<p>I got into Columbia, which makes me really happy, but my family's happiness was dampened by the very small amount of financial aid received. My parents make 140k a year, which is above average, but I need to pay 50k from our pocket to go. That's over 1/3 of my family's income! I need to reduce the amount I pay to around 30k, 25k would be wonderful, but if my family stretches our budget, 30k can be done. The issue is, does anyone know if Columbia is willing to increase financial aid packages? I am, of course, going to try convincing them, but I'd like to know if I have a chance. (I received 25k from Vanderbilt, making the cost down to 40k, and 30k from Case Western) Also, it would be great if anyone has gone through this before, and succeeded, to give me any tips!</p>
<p>I’m in basically the exact same situation. I really hope I can get some more money because I love this school</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2 Beta-4</p>
<p>Yukina… how much were you offered by Columbia? What was your EFC on the FAFSA? Was Vanderbilt all need based or did you have some national merit involved? Good luck to you!</p>
<p>Call or email financial aid, and possibly schedule an appointment to talk with them in person at Days on Campus. But, as Cakelady says, check to make sure the other schools aren’t factoring in merit scholarships before trying to bargain using those packages. Columbia is need-only, keep that in mind.</p>
<p>The scholarships from Vandy and Case are clearly not need-based, so Columbia won’t match them. That said, it’s weird to get no aid at all if your parents only make $40K. You should have gotten like $10K. That would means you’re still paying something like 30% of your annual income to Columbia, but I’m sure they’d consider that affordable. And, to be honest, unless you have something else sucking up most of your parents’ annual income,it definitely is doable (if a little painful) to pay 30% of your income to Columbia for 4 years. At least you won’t have to take out loans.</p>