<p>I'm in one of those awkward financial aid brackets wherein you find families who aren't wealthy enough to fund college by themselves, and not needy enough to get anything from the Government funds. I have decided that I want to go to Villanova, but I'm trying to figure out how I'll be able to afford it. </p>
<p>Anyone else starting to figure out how they're planning to pay for this (or any) school?</p>
<p>Difficult, yet familiar situation. You should pursue a variety of local/national scholarships and work full-time over the summer. (We are keeping our fingers crossed for next week’s Presidential Scholarship announcements–but chance of getting one, I know, is slim.)</p>
<p>I’m looking at as many scholarships as possible. In addition, my family and I are working on a statement of circumstance for the FA office: when the economy tanked, so did my parents’ employment, so our EFC is reported to be MUCH higher than it actually is. Previous income made the EFC far too high, and FAFSA doesn’t really let you say why your EFC isn’t accurate. Hopefully if we write a statement they will be willing to work with us.</p>
<p>What do you think about loans?</p>
<p>Many people fall into this problem, and the bigger issue is whether tuition at 50K+ is worth incurring debt,eating ramen noodles,and getting rid of cable…(joking a bit)…This is not a 'Nova problem,it is a problem across the spectrum of all colleges…What is the ROI of the tuition? How much does a degree from very good institutions differ from good institutions?
Is 'Nova at 52k as good as U Penn at the same tuition? Is U Pitt at 28K a better value then 'Nova?..I love 'Nova,but thinking of paying that much sends chills down my spine…My D was deferred,so it isn’t a concern as much as those who have been accepted and are trying to figure out how to pay for it…</p>
<p>villanova should up their merit scholarships and give out more of them to get stronger students… but they don’t. a lot of people can’t go because of the ridiculous price, like me.</p>
<p>I really want to go here. I feel like this might be something I can figure out.
I know people who have paid for Nova without help from the school. My grades are great, my ECs are unique, and I’m willing to put in time… so why couldn’t I do it?
It’s just scary to think about.</p>
<p>the university itself also has grants aside from government aid</p>
<p>Does anyone know what percentage of need 'Nova meets? The admissions recruiter that came to Hawaii told me that 'Nova’s aid has improved drastically and that they are meeting close to 90% of demonstrated need for students. I really hope this is true, but it could be fluffed for all I know.</p>
<p>Does Nova usually give out substantial financial aid? I’ve heard they are known for not being very generous…</p>
<p>Me too. One of the admission recruiters said that they are vastly impoving their financial aid this year because they keep losing students to their competitors (BC, Georgetown, etc.). I’m not sure how true this is because for all I know the recruiter could be blowing smoke up my ass to get me to apply, but I really hope it’s true.</p>
<p>You can get a idea about Villanova’s FA packages by looking at thread from last year called “What is your EFC & What’s your FA package” dated 3/20/09. (Wish I were hyperlink savy --maybe someone else can do this.)</p>
<p>ELY: IS THIS THE ONE?</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/villanova-university/672826-what-your-efc-what-your-fa-package.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/villanova-university/672826-what-your-efc-what-your-fa-package.html</a></p>
<p>Yes, thanks!</p>
<p>Wow, they seem to meet need or close to it at least. That’s awesome news</p>
<p>It’s REALLY great to hear that they’re upping their financial aid. When we mailed in our tax information like they asked, we included a financial appeal explaining our circumstances. Hopefully they will understand.</p>
<p>^Actually, the recruiter told me that once you get your award, you can appeal it once by writing a letter. So you might be able to write another letter if you don’t get the award you need.</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>How were you able to get 'Nova your tax info? I haven’t received many 1099’s/1098’s yet from banks/brokerages/etc…</p>
<p>I yelled at my dad to do it extremely early. We submitted our FAFSA on January 2nd to get it out of the way and hopefully have it examined before whoever looks at them was too sick of it. Because we wanted to get FAFSA done he made sure to do our taxes early and pulled necessary strings. </p>
<p>They want all the forms, including schedules.
It was a pretty thick envelope!</p>