<p>Okay this is my situation:
The school offered me $0 for FA.
We are highmiddle- upper class for money,
but I have two older brothers at university.
So that AND an extra 40 thousand dollars is a huge burden for my parents.
Can people appeal for financial aid? From what I understand, someone from last year did it...
They can afford to send me, but barely-
My parents would do whatever they can to send me, but I don't want them to do that because it is so much more unnecessary stress for them.
It was said in another thread that parents don't OWE a boarding school education.
I totally agree, and I want my dad to retire when he wants to instead of working until his 70s or something crazy like that.</p>
<p>So right now, I applied for as many essay contests as I can, and I plan on appealing for financial aid.
If this doesnt work out, then I guess the $400 reenrollment at my current school didnt go to waste, and I have to stay another year. :P</p>
<p>It's truly a disappointment after all of that hard work...</p>
<p>Does anyone have any ideas on what I should do?</p>
<p>wow i'm sorry, that really sucks......you might try calling the school or do you have any relatives that could support you?</p>
<p>...My cousin was joking today about how he could pay for my textbooks.
I didnt think it was too funny. :(
So yeah, I am thinking about emailing or calling the school...
What really bothers me is that the boarding school costs more than my two brothers tuitions for university put together. :(</p>
<p>What school did you apply to?</p>
<p>NMH (ten characters)</p>
<p>Oh, thats strange. I have a freind who's family makes a significant amount of money and NMH overly met her needs for financial aid.</p>
<p>As a parent who applied for FA and received none based on the formula that says we make too much money to qualify, here are my observations. I was very disappointed, as I had told my daughter initially that without FA we would not choose to send her. </p>
<p>I do not think it is appropriate to have my daughter make financial decisions for our family. She only needs to understand and accept that the financial decisions were mine and everything else was fair game for her input. I believed, and continue to believe, that putting any part of the finances into her decision-making matrix was not fair to her. She does not need to bear any guilt for the financial consequences of whatever our decision would be. She needed to be prepared to accept it if I said no based on the money. She also needed to be prepared to attend guilt-free if I gave her the green light.</p>
<p>So my recommendation is that you have a heart-to-heart with your parents. Trust them to tell you the truth about whether they are prepared to take on this expense. If it's your truth, tell them you will understand if they choose not to take on that expense. Also tell them that if they choose to take on that expense, that you do not want to feel badly or guilty. You can appreciate and love them for the sacrifice without feeling badly or undeserving. That is what I hope for with my daughter.</p>
<p>My friend applied to Deerfield and got about half financial aid, but she appealed for more and she says that she got a lot (she won't tell me how much). So, I definitely think that you should appeal for more</p>
<p>Maybe your friend's family has a lot of debt, other kids in school, circumstances not publicly known. Also, I believe Hotchkiss_please was pulled from the waitlist (correct me if I am in error). It could be that they had exhausted their FA. NMH is actually increasing the size of their incoming freshman class (not decreasing it as was previously speculated in another thread). They are considering opening up two of the cottages on "Cottage Row" for additonal housing.
Hotchkiss, you are lucky your family can "barely" afford it. Many families can "barely" afford even a couple of thousand and will definitely be working well into their seventies (*raises hand) to pay for it. But...we would do it all again in a heartbeat....very worthwhile experience.</p>
<p>NMH, like most other boarding schools, distributes its FA according to who they want to attract to the school. Most FA is distributed with the initial offers of admission, with significant FA going to students that NMH really wants to attend -- factors that come into play are athletic ability/recruitment, academic performance, music and art talent, geographic diversity, community service, racial diversity, etc.</p>
<p>for students who were waitlisted, FA is very limited -- and since FA is used to get those kids who they really want, that usually doesn't describe those on the waitlist. If they had been the school's top picks, they wouldn't have been waitlisted.</p>
<p>With all that being said, though, some FA dollars become available after all the dust settles after 4/10. It is definitely worth asking for a review of the FA award right about now. </p>
<p>Hotchkiss_please -- do you know what your parent's expected family contribution is according to the SSS people? While schools do calculate need according to their own formula, if the SSS calculations show that your family has little need, then it is unlikely that you would receive much FA even if it were available. Need is based on income and assets -- and the amount the family is expected to pay is usually significantly higher than any family would be comfortable with. If your family had significant assets and high income and you parents can pay the cost, even if it is just barely, you probably just don't show much need. This won't change next year, either -- unless your family has drastic financial problems.</p>
<p>Yep yep, I was pulled from the waitlist.
I think there were some mistakes on my part also.
