<p>SO i was really excited to find out that I got into Fordham U early decision!! It was my first choice school and you know obviously i was very happy but i recently got my financial aid estimate ... only $11,000.. my parents cant pay $30,000 for me to go to college considering my sister is also currently enrolled in college too. Can I appeal my aid award? If i get offered about $20,000 in aid should I still go there and get loans to cover the rest or stick with a state school?</p>
<p>I got a similar package, about 12,000 in grants, rest were loans, etc. I don't think it hurts to try to get more aid, at my school, most kids didn't get more than 15,000 unless they were really over Fordham's stats. I probably wont be able to go, I don't want to pay that much and my parents have 2 more to go to college. Is a state school your only option? Some students get more from private than public. If you have a good state school, you should consider going there, but see what you can do at Fordham. It never hurts to try.</p>
<p>I believe you have a binding contract if you applied early decision.</p>
<p>Well I was actually excepted in the early action program which isnt binding...anyway do you have any advice for me?</p>
<p>Was the $11,000 grant just for need-based financial aid? Did you recieve a scholarship or is there a chance you still might be getting a scholarship?</p>
<p>I think most of the scholarships go out to the EA applicants early, but there must be some not used and students that say No, I'm not going.</p>
<p>Dee_confused: Thanks for clearing that up. Since you wrote "early decision" I thought it was a done deal. Unfortunately I have little advice but maybe a few questions. Does Fordham meet 100% of financial need? How closely did Fordham use your EFC? And what does that $11,000 consist of? A grant? A loan? Work-study? And as someone else asked, is it need-based or merit-based? With more information we might be able to offer a tiny bit of advice.</p>
<p>Well $9,000 is "Fordham Aid Grant" and about $2000 is Stafford loans ... I am not sure if the school meets 100% of fiancial need and hwo closely it uses EFC to be honest...my award package didnt say anything about scholarpships, which i guess i understand because i have average stat's... so anyway what do you guys think i should do?</p>
<p>This was on a college site I bookmarked. This is for Fordham. It doesn't look like many get a package without loans, about 23%.The average package is what we got, so that was on the mark. Packages have to be taken apart though and can be deceiving. I know 2 students that got what what my son did in total, but one had more loans and one had about 4000 more aid.</p>
<p>Percentage of needy full-time degree-seeking freshman financial aid recipients whose need was fully met (excluding PLUS loans, unsubsidized loans, and private alternative loans): 23%
Percentage of needy full-time degree-seeking undergraduate financial aid recipients whose need was fully met (excluding PLUS loans, unsubsidized loans, and private alternative loans): 23%
Percentage of need met for full-time degree-seeking freshmen who received need-based financial aid: 80%
Percentage of need met for full-time degree-seeking undergraduates who received need-based financial aid: 76%
Average financial aid package of needy full-time degree-seeking freshmen: $19,464
Average financial aid package of needy full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: $18,363
Average need-based gift award to full-time degree-seeking freshmen financial aid recipients: $16,052
Average need-based gift award to full-time degree-seeking undergraduate financial aid recipients: $13,771
Average need-based self-help award to full-time degree-seeking freshmen financial aid recipients: $3,949
Average need-based self-help award to full-time degree-seeking undergraduate financial aid recipients: $5,163
Average need-based loan to full-time degree-seeking freshmen financial aid recipients: $2,792
Average need-based loan to full-time degree-seeking undergraduate financial aid recipients: $4,262
Percentage of full-time degree-seeking freshmen financial aid applicants who had no financial need who received non-need-based aid: 78%
Percentage of full-time degree-seeking undergraduate financial aid applicants who had no financial need who received non-need-based aid: 99%
Average award to full-time degree-seeking undergraduates who had no financial need and received non-need-based aid: $8,276</p>
<p>I know for a fact that there are some students who got a full ride at Fordham, but they are exceptional in scholastics. One piece of advice that I can give is:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>make sure you fill out the College Board "CSS" profile, schools like Fordham use this to determine if you qualified for need-base aid directly from the school, and if you do, how much.</p></li>
<li><p>dont forget that you could always apply for student employment via financial aid to help supplement some of the expenses you will accrue in college.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Dee-Confused: if you can mustard the cost I think you should do it, you won't regret it, Fordham is a great school. Dont forget, that the probability of you or your parents getting into some kind of debt to pay for school is a reality that more than 70% of college students and their families must face. But just think of it as an investment into your life. I received a nice amount of money from Fordham, and I still end up borrowing about $7,000 a semester to cover all my expenses.</p>
<p>Best of luck to everyone!</p>
<p>$7,000 a semester? So $14.000 per year? x 4 years? That's a lot of debt for undergraduate degree. I would calculate just how much that would be per month when you start paying that back.</p>
<p>What would be considered "exceptional" at Fordham to receive a "full ride"?</p>
<p>With my limited resources of students, exceptional was 1400+ SAT's and good EC's (community service over long periods of time) Some of these students would of been able to go somewhere else, but liked Fordham. Someone on this board said the gpa to keep the money was vague, a student at my school said it was 3.5, which is higher than most. I don't know for sure though, not seeing it in print.</p>
<p>well bluejay: that is certainly the case, more than likely across the board. If you dont like the idea of getting into that kind of debt for an undergrad degree, the only other option would be a state school - which is not a bad solution, there are many great state funded schools.</p>
<p>getting in a lot of debt for an undergrad degree doesnt seem like a great idea...but i really like fordham a lot...i wish someone could make this decision for me hahaha. thank you guys for your advice and input...let me know if you have any more advice...i really appreciate it</p>
<p>I didnt think fordham was great with fin aid, my total package was about 18,600 with about 4000 in loans. I did recieve a scholarship though. I am still waiting to hear back from other schools. UMiami gave me a package of about 18,000 but that included about 5000 in loans and 2500 work study. So the fordham package is alot better.</p>
<p>I was accepted early action, however I didn't finish my FASFA and the CSS profile until February. I got it all finished in time, but I haven't heard anything from Fordham regarding financial aid. Did anyone recieve some sort of e-mail or letter verifying that the school has recieved their info? When is everyone supposed to have their package by?</p>
<p>ambreexyy, I would call because ours was "lost in the mail". I read on their live journal site that many students had gotten theirs and heard of a few students at my son's school that had gotten letters. They re-sent it and someone took pity on me and told me it over the phone. (privacy issues say they shouldn't) It wasn't bad, but we got better packages so it doesn't look like it will be in the running. April 1st will hopefully be the deciding day though. They also gave me an oasis log-in where I could eventually see his package online and if he went there, keep track of our loans, etc.</p>
<p>I appreciate people sharing the details from the financial aid packages. It helps to know if we should even bother getting interested in Fordham. I'm still wondering how Fordham's packages were in relation to your EFC from FASA or the PROFILE. This is really key as to how to evaluate the package. Maybe someone could share this information. THANKS!</p>