<p>Okay, I admit it: when I applied to the University of Virginia, I made a huge mistake. On my application, when I was entering my social security number, my finger slipped on the keyboard, and instead of entering a 0 like I intended, I entered a 9. I clicked the submit button, and away my mistake zoomed into cyberspace, unnoticed.
Flash forward: yippee, I get into UVa, smiles and giggles and a general sigh of relief. Except... my financial aid package doesn't come. And it doesn't come. Then I get a letter saying my FAFSA hasn't come. Okay, strange, there it is right on the FAFSA, the University of Virginia, and the code, but whatever, I next-day mail a hard copy to the Financial Aid Office.
Flash forward even farther. Its one week until the acceptance deadline, and I, whose decision rests almost entirely on where I will get the best deal, still don't have a package. I call the admissions office, get answering machines several times, get a woman who tells me all my forms are in, but nothing has been done, and get transfered to an admissions counselor. Who then tells me my FAFSA is missing and the social security number I give her doesn't match up with the social security number on my application. Oh, and based on the hard copy FAFSA she holds in her hand, I will need to submit yet another form. Expect about 2-3 weeks for an award letter.</p>
<p>Why was I told that all of my forms were in if they weren't? And why, when the Fin.Aid office so clearly recieved my FAFSA, did they not notice/inform me that there was something strange going on with my social security number? Are students just social security numbers, and not names, to UVa? I understand that it was my mistake that set off this whole avalanche, but wasn't anyone alert enough to see all that snow cascading down the mountain? UVa will be receiving some scathing letters from my family this coming month. Yes, I know this is a rant, but this is my future and thousands of dollars that I have probably lost. I can't attend UVa now, because I don't have the luxury of foregoing the offers I received at Cornell and Notre Dame because there is a "chance" UVa will out do them. To everyone out there, I won't be seeing you next year.</p>
<p>ouch.....well hey, you have two great choices to choose from, even if they weren't your top like UVa was. You could consider sending in deposits to both schools... but it looks like your financial status is sort of tight... I am sorry about what happened, but look on the bright side-you get to choose from ONLY cornell and notre dame. What a bummer.</p>
<p>I'm afraid my calls to UVa financial services weren't handled particularly well either.
It seemed like the person we spoke with (twice) really didn't care if my D attended the school or not. We had a much different experience with the financial aid office of D's second choice school...whose financial aid (merit & need) was much more attractive...and we mailed her deposit to that school yesterday.
Still hurts that we weren't able to make things work with UVa, but you just have to go with what seems best, and hope things work out--as many parents assure me they do.</p>
<p>I have had a similarly terrible time with UVa financial aid.</p>
<p>have you ever wodered how a family of three with an income of 30k can qualify for NO grants? Well, I can tell you how...</p>
<p>After some complaining though, the fin aid office became a lot more helpful. We got in tough with someone who was really helpful and she let us stay on the line until the director of fin aid was available, and he spent a good while talking to us about our options. The first year is going to be real expensive but it should go way down for me after that.</p>
<p>What I heard straight from the mouth of an (unnamed) admissions dean is that they've had a lot of trouble with the financial aid office because while UVA guarantees no more in loans than the cost of one year's instate cost, the financial aid office frontloads those loans and then provides aid in subsequent years in the form of grants. It still works out for needy students in the end, but it doesn't help the University in the yield competition with its peers.</p>
<p>They're not a great help while you're a current student either. I've constantly had rude dealings with the hoo's in financial aid office (maybe we're all dealing with the same handful of people). It also took a lucky check of my financial aid status page to realize I didn't have all the forms in. They probably would not have emailed me until they finally stumbled upon my application in the middle of processing and the process would have stopped for me for a trivial form.</p>
<p>the frontloading is actually beneficial to students. cost of attendence only goes up--so why wouldn't you rather have your loans based on the cheapest tuition rates, not the most expensive?</p>
<p>That's right. It is a way of being more certain of what your final indebtedness will be before you commit to a school. It is not uncommon for schools to time loans and grants in this way.</p>
<p>jags is 10000% right. Theres more to front loading than meets the eye.</p>
<p>of course, thats not gonna help UVa's yield (and consequently, US news rankings) in the long run. I also wouldn't be surprised at all if other 'top' school back loaded loans for that reason</p>