<p>I was admitted ID and I just got my financial aid package today, and I must say that I was a little shocked. The letter plainly stated that I flat out did not qualify for need based aid. The thing is, my family is not rich in any sense of the word. We have a combined income of about 70,000 and our EFC was something like $6,000 for next year because I will be the second kid in college. How is it possible, then, that I would be expected to pay $35,000 a year, a full half of my parents' income, with no grants, loans, or even campus jobs? This to me is mind boggling-how does the school get away with this kind of stinginess and get any students that can afford to attend their school? I don't think I was a bottom-tier, borderline applicant either. I was a NMF and my GPA and scores were good. Don't get me wrong, Rice is a great school, but this seems ridiculous. Luckily, I've already gotten a much more generous package at a school on roughly the same level as Rice, but I was definitely still going to keep it in consideration. Now it seems like they've made that decision for me. I guess the main point of this post is to rant, but I would seriously like to know if any other admitted students have got a financial aid package and whether they will be able to afford it. I don't see what would make my case special, but I also know that they must give aid to a lot of people or they would have empty dorm rooms.</p>
<p>Kristin - there must have been a mistake made. Rice meets 100% of financial need. If you filled out the FAFSA forms and it spit out an EFC, that's the number that Rice uses - unless your fmaily has some major assets accounted for on the PROFILE. You need to email or call the financial aid office on Monday, and ask them to check it out. (Take a deep breath before you do - relax, chill...) Rice gives good financial aid, and limits student loans... so somewhere, an important bit of information got lost! (FWIW, we have higher income than that, family of 4, with only one kid in college, and we get needbased financial aid from Rice.) Please call them Monday! :)</p>
<p>Kristin, I agree with Anxiousmom. Call the school. We do not qualify for any need based aid either. I had a nice conversation with a financial counselor at Rice yesterday. She explained that Rice does meet 100% of financial need and actually gives away quite a bit of $$ on financial need. Perhaps they do not have all your tax and financial info yet. Call them.</p>
<p>i was pleasantly surprised by my finaid package...my efc was about $8500...got a huge tuition grant (about $30K) and very small loan and work study amount....paying for my brother's college (hes a soph at a state university) will be considerably more expensive. kristin there must have been a mistake on yr fin aid package. maybe you didnt send in all yr tax info or you sent it in too late?? im really surprised about yr post. really do call them and find out what the heck is going on.</p>
<p>My efc turned to be $12,000 with a $27,000 grant with small loans and work programs. Our household income is probably a little less than $90,000 and my sister's a junior in college. I was very, very pleased with their aid. So yeah, there's gotta be something wrong.</p>
<p>maybe u forgot to filoe summat? or sumthing didnt reach...</p>
<p>Rice is evidently generous as their overall fees is like $10k less than the rest around ... Go Rice :D</p>
<p>Well, we called the financial aid office yesterday. All my forms were in and everything, but the reason is because of our assets. My dad's a farmer so we own a decent amount of land. I understand that we look pretty well off on paper, but the only way to pay for a Rice education would be to sell land, which is how we make any income, so it's kind of a lose-lose situation. The woman we spoke with was really nice and said that we could appeal it, but basically implied not to expect too much. I think we're just going to let it go, I have some other, more affordable options. Anyways, thanks for listening to my rant and offering your advice!</p>
<p>^Oh now this makes me mad. (I'm a rural girl from the Valley.) How can farm land be considered an asset that could be liquidated for school expenses? To liquidate the land eliminates the ability of the farmer to make a living! It's not as if it's a second home at the beach for pete's sake! I'm sorry, but it just seems like farmers are always getting the shaft.</p>
<p>to imply that rice is a parsimounious institution is definitly a mistake. they have been ranked at the top for their very gernerous financial aid. the possession of assets is counted as a family's income. that is just the way the system works. dont take it personally and automatically imply Rice is not a generous institution. as you have seen, many people have gotten a 28k to 30k grant. I am myself one of them. my dad is a single parent that cannot work that much because of his back problem. I was given a 33k grant. with a 3000 fc. they really do meet a 100 percent. im sorry about you.</p>
<p>Kristin, Your situation sounds similar to a kid two years ago here on CC. Do a search for posts from EvilRobot. He also had a ridiculous high EFC because of land his parents owned. He got into his dream school, Yale only to find they couldn't afford it. They appealed, got no where. Ultimately, he went to Vanderbilt on a full ride and is extremely happy. Great story.</p>
<p>kristin my dad's a farmer too and thats how our family derives all our income but i still got a good package...i really dont know whats going on here...im really sorry</p>
<p>Are all ID'ers supposed to get their financial results back yet? I'm in VA and I still haven't gotten mine and am getting a little anxious.</p>
<p>it all depends when they process stuff...it varies when they send it out so dont worry. lots of people still havent gotten their packages.</p>
<p>Yeah, OK, I didn't mean to offend anyone, it was just a rant. I'm sure that plenty of people get really generous offers, it's just that I didn't and I was kinda upset about it. Anyhow, sorry if I ****ed anyone off, this is just my experience and I'm sure that for every me there's ten people who get really good offers.</p>
<p>Kristen - </p>
<p>No worries...most posters are very sympathetic to your situation. It really doesn't seem fair to include the fmv of farmland in the computation for financial aid. And it doesn't take anything away from those who did receive generous offers to recognize the inequity of your situation. No one should have taken any offense to the fact that you have been disappointed.</p>
<p>I hope you can work something out with Rice and that you will be able to attend. It's a great school.</p>
<p>
[quote]
there must have been a mistake made. Rice meets 100% of financial need.
[/quote]
Not always, by any means. They say they do, but there can be a huge gap between saying so and reality.</p>
<p>Leonard. Not again! We've had this discussion before, and it boils down to this: Rice meet 100% of need as determined by the FAFSA or PROFILE. Like most top need-blind, meet 100% of need schools.<br>
(By the way...what school is it that you keep hinting is going to offer you a whole lot of need-based aid, even though you don't show need using these formulas??? Why not tell us, so that we can all benefit from this information? The CC forum is about sharing info.) :)</p>
<p>Not again is fine with me. </p>
<p>It's time to stop repeating "Rice meets 100% of financial need" unless that's clearly qualified by "as established by FAFSA or PROFILE" <em>and</em> accompanied by the observation that need established by FAFSA or PROFILE is sometimes quite distinct from the real-world need of real dollars and real people. That applies not to just Rice, but to any school that puts such faith in a one-size-fits-all formula that by definition cannot fit all.</p>
<p>Still haven't told us that top school's name that is giving you what you want. Why so secretive?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Still haven't told us that top school's name that is giving you what you want. Why so secretive?
[/quote]
I haven't said they're giving me what I "want." The financial aid officer I spoke with was very accomodating, however, or certainly seemed to be (and was fully aware that the FAFSA results can be off base, didn't even try to pretend otherwise).</p>