<p>@Apple56, I realized the calculator adds back losses. But yeah, it does not add deductions. On my parents W2s, box 12 is filled with various codes, there isn’t a set amount in it…</p>
<p>@Unibames, isn’t that a bit ironic since Cornell helped you become the “multi million dollar fund manager”?</p>
<p>Students in Germany are tracked - only a certain number of students attend college based on ability - imagine how that would go over in this country. In this country, every student can attend community college at a very reasonable cost where many doors can open up, including attending Cornell.</p>
<p>Financial aid at grant schools is based on income largely. If you aren’t receiving much aid, then the assumption is that you can afford to pay for it based on your income/assets. No one is forcing you to go to Cornell and if you don’t think the investment is worth it, then don’t attend Cornell.</p>
<p>Too often parents do not plan for college - they don’t save, or they don’t want to spend their money on education. There ARE options for these students - merit schools or state schools. </p>
<p>We are a middle of the road family - and the financial aid “could be better” but our D is grateful to be at Cornell and we are working very hard to help her through financially and make up the difference.</p>
<p>Been SO happy with the help finaid dept offers my son. Our familiy had extenuating circumstances, and you have to be sure to explain all. Don’t feel like you are begging, just be truthful. They are very accommodating.</p>
<p>So I got my financial aid award today. While it isn’t bad, it isn’t good either.</p>
<p>The EFC is around 5k more then when I used the online calculator -_-, so I am pretty disappointed. </p>
<p>Do you think it would be worth appealing?</p>
<p>I understand the frustration here but for students for the next class, I’d just like to say Cornell’s FA isn’t that bad. My EFC is less than 5K per year and kind of affordable for my family. Don’t let this thread factor into your choice of colleges to apply to. Choose the college you want to ATTEND once you’re admitted and have your OWN FinAid Package.</p>
<p>This is why college is so expensive. Get the federal government out of the financial aide business!!! Because they,re involved, people in the lowest economic pool get aid, no matter how much it is. People at the highest level of income don’t care what it costs and just pay. Colleges can continue to escalate their tuitions when they get guaranteed money from both these groups. Unfortunately, schools end up with bar all classes and no one in the middle. It’s all about supply and demand. Get the government out of this! Schools will then have to COMPETE for students and prices will fall. With so many people expecting handouts and “financial aid packages”, people who are responsible with jobs and homes get nothing.</p>
<p>I am so glad that when my son began searching for colleges to apply to that this thread was not seen by our family. If so, he would not have applied to Cornell. We are a middle class family and our FA package four years ago made Cornell quite affordable. Especially since his outside scholarships wiped out student loans, work study, and student contribution.</p>
<p>To follow up on firefliesdance’s post - before you apply, have a discussion as a family to figure out what you could afford. Parents need to be honest with their kids about what they are willing to pay, not just what they could afford. There shouldn’t be that big of surprise after acceptance. There is more than ONE perfect school.</p>
<p>I agree with Oldfort. The financial discussion needs to happen well before acceptance to a dream school, especially an Ivy League school. Questions like - what are you expected to pay based on income/assets? What can you pay based on income/assets? What will you pay? Is it worth it to you to pay what you are? </p>
<p>Swimmer726 - an education becomes attainable to every citizen in this country through aid, not just the ones who do have money to pay for it. As far as those in the middle - too often they are the ones who don’t want to contribute to their children’s education, even though with a little sacrifice they could afford to do so, and then when college rolls around they complain about the cost. Financing college should not be an afterthought.</p>
<p>An old colleague of mine once advised me “never let your kids visit a college that you know you can’t afford because invariably that is the one they will want to attend”</p>
<p>A college tuition should not be 60k a year. This is just ridiculous. More than half of the recent college grads don’t even get entry level jobs. I know dozens of my colleagues from Cornell who ended up at their parents’ basement, 3 years out of college. </p>
<p>Whatever the underlying reasons may be for this problem, things just aren’t right.</p>