<p>Hello all,
The results are out for the CMU Financial Aid office FA reviews, and I'm just wanting to see what others asked for and received. Go ahead and post from the following template:</p>
<p>Original Offer:</p>
<p>Requested:</p>
<p>Final Offer:</p>
<p>Competing institution offer (plus name of institution) (if applicable):</p>
<p>Other pertinent info:</p>
<p>Here’s mine (it may not seem like much, but I’m really excited)!</p>
<p>Original Offer: $5,000 unsubsidized federal direct loans (will not accept)</p>
<p>Requested: $2,000/yr. scholarship/grant</p>
<p>Final Offer: $2,000/yr. Institutional Scholarship!!!</p>
<p>Competing institution offer: $2,000/yr. from Emory University for National Merit Finalist</p>
<p>Other pertinent info: Really excited, since I actually paid my deposit before requesting a review of my aid, so I guess that the CMU FA office was feeling the love the day that they received my request! I had absolutely no chance of getting any need based aid whatsoever, so this will put a huge dent in the $5,000/yr. loans my parents are making me pay. This just goes to show: ask and you may receive.</p>
<p>Where did you find out what your new aid package is? I just checked the Financial Aid Notification on the Where Am I In the Process page and it hasn’t changed.</p>
<p>^ Assuming you submitted a request for review, it should be right next to your original FA statement. In fact, I submitted mine just two days ago, and they already have it back. Oddly enough, though, the date next to the new scholarship aid said March 30, and it retroactively appeared on the PDF after clicking on the Financial Aid Statement. Yours must have just not been reviewed yet, or perhaps you didn’t get any. Did you send via fax or mail? Fax is the best way to reach them.</p>
<p>I did submit a request for review, and it was via fax. I faxed them in early April, and called them later that day to confirm that they had in fact received the documents.</p>
<p>If I don’t have any sort of update because I didn’t get any, I assume they’d let me know. I really hope mine just hasn’t been reviewed yet, although waiting is making me really anxious…</p>
<p>Edit: I just noticed that “Fin Aid Re-Evaluation Request” shows up under “Admission Documents Received”, so they definitely received the documents.</p>
<p>The review process is still going. The admissions office said that if there is a change in the financial aid offer, it will show up on your “Where Am I in the Process” page. They are willing to look up the information for you if you call the office but your file may not have been reviewed yet. There was no firm date on when the all of the reviews will be completed.</p>
<p>Is this discussion for freshmen? I haven’t heard anything back yet for Transfer.</p>
<p>I also called today. We requested the review the day after we received the FA offer (back in early April) The FA officer said they were only about 1/2 way through the reviews and HOPED to finish them by the end of the week. She said that they wanted to give families time to compare the new offer, and so hoped they would have results out by the middle of next week! Honestly, with a May 1 deadline to accept at schools, that really doesn’t amount to what I call “time!”
Also - for those of you requesting reviews: the other telling thing the officer said was that this offer was only for this year - and everyone reapplies next year. Made me think that even if I get a favorable review this year, what might happen next year when a student has already spent a year at the school and is “invested?” I can’t imagine going through this process every year - and without any other competing offers!</p>
<p>My financial aid letter has the word “REVISED” on it. However, I did not notice any revision. Is this a mistake or did they just not give me anymore financial aid?</p>
<p>thehistoryfreak: Same thing on my daughter’s portal. I called to confirm it and was told that the review had not been done. There will be a code on your file that will indicate if the review has been done. You will need to call the office to ask them to pull up your files. Make sure you talk to someone who knows what he/she is doing. The person I talked to yesterday was not helpful at all and the one I talked to this morning knew what to look for.</p>
<p>hsmom2dncrs: I hear you. I feel the same way. If it so difficult this year, does it mean the next 3 years will be worse? Since the next college on my daughter’s list is actually a higher ranked college, we are wondering if it is worth the trouble waiting for CMU to respond. My daughter feels she could be happy at either place.</p>
<p>Still have not heard back on our request for a review of FA package. Today my DS couldn’t even log in to see the page under “Where Am I in the Process?” - kept getting error messages or saying that the page was unavailable. Are they perhaps updating everything for tomorrow? This is really cutting it close!</p>
<p>We got our appeal last Thursday, don’t hold your breath for good news. Even tho we sent in our merit award from a “peer school” package, all they gave us a little token… the bottom line was CMU feels they have plenty of kids to fill the slots, in info systems anyway. </p>
<p>My son and husband were on campus for a revisit day. When they were talking with FA rep and asked him to bring up their appeal, they were told the computers were down (and had been all weekend).</p>
<p>In any case, I guess they played it correctly because my son bought the sweatshirt! And I put down the deposit.</p>
<p>: ) </p>
<p>I am very happy for him, he is so excited.</p>
<p>HSmom2dncrs: the financial aid computers are down. They expect them to be up on the 24th. </p>
<p>This info was posted on the CMU admission facebook page on 4/23:
There’s been an issue with our databases today that work with all of these applications. I should hopefully be fixed by tomorrow. Stay tuned.</p>
<p>How would one go about submitting a review request? Is there a form or do I just need to contact their FA office?</p>
<p>lisiatc: Thanks for the info. The page is back up today, but still no news on the review. I’m going to end up calling again today - DS is leaving on a school trip for a week, so we have to make some decision before he goes.
MomForAll: Congrats to your son and to his proud parents! I hope he has a wonderful experience at CMU.
Our request for review involved need-based aid, with comparisons from two other peer institutions. I have found out (after the application process) that CMU does not promise to meet the demonstrated need of students who are admitted RD. (That’s our family’s mistake for not finding that out before DS applied and was admitted!) In any case, I just want them to send us the revised package, even if it’s not good, so that when we sit down with DS tonight and make the decision, we can do it knowing he’s been fully informed. And I know he’ll do well at either of the other schools, so there’s no losing here! :-)</p>
<p>TheVisitor: There is a form to fill out - it should have come with your FA package, but if not, I believe you can access it online on the school’s FA webpage. Please be aware that the form specifically states: “Information received on or after April 28, 2012 will not be reviewed.” so you’d best move quickly if you want them to consider a review.</p>
<p>I called CMU - the FA officer looked up our file and told me that they have “decided not to react” to our request, and would therefore not be changing the original offer. Then something about how they understand some people have high financial need, but they can’t help us meet our need. So, that pretty much seals the deal - CMU will not be an option for our DS. Best of luck to all of you, wherever your children decide to attend. It’s been a crazy, wild ride - and I thank you all for the help and info you’ve provided!</p>
<p>hsmom2dncrs: Thanks for your reply! It did not come with my FA package unfortunately, and I’m unsure of where to find it online. Do you remember the specific name of the document, by any chance? The closest thing I’ve found through Google searches and searches on their website is this page: </p>
<p>[Forms</a> & Guides-The HUB - Carnegie Mellon University](<a href=“http://www.cmu.edu/hub/forms.html]Forms”>Forms & Documents - The HUB - Division of Enrollment Services - Carnegie Mellon University)</p>
<p>But I don’t think any of those is the relevent form. Any help would be greatly appreciated, and sorry for taking over the thread.</p>
<p>TheVisitor: Send me a PM - I have the document scanned and saved as a PDF - I can e-mail it to you if you’re willing to send your e-mail address. Otherwise, you could call the Admission/FA office and have them send/Fax you one. I couldn’t find it online now that I went looking for it.</p>
<p>Does anyone here know why I haven’t received my financial aid yet? I have turned in all the required documents…</p>