was disappointed to say the least, as I wasn’t awarded any scholarships or grants that might alleviate the cost of admission. Of course, I understand that Michigan is a large university and cannot possibly award significant financial aid to everyone admitted there, but nevertheless it brought about some distress. Especially since Michigan’s OOS tuition is insane (47K+), I cannot possibly attend there without amassing significant debt.
Therefore, I want to take all the steps I can to at least make it easier to attend Michigan, but I’m a bit unsure as to where to start. If anyone could provide any insight, I would appreciate all the help I can get!
When you ran the U Michigan NPC before applying, did it show you something much different than what the financial aid offer is saying?
I have to be honest…your chance of getting more money at Michigan as an OOS student is negligible. The school clearly says they don’t meet full need for OOS students. Further, they clearly state what the criteria are for their need based grants in terms of income. Yours must be too high.
You knew the cost of attendance at Michigan when you applied.
The only successful “negotiation” would be based on some change in financial circumstances since your Profile and FAFSA were submitted. Did your parent lose their job? Have there been high, unreimbursed medical expenses? Did your house burn down without insurance?
You certainly can ask them to reconsider your awarded aid…but if your only reason is “my parents won’t pay the family contribution you calculated” it’s not likely to get you far.
For the record…your ability to take huge loans without a cosigner is also limited. Will your parents co-sign these HUGE loans.
@billcsho perhaps you could elaborate.
I hope you have affordable colleges on your acceptance list as well.
@BelknapPoint I don’t remember the exact specifics of the NPC, but the net cost for attendance was definitely smaller than the current financial aid award indicates
You wrote this @uofmichigan . What has changed?
Are your parents self employed or do they own a business?
You do understand…the NPC is an estimated…the only REAL financial aid award is the one you receive which uses the info you include on the financial aid forms…in this case…the CSS Profile.
@thumper1 Fortunately, I do have colleges that are affordable options and I would certainly not choose to attend the University of Michigan over those schools simply because it was my top choice. However, if there are any means by which I can make it more feasible to attend my top choice, then I will certainly take it upon myself to ensure that I take advantage of those opportunities.
In terms of other circumstances, there are a couple things that may warrant reconsideration (which I’ll omit for privacy reasons) from the perspective of the university, although whether they warrant significant consideration is entirely up to them.
Admittedly, it is likely that I must come to terms with reality, and I am and was aware of the steep cost of attending Michigan compared to other colleges on my list. It is undoubtedly unfortunate though that I had been a resident of Michigan for the majority of life with aspirations to attend that university, only to have moved a few years later and have a financial barrier imposed.
Ah yes…moving OOS certainly made you an OOS student.
Good that you have affordable options.
The other thing…do you need $2000 more…or $20,000 more? Any reconsideration might net you a smaller amount…but not usually a huge amount.
Is the $5500 student Direct Loan already included in your financial aid package?
If you have a sound reason for financial aid reconsideration, such as a change in family income, severe illness of a family member, etc, you should contact the financial aid office. They will consider your need and provide aids if necessary, however, they do not negotiate financial aid. NPC is an estimate and may be off in certain situation. If you think there is an error in the FA calculation in your package (for instance, you have no special family circumstance but the FA deviate a lot from the NPC), you should contact the financial aid office. Also, you should check your FAFSA and CSS profile submission for error before doing that. Other than that, I don’t think it would make much difference, if at all. They do have generous financial aid to lower income OOS students and meet their need if they have family income below $90k with less than $50k asset. If you are above that limit significantly, you should not expect much financial aid. Merit scholarships there require near perfect scores and GPA. If you have not received any notice by now, your chance for any merit aid is very slim.
Note that you are not the OOS students seeing that $47k+ tuition. What is the point to set a tuition rate and then give discount to everyone? How much is the difference between the NPC and your estimated FA received? Your interest to attend is not likely their consideration for offering more financial aid.