Financial Aid Notification

<p>I was just wondering if anyone knew when the financial aid letters would be sent? I've read in a few different places that it would be April 15th, and then on others that it would be April 1st. Is there a chance it would come out sooner? Any insight is appreciated. Thanks!</p>

<p>As best I can recall. they usually went out between March 15 and March 31. There was one year they fell behind for some reason and some went out as late as the second week of April, but I am pretty sure that was an exception.</p>

<p>Since I can no longer see anything in Gibson, this might not be valid any more, but there should be a financial aid tab on your Gibson page. That might show the information sooner than what you get in the mail. Maybe someone with current access can comment.</p>

<p>We got ours March 20 last year.</p>

<p>My son got a magnetic calendar from Tulane with important dates listed on it and it has April 15th for Financial Aid notification.</p>

<p>OK, I guess they are giving themselves that much wiggle room. As cyclonehome says, they do usually come earlier than that, usually in March. I can see that people getting accepted at the last minute might not get a package until April. Maybe that experience of a couple of years ago I mentioned caused them to be very conservative in their deadlines. April 15 doesn’t seem like it leaves a lot of time to make a decision. One parent could be traveling extensively, or any number of other things could make that a difficult time frame to work in. Maybe not, maybe I am overthinking it. I just seem to recall that the only year that people talked about this much (other than if they thought their packages were good or not so good) was that year they were running as late as the second week of April.</p>

<p>Hopefully this will be a moot point and almost everyone will get them by the end of March.</p>

<p>I thought that was rather late. Maybe that’s the LATEST any notifications will go out?</p>

<p>I am sure that would have to be the very latest. I really think that is just to cover any last second admission offers and the occasional mistake. I really feel confident that vast majority go out between now and the end of March.</p>

<p>For the first time, when I clicked on the financial aid section in Gibson, the year 2014-2015 is available. There was nothing there under that year for my daughter, which may mean we didn’t get anything but also may mean they are still in process of setting this up, but in either event they appear to be making progress. Perhaps someone who got merit aid will see something there now.</p>

<p>Yes @myjanda, just because it is blank doesn’t mean they have made a decision on your case yet. It would indeed be interesting to know if the merit awards are posted on anyone’s page yet.</p>

<p>I just called the financial aid office. Awards will be announced in late March.</p>

<p>@Stilltay - Great to have confirmation, thanks.</p>

<p>Our family attended an accepted students reception last evening in Bethesda, Maryland. Our admissions counselor said we should start receiving FA info by March 15.</p>

<p>My daughter got hers today. She received an email saying it was up on Gibson. Good luck everyone. :)</p>

<p>Someone I have been corresponding with privately also got theirs today. So clearly they are starting to post.</p>

<p>I’m so glad you posted that you got your notification. My ding dong son never checked in on his Gibson and I had no idea that Financial Aid requested additional information! </p>

<p>My son got his financial aid info today. It was a pleasant surprise, though that may be the understatement of the year. Tulane awarded him a generous scholarship (he was an early admit, but that initial offer came with zero $$). On top of that, they threw in some grant money, a work study option and some loans. </p>

<p>For financial reasons, we had all but given up on Tulane as an option. Now that door has been flung wide open. </p>

<p>How interesting. Are you saying they came back with a merit scholarship AND a grant portion in his need based aid? If so, that is not very common to add merit at this stage without you even asking and certainly wonderful news for you. </p>

<p>Clarification now that I have seen Gibson (I was going on what my son told me last night.) The lion’s share of the money came in something called the Tulane Scholarship. This award is a financial based grant, though there is a merit component to it. The description says: Need determines whether Tulane Scholarship assistance can be given. Merit determines the proportion of scholarship in our offer of aid. My concern about this money is that it is not guaranteed for 4 years. </p>

<p>The other money offered other than work study, is NOT a grant as my son seemed to think. He clearly needs to understand that the word “loan” means that you have to pay that money back… at interest. (Not sure why the word “loan” was unclear but this would be why so many young people get into financial trouble!)</p>

<p>Re merit money at this point… My son did ask. We told him that he had nothing to lose. He sent Tulane his 1st semester grades and a list of things that he had done since applying last fall. I don’t know if it made a difference or if they are simply going by our CSS and FAFSA. </p>

<p>All that said, I just heard from S1 last night that he will be going back to school in the fall so we will definitely have 3 in college next year. Gulp. I’m going to have to go back to make sure that the FAFSAs and CSS reflect that. </p>

<p>Thanks for sharing that information. I’m a nervous wreck waiting for our info to come in. Still waiting on the Tuition Exchange Scholarship too. I have no idea how that is awarded. On our end it’s based on Employee seniority but I’m willing to bet that on the receiving schools end there is some kind of merit involved. </p>

<p>@cbrand - Thanks for clearing that up, that makes more sense to me. But for sure the amount of grant vs. loan in the need based package is reflective of the merit of the student. It has been my observation that if he does attend Tulane and does quite well, the grant portion of the aid often increases and the loans go down. And while you are right that for these kinds of packages nothing is guaranteed for the 4 years, I have rarely seen a huge swing in the awards, excepting of course large changes in financial circumstances.</p>

<p>Since you are going to have one more in college than what you originally told them, let them know that ASAP. From what people tell me, this is a very significant factor in the aid calculation. It could change your package dramatically. Again, this is just what I hear. Since I was fortunate enough not to ever have to apply for need based FA, I have no personal experience with the system. Just a lot of input from others.</p>