Financial Aid, Slap in the face, Part 2.

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>So, I was originally faced with a $0 financial aid estimate from Stanford University. No biggy, they just expected my family to pay about 55k a year to attend. out of pocket. no help. My family is now making about 100k a year, after my father lost his job. Sooo they want us to pay about half my mom's salary, before taxes, to go to school. grand.</p>

<p>Of course we file a reconsideration form, in order to try and get a new financial aid package estimate. This time (we weren't sure if it was last time), my dad's unemployment was clearly marked, and several other things were pointed out, indicating that there is no way in hell we could afford this alone.</p>

<p>I get the new estimate today. 3k. What, the, (insert word of immense frustration here). So now they expect me to pay still, over 50k a year to go to their school. fantastic.</p>

<p>The strangest part is, Stanford has a guaranteed coverage policy if a family makes under 100k, meaning they will cover full tuition if this is the case. Seeing as we have BARELY over that, how did we go from getting 37k in aid, to zero? I've talked it over with my parents, and they are calling the office, but neither of us can figure what outrageous assets, especially those that set us apart from the rest of the Stanford's applicant pool, that we have that they expect us to pull from in order to afford this--we simply don't have any. My parents are almost 60 years old, looking to retire soon; there is no way they can take on this much more debt, where the heck do they expect the money to come from?</p>

<p>So basically this rant is just about how utterly frustrated I am with the "middle class curse." The less fortunate get aid, the super rich don't need it, but the middle class is left to fend for themselves. What's the good of getting into such a prestigious institution if you can't even afford to go. I understand not everyone can get money, and schools have limited funds, but Stanford's endowment is the third largest in the country--I figured I should at least have a chance. Obviously not. Not to mention 2 of my peers, 1 attending and 1 accepted and planning to attend, both got considerable grants and are in the same financial situation, even better, than my family. I just don't understand</p>

<p>Sorry if this sounds like i'm complaining, it's very possible that I am. I just needed to rant because attending was something I was incredibly excited for, and now all those dreams are up in smoke. Guess i'm just stuck here in Chapel Hill 4 more years.
/Rant</p>

2

<p>Wow that really sucks. I would hate to be in your situation. </p>

<p>I had a similar situation. I got accepted to Cornell with $0 in financial aid… I’m thinking why the hell did they bother accepting me when my common app form and financial aid application indicated that I needed a considerable amount of aid? I guess it didn’t matter in the end because whether or not I got aid from them I was still gonna go to Stanford. </p>

<p>You should really try calling Stanford again to try to negotiate further. It would be most unfortunate to not be able to go to a school such as Stanford because of finances.</p>

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<p>exactly. My parents and I called again, and we are revising some information, because it sounded like there might be something wrong in our Profile. I really don’t want to let this opportunity go, so we will probably continue negotiating until I get some sort of considerable funding.</p>

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<p>What is plan B if you don’t go to Stanford?</p>

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<p>hmmm yeah that sounds wrong. I’m sure some numbers got mixed up. Like u said how could a few thousand dollars put u from paying no tuition to paying it all? That makes no sense.</p>

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<p>plan B would be to go to UNC, my local college. I know it is a good school, but I just feel like I’ve worked harder than that, nor do i want to stay in chapel hill for 4 more years. I’m already bored after just 9.</p>

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<p>you need to call them and bug them until they change your aid. </p>

<p>my dad makes about 85000 a year and i got a full ride. </p>

<p>i’m not sure whats going on, but this just doesn’t seem right. a difference of 15k in income means a difference in 50k in aid? call them.</p>

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<p>It’s probably because unlike people whose parents have always made 100k, you’re parents made more than twice that amount in the period where they were saving for college. Additionally, I don’t think your father expects to remain unemployed for the entire period you guys would be paying for school.</p>