My mom is not exactly good at english. She can have a conversation with someone, easy. But when it comes to the PFS, W-2 forms, I-20s, it's like someone turned the lights off. So we were not prepared to need so many forms, and we didnt turn all of them in. My dad had them waived, but he did not turn them in I think.
I did not think about FA alot, I was just worried about my applications, SSATs, and interviews. I gave my parents the links for the FA online, and it just didnt work out.
I think that may have influenced the school's FA decision for me. They just didnt have the necessary paperwork.
And I have no idea how to explain that to my parents either.</p>
<p>:P</p>
<p>laxtaxi -- great post, we also did not leave the financial decision part to our son. He knew that only with significant FA could he attend, but when the offer letters and FA awards came in we told him which ones were acceptable. there is a huge difference between having to sacrifice the summer villa in Italy vs. having to drop heath insurance coverage -- but as parents, we will complain about them both. </p>
<p>Assess what your "need" is according to the SSS people (there are calculators to estimate if you need them). If you don't really show any need (which is my guess) then you need to have a heart to heart with your parents and see if they want you to go. keep in mind, you are unlikely to get FA for the following years, so it is more than just one year of cost. However, your parents may be willing to do it if it is really the best place for you.</p>
<p>lack of paperwork can definitely derail FA -- plus, with special circumstances (like high medical bills, supporting grandparents, travel for work that is unpaid, etc) you have to explain that.</p>
<p>I would spend some time this weekend working on the pfs and other stuff. really go over it with a fine tooth comb -- and ask for help. Once you have everything together (and do this ASAP) then ask for a review.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks for your help. I will try to figure out the paperwork and ask for a review.</p>
<p>My main concern right now is if I go to NMH, my parents would do whatever it takes to send me, whether it means living on sandwich bread for the rest of their lives.</p>
<p>However, my dad makes about 110 thousand per year, and if you divide that into 3, thats like 36 thousand per kid, and then what do my parents live on, etc.
41 thousand dollars is a mind blowing amount of money.</p>
<p>Ughhh I was so excited about attending.
This is like torture.</p>
<p>Before getting all worked up and imagining your parents living on the streets, while you attend NMH -- get that financial review.</p>
<p>Start by going to this website: <a href="http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml</a></p>
<p>use the institutional method, for # in college put in the number of kids in tuition charging schools (college and BS/private).</p>
<p>have your parent's tax info and W-2s, so you can make sure the numbers are accurate.</p>
<p>Then let us know what your EFC is -- if it is 99999, then you might as well just give up. If it is 45000, then a review might give you a bit of FA -- perhaps some low-interest loans -- but you won't get much. If your EFC is 30000, then a review should make quite a bit of difference.</p>
<p>Something to keep in mind -- your parents are not expected to pay for your schooling out of current income. they are expected to use savings (including home equity and stocks/bonds/mutual funds) to pay for your schooling. That is why both assets and income are used for the formula. Of course, how they choose to pay is up to them -- but that is the expectation.</p>
<p>Hahah I got halway through the filling out, and then I discovered I don't speak financial aid language.
I have no idea if I did it correctly.
But I filled in what I could, and this is what I got: 29528 hahahah
I probably made a lot of mistakes...because I ignored about half of the blanks.</p>
<p>ok -- it is important that you get the numbers accurate. where did you run into problems?</p>
<p>I don't mean to be at all rude, but frankly, if you can afford to go, please don't apply for financial aid. There are plenty of other families with kids (myself included) who won't be able to attend without financial aid- families who will be working well into their 70s and who can barely afford a few thousand, as someone said earlier. </p>
<p>So please leave the financial aid to those who genuinely need it.</p>
<p>The schools determine what the need is -- not the students and not the parents. If a school determines that a family needs FA, they can choose to award it. </p>
<p>Hotchkiss_please did not say that her parents could easily afford it -- nor did she say what type of sacrifies they would make to "just barely afford it". If she needs FA to attend NMH, then she should apply. The school will determine whether or not her family should recieve FA. </p>
<p>If indeed her families EFC is ~$30,000 (as she figured out above) then her family does need some assistance to allow her to attend NMH.</p>
<p>Literateur, I am sympathetic to your plight. But I would not discourage anyone from applying for financial aid unless the ability to pay is patently obvious. I suspected I might not merit an award for D, but we chose to apply for it. We were denied. The schools know what they can afford and what they choose to offer to families. I can only ask for the help and make decisions based on what they offer, or what they choose not to offer. My FA request did not deny anyone else FA since I was not offered any. Nor would Hotchkiss_please (you HAVE to change that name if you're going to NMH). If (s)he is offered FA to attend it is because his/her family qualifies and NMH wants him/her.</p>