<p>I finished my financial aid application only a few days ago because i didn’t send my parents’ 2009 tax return to BC til the end of march and they sent me some additional forms to fill in after i did. I finished my CSS profile and Fafsa a while ago, but the tax return thing made me miss the priority deadline to finish the application. </p>
<p>Because Im from a low income family (total income < 40,000 per year), my financial aid matters a lot to me. Would they still give me a generous package regarding my family’s income? </p>
<p>I did the same thing, had to send in additional forms, and just got my financial aid package the other day. Not as much as I was hoping for, but still pretty good. Since BC gives “100% need,” I don’t believe your award is affected by when you send it in. It definitely wasn’t for mine, at least :)</p>
<p>But my concern is: even though BU says that it gives 91% need, it only gives me 12xxx for the financial aid package (including loans). There is no way I can pay such a huge amount of money. BU basically rejected me.</p>
<p>Dear brbcguy : Did your most recent point intend to mention BU or BC? </p>
<p>Assuming a typo and this is still a BC discussion, need-blind applications do not imply that BC rejected you. In fact, BC accepted you clearly. You are making a value-decision as to how much a BC education is worth when a substantial portion needs to come from your personal pocket. (We suppose the same can be said if this was still a BU question.)</p>
<p>Using terminology like “BU basically rejected me” is misleading. Who did you think was picking up the tab for a $200,000 four year education? When you use numbers like 91% need is met, be careful. Many folks interpret those numbers to mean that I am getting a 91% reduction in the tuition rate - often times, those numbers include work/study programs, loans, and other such commitments to help finance your education.</p>
<p>ALL colleges calculate your need as they see fit. Thus, you really don’t know what your “need” is unless you ask them for the calculation. (And, note, your federal EFC is not necessarily your “need” as calculated by CSS Profile. Profile also includes other assets, such as home equity, which FAFSA does not.) </p>
<p>What you are suggesting is a practice termed ‘admit/deny’, whereby they admit you but offer you a bunch of loans instead of grants so that you cannot afford to attend. Boston College does not have such a financial aid practice. NYU does, however, as does Boston University. BU’s Common Data Set clearly shows that they only meet 91% of need, on average. Thus, for some it could be 100% of need, and others it could be ~70%.</p>
<p>I got accepted into both (BC and BU). I finished my BU financial aid application earlier and therefore got the aid decision earlier. Even though BU says it’s average financial aid package is 30+k, i only got 10+k even though I’m in a low income family. </p>
<p>I haven’t got my BC financial aid decision yet. But after seeing the amount of aid BU gave me, I was kind of freaked out. </p>
<p>By saying that BU basically rejected me, I meant that even though BU offered me admission, I won’t be able to accept it because it didn’t give me enough aid. Of course, i hope this will not be the case for BC…</p>
<p>Dear prbcguy : Something to keep in mind regarding your financial planning follows. </p>
<p>Suppose that Boston College comes up with $30,000 per year in aid/work-study monies for you which is the figure you quoted from the Boston University web site. This still means that you are going to need to come up with about $22,000 per year for four years, plus various living expenses, to attend Boston College. </p>
<p>If that $90,000+ bill is not your cup of tea, now is the time to start thinking about other options on your list based on the financial angle. Note that we are not hoping that your aid faills short, but given that BU’s offer is far out-of-whack from your expectations, you need to be prepared for that fact that the same can/will happen with Boston College.</p>
<p>As a side note, you might want to speak with Boston University to understand why your calculations are so different from their offer. Either your definition of low income, based on W2s and 1040 forms is different from reality … or … something is missing in your disclosure on this web site. Bluebayou offered the term “admit/deny” in another thread and that might be the situation in which you find yourself for both schools. Good luck and please keep us posted.</p>
<p>Does the “admit/deny” practice really exist? According to what bluebayou said, BC doesn’t have such practice, does that mean BC will (hopefully) give me more financial aid than BU?</p>
<p>*Another question: How long does it take to find out my financial aid desicion once BC received everything required from me?</p>
<p>Again, thank you very much for answering my questions.</p>
<p>The critics/cynics call it “admit/deny”. And yes, colleges routinely practice that policy. As I posted earlier, NYU is one that gives a lot of grant aid to students it really wants (typically at the top of its applicant pool), and lotsa loan $ to students who are not rated so high. George Washington does the same. Since BU gives out merit money and does not meet 100% of need…</p>
<p>Dunno how long it will take BC to process your finaid papers. You might call them tomorrow and inquire.</p>