<p>It would be unfair to the students with true 100k incomes if your family which previously did not qualify for aid received full tuition because they temporarily made less money, yet still had the opportunity to save. And will likely still return to that higher income and have full ability to pay back any loans.</p>

<p>Outside of that, I do agree with you that the middle class gets shafted.</p>

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<p>It probably has to do at least partially with how much money your family has saved, or if your parents can expect a pension. A lot of people without a high income but who have savings get royally burnt by these calculators. If your father made $99,000 but had a reasonable amount of savings, he would probably still get about the same amount of aid. When they say that sort of thing, "Families with under $100,000 get aid . … " they tend to only mean “If they never saved anything.” We learned that the hard way, too!</p>

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<p>i mean we have some savings, but not nearly enough to pay 50k. my parents didnt expect to have to pay that much, since few people ever do for college. They used their money for other reasons such as helping out the rest of our family, who is considerably worse off than we are, instead of hording all of it for me. And no, my parents havent made that much money for that long. 10 years MAX. idk, i guess thats still too much and we are still too “rich.” The point is, we simply cant afford what they are expecting, because there just are not enough funds. Not that my parents dont want to pull from any assets etc, but there literally isn’t much to pull from. They are retiring soon, so the last thing they should do is something like pull out a second on the house, considering they wont have incomes soon, and wont be able to pay it back. </p>

<p>basically we are just going to keep calling until we at least get something to work with.</p>

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<p>Have you played with any online Profile calculator to see what is making your contribution so high? Any payouts in 2008? What kind of assets do they have? Do they own their businesses? Otherwise, something does not add up. What have other schools offered you in terms of FINANCIAL not merit aid?</p>

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<p>well the only other school that i applied for financial aid, not merit aid, is UVA. I didnt get a considerable amount from them, but that is more understandable, since they out right told me that they cater more towards their instate students when it comes to money. Also, i just found out there was some confusion under the “investments” part of our Profile, so this may have been a problem at both schools.</p>

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<p>Why on earth did you not apply for financial aid at other schools?</p>

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<p>So why don’t you get a student loan. Why should your parents have to pay. It is your education. Go in debt. If you want to go to Stanford, pay the price. Why should they pay you to go there???</p>

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<p>Hey listen, DAD. i would have to get at least 30k worth of loans, per year. 4 years of that, 120k in loans, for UNDERGRAD. Add on AT LEAST another 150k for graduate school, bringing my total in the upper 200, almost 300k range. That is not a smart idea at all. </p>

<p>Someone is obviously a little bitter. You know why they should help me pay? Because they are my PARENTS, they help their kids, especially when they have the resources too. Not to mention if they help me get into school, that money will come right back to them in their old age. They want to see me be the best i can be, and not have to suffer if i don’t have to. Gosh, what jerks.</p>

<p>I feel sorry for your little “princess”</p>

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<p>The difference between what you would pay in-state for UNC and what you would need to pay for Stanford is HUGE. Is the gap between the education and experience you’ll have at both schools that HUGE?</p>

<p>Hope things will turn out your way when the assets are reviewed, but…it’s likely you may still have to pay a lot compared to UNC. Is that any part of the “issue” for your and your parents?</p>

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<p>good question, idk. from what i’ve gleaned, my education is what i make of it. I know I wont get the same resources and instruction in computer science at UNC as I will stanford, but will the social life at UNC and business path (second choicein major) make up for that? I just dont know. i dont think the issue is really paying for stanford, when they COULD be paying for UNC (much cheaper), it’s more paying for a school we cant afford, period–if that is what you were asking.</p>

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<p>do you think constantly pestering them for aid is going to work…?</p>

<p>i think you may have to take out some loans yourself… like, your parents pay about half and you pay half
that sounds more reasonable!</p>

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<p>uhhh… i’m not sure what kind of grad school you’re going to, buddy, but its pretty common that the university pays you, assuming you teach a class or two…</p>

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<p>grad schools pay students peanuts compared to the tuition fees.</p>