<p>I finally got my financial aid package and I'm a bit concerned.</p>
<p>My EFC is $0, and my parents are in debt (we own a business, so a lot of the money just goes back into that), yet Cornell expects me to pay $2,180 from a summer job and my parents to pay $2,000 each year, plus taking out $12,140 in loans every year.</p>
<p>This is the first fin. aid package I've recieved from a school where I'm just an average student, not in the top percentages, and I know that having to pay about $65,000 for my entire undergraduate studies at Cornell isn't too bad when you look at in that perspective, but it still seems rather high, considering my family doesn't have any spare money lying around. Is this something anyone else has noticed at Cornell, or does it happen at all the big schools (I'm still waiting on UVa and Notre Dame)? Also, has anyone had any success with getting more grant aid than initially offered?</p>
<p>The fact that your parents are in debt is not considered by FA (except perhaps for their mortgage payments). Their income from the business is considered. Schools that use the Profile, such as Cornell, consider the value of the business they own, even if they plow money back into the business. (FAFSA does not consider the value of the business, which is why you may have a 0 EFC according to FAFSA, but a higher value according to the Profile.) Colleges have different ways of calculating the value of a small business. Additionally, Profile colleges consider home equity as an asset, while FAFSA does not.</p>
<p>Very few families have "spare money lying around." Most families have to spend more than they think they can afford. Loans are part of financial aid.</p>
<p>My D got into Cornell. The financial package was not good. I call them and they expect you to max out on loans before they will give you grant money. Give them a call and they may change the grant. It worked for us, but still was not comparable to what other schools were offering. We felt it was not worth going into heavy debt to attend Cornell, so she is going to Bucknell</p>
<p>my package's also very similar, just higher by a couple thousand. </p>
<p>i'm not going to appeal considering the high student body and average endowment. good luck to all those who are appealing, but i don't think cornell has that much to spread around.</p>
<p>Having loans in the 10-12 thousand range/per year seems to be fairly standard for Cornell. This being any combination of Stafford/Perkins/Parent Plus/Alternative(?) that comes close to that amount. I guess I'd feel better if I knew for sure that most packages resemble this. Anyone have something different?</p>
<p>$65k is way too much debt for an undergrad to assume, IMO, unless your parents will help pay it off. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, ND is not great with finaid, and don't expect the taxpayers of Virginia to support you with a lot of grant money, which goes to in-state residents first.</p>
<p>HA! finally, i got bluebayou where i wanted him/her.</p>
<p>AccessUVA, will hook you up, big time! since your EFC is 0.</p>
<p>According to their website:
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AccessUVa offers ** loan-free packages for low-income students**, caps on need-based loans for all other students, and a commitment to meet 100 percent of need for every student.</p>
<p>1.Meets 100 percent of demonstrated need for all admitted undergraduate students.
2.Replaces need-based loans with grants in the financial aid packages of low-income students — those whose family income is equivalent to 200 percent of the federal poverty line or less.
3.Caps the amount of need-based loans offered to any student at approximately 25 percent of U.Va.’s in-state cost of attendance over four years, and will meet all need above that amount with grants. *All students, regardless of state residency, will receive the in-state cap level. *</p>
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<p>since your EFC is 0, you might get the loan free package. Otherwise, you'll still get a good deal with the loan cap.</p>
<p>hey, i feel your pain! my efc is only slightly higher and my family is in debt too because my dad has his own business. i don't mean to be a downer, but we asked for an appeal and they said we could file one but they most likely wouldn't give us any more money.</p>
<p>does anyone know if most people in cornell come out with large amounts of debt like this and how long it takes them to pay back?</p>
<p>it's sad because i really want to come to cornell too, but umd gave me a great deal, so i'll probably go there instead. :(</p>
<p>Yeah, I saw that cap on loans w/the AccessUVa thing, and it says on the ND website that they limit the amount of loans too, although I've heard tell that their finaid isn't spectacular, like bluebayou indicated.</p>
<p>I'm visiting Cornell on Monday and plan to go into the Finaid office then. Is it worth anything to bring in the finaid awards from my safety schools (ironically, I didn't get into my match school), or would that just be in bad taste, or ineffective, considering they're not top competition?</p>
<p>Funnily enough, Cornell didn't report average indebtedness at graduation or any other financial aid statistics to Collegeboard, but according the The Princeton Review, the average freshman loan is $10,400.</p>
<p>I have to take out $9,880 in loans per year. I'm looking to relieve some of that debt by becoming an RA and applying for the Cornell Tradition. Cornell is pretty unique in that any scholarship money you receive goes directly toward paying off your debt; many other colleges would simply reduce your institutional aid since, after winning, you're that much more capable of paying the school money. =X</p>
<p>Oh, and am I to assume that $40,000 worth of debt is not a big deal? It sure seems like one...</p>
<p>As far as working in the summer my son has worked every summer since been at Cornell. He is a junior now and the amount you have to contribute rises as you move on as well. He was able to get internships that paid well so was able to go beyond the expectation most summers. If you work the full 12 weeks full time you will definately meet it.The experiences will help as he looks for a job in the future. He has also worked during school as well. In our situation it is something he has to do and he accepts that so it has worked for us. It is tough but Cornell has been well worth it. If he wasn't willing to work and contribute all he does we could not have afforded to go here.</p>
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so, has anyone had any success with getting more grant aid than initially offered?
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<p>Yes, we have. In fact, the Cornell Financial Aid Office has been a pleasure to deal with. We called and asked how to request a review of their offer, and they indicated that we should fax a letter with the reasons why we were requesting the review and to attach any supporting documentation. On the day that I sent the fax, my DD received an e-mail from the Financial Aid Office confirming receipt and stating that they would get back to us soon. Within a week, DD received another e-mail with a PDF document attached that contained a revised award.</p>
<p>I am very impressed with how responsive the Cornell Financial Aid Office was and the friendliness of the staff that I spoke to.</p>
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Its good to know I might have some hope...</p>
<p>Again, is bringing in other award letters stupid/tacky?
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<p>I don't think so. My mom heads a financial aid office at another college, so she's familiar with all the jargon and won't take a bad package lying down. I have a feeling that a lot of financial aid counselors try to talk "at" (not "to") parents until they say "okay, okay" and pay up; my mom, on the other hand, knows when she's getting gypped.</p>
<p>I don't think it's "tacky" to bring in other award letters because my mom had initially planned on doing the same thing. We had expected UR to give me a generous package and Cornell to rip me off -- not only did my mom go to UR, but it also just seems like a more accommodating school. Turns out, Cornell's package was significantly more generous than UR's, so there was no point in bringing in UR's package to bargain with, but if UR's package had been nicer than Cornell's my mom would have definitely tried to twist Cornell's arm with UR's package.</p>
<p>I have heard that normally schools like cornell wont try to compete with other schools, since they are already competitive. Its usually schools like carnegie mellon that will try to match other offers. Nevertheless, you could always try.</p>
<p>MSMDAD: Without being too personal what was the additional info that you provided? Was the change a decrease in EFC? Decrease in loans? How far from the 10-12 thousand dollar per year in loans did you end up with?</p>