<p>I have been accepted early decision to Cornell U. However, I did not receive any financial aid. My parents have a total income of about $100,000 and my dad has been saving for retirement. Is my financial aid rejection normal under these circumstances or does Cornell have a poor financial aid system?</p>
<p>J3, Cornell meets 100% of need as they define it. What is your FAFSA EFC? That is one indicator of whether your famly is eligible for some need, though the final arbiter of this at Cornell is theri PROFILE. Savings in a qualifed plan does not usually count towards what is considered college assets, but schools can do what they wish with that info and they do ask for it. </p>
<p>But no, Cornell is considered to have an excellent financial aid system.</p>
<p>Your parents must have a good amount of home equity and/or savings/investments that are not protected for retirement since you got no aid.</p>
<p>What was your FAFSA EFC? </p>
<p>Are either of your parents self-employed? If so, is that $100k income after a bunch of deductions? </p>
<p>Since this was an ED acceptance, didn’t you get your FA info last Dec/January? If so, how come the money issue is coming up now?</p>
<p>Why didn’t you reject the admission after receiving no aid?</p>
<p>What are your parents saying about all of this?</p>
<p>Since this is an ED situation, does this mean that you have no where else to go to school?</p>
<p>And, yes, Cornell gives excellent aid, but they’ve determined that you don’t qualify. Unless they’ve made a mistake, your family must have income/assets/something to give Cornell this impression.</p>
<p>Does your dad keep “retirement” money is stocks/savings accts/money markets, etc which aren’t protected? If so, are the amounts high?</p>
<p>My parents only filled out the CSS profile. They will do FAFSA later to apply for loans. I am unsure about a lot of the specifics because my parents don’t share their private info with me.</p>