I was recently accepted to GWU in ED II but am worried about Financial Aid. My acceptance did say I received the Presidential Academic Scholarship in the amount of $10,000 but with a school like GWU that isn’t very much. Any alumni out there can speak from their experiences? I really want to make sure I get the best package as possible. Any tips? I am very concerned with the FA package that is on my own.
@LovelyAshley You will need to wait until your admittance packet arrives to see your full financial aid offer. That will include additional grants from the university, federal grants, and loans attached to it.
@GWU2018 is right, wait a bit more. I don’t know if you have a way to log-in to GWEB yet, but that’s another place where you’ll see your aid once everything is inputted into the system.
I received my admittance packet yesterday, but it did not come with any financial aid information!! I’m freaking out! All items were submitted on time!
@GWU2018 @NHuffer I don’t know what to do. My financial aid package is too low and I don’t know what to do ): I have been emailing and calling the office of financial aid but they cannot give me a package and have to accept my GWU acceptance by March 6. What should I do?
@LovelyAshley Can you afford the school with your current aid package? If not, and if the FinAid office won’t budge, it seems you won’t be able to attend. I know it sucks but it just isn’t possible for everyone to go to a private school. The ONLY reason I was able to go GW was because I received the GI Bill for being a veteran.
In the meantime, keep talking to the FinAid office. Let them know that you won’t be able to attend unless you receive X amount. They may have some wiggle room or they may not.
How much are you short? Can you do a Federal Work Study? To cover the difference you can also get a job on campus (non-FWS) and apply your earnings towards school. Sophomore year you can apply to be an RA (residential advisor) and I believe they get free room and board.
Let us know how much you’re short and whether or not you’re ABLE to take out more loans (more debt than you can handle is bad, as far as I’m concerned, but these would be loans you’d pay-off right away with that on-campus job).
@LovelyAshley That is why you should not have applied ED2. If you look through the forums, there are a handful of people who wanted to apply ED to GW and had GW as their first choice but decided against it because they needed a very specific financial aid package in order to attend the university.
@LovelyAshley are you saying you got your full package and there is no need component, only the merit aid? Merit aid usually is applied to unmet need, then to your EFC. Did you run the GWU Net Price Calculator before you committed ED and that cost was acceptable to you? So you are saying your package is less than that?
@GWEDII You are wrong. Her financial aid package would have been exactly the same had she applied either ED or RD. In fact, students are able to drop out of their ED agreement if the institution does not cover the financial need of the student. Regardless of when you apply, or under what program, there is no discrimination in terms of financial aid packages.
@LovelyAshley Have you received any need-based aid? As @BrownParent highlighted, you’ll need to be more specific as to what your package actually is. If they have sent you your entire package (merit aid, need-aid, and federal loan/grant information) then that is basically the only offer they will be willing to give you unless you have an extenuating circumstance. I’m very sorry to hear if the university was not able to provide you with the nessecary funding to attend. Best of luck.
@NHuffer @GWU2018 First, thank you for being so kind and helpful! Many are quick to critique me for applying to a school I cannot afford (shoot me for dreaming!). Anyways, here is my FA Package:
Total:
-Federal Sub Stafford Loan $3,500
-Federal UnSub Stafford Loan $2,000
-Presidential Academic Scholarship $10,000
-University and Alumni Award $26,300
-Federal Work-Study Program $2,200
-Federal Perkins Loan $2,000
Total Awards: $46,000
Also, I live in California so obviously there are many other factors I have to consider such as room & board, airfare, clothes, etc. Do you have any idea if GWU has any representatives out here in California? Honestly, if I GWU was here I would go in person to speak to them. Contacting the office over the phone and through emails has not been very successful. My responses sound like the answers of an automative machine, unfortunately. Doing the math with my counselor we found that I would be about $70,000 in debt once done with my Bachelor’s. I was hoping to have more about $20,000 in loans or at least very little. Loans are quite intimidating.
Oh! And they have not looked over my FAFSA. My expected family contribution is about $10,000, which I can do, but they are asking for a lot more.
Well, the way I see it- you’re not that far off.
2014-2015 Tuition: $48,700 (sheesh, that’s $9K more than I paid)
Room and board: $11,700 (this varies depending on the dorm/set-up)
Books/supplies $1,275
Fees: $410
That’s all you have to pay for school itself (we’ll talk about transportation and stuff in a bit). Total: $62,085. That’s $16,000 more than your package. If you count your family’s $10,000 contribution you’re at $6,000. If you’re able/willing to work, it’s very likely that you can make that much money over the course of the year (especially if you take into consideration a summer job). If you’re worried about working and finding time to study, have no fear- there’s a lot of jobs you can find ON CAMPUS that’ll be low-demanding enough so that you can study while you work. I had friends that did just that.
If you have a job right now or are willing to get one after you graduate HS, you should be able to put aside a few thousand $$$. This will cover your personal goods (bedding, towels, clothes, alarm clock, etc) if your family wasn’t planning on paying for this already. You should also have enough left over to pay for your own flights, at least for beginning of school year and Christmas (if money’s tight and your family is in CA then you might have to sacrifice a few of those extra trips around Thanksgiving and maybe spring break. Maybe, depends on when you can find and start a job on campus).
So, if this sounds like something you want to pursue, I think the way you’d go about it (you’d have to check with either Admissions or Student Accounts, I forget which) then you should be able to set-up a payment plan for the remainder of the money you owe the university. That’s how you’d be able to pay that $6,000 as you go ($6K over 9 academic months is only $666 a month. That should be very easy to earn at any on- or off-campus job).
Even better, if you DO decide to go for it and work through your first year, there’s a chance you won’t even have to work during the school year again (unless you want spending money). If you can get into the Resident Adviser program (http://studentengagement.gwu.edu/resident-advisors) you get FREE room and board. I have no idea how competitive the program is, but if you can swing it you’d be knocking-off $10-14K a year from your bill. That way your family’s contribution can go to books and transportation 
Ok, I said a lot, lol (the caffeine is really flowing this morning). BUT, if GW is something you REALLY want it can work. You’d be working through your 4 years (I did it, most of my friends did it) but assuming your FinAid package stays the same, you’d be graduating with around $30K in debt (less if you can get free/discounted room and board and apply your monthly income towards your school bill). That’s more than the $20k you want to spend but you’re still at the national average (I highly recommend staying at or below $30K in total debt).
Caveat: I’m not a financial adviser or anything like that, but I know the school and I’m the kind of person who figures out how to get what you want (I had to fight to go/stay at GW). If you have any questions about the above feel free to ask. You still have plenty of time to figure out if this is something you want to pursue, and I’m glad to help someone achieve their goal of attending GW
Just a quick peek at current on-campus listings: (you might need to register to view them)
Museum shop sales assistant; 12-20 hours a week; $11/hr
https://gwu-csm.symplicity.com/students/index.php?mode=form&id=f71c1526a863e3492df100d5559326c2&s=jobs&ss=jobs
Staff Assistant - Admissions and Student Advisor Support; 20 hours a week; $9.50/hr
https://gwu-csm.symplicity.com/students/index.php?mode=form&id=5db92c911644c11bd6a2464de9ebae32&s=jobs&ss=jobs
Colonial Connection Caller; 10-15 hour a week; $11.50/hr
https://gwu-csm.symplicity.com/students/index.php?mode=form&id=3d4dafa04c5e8a025392de875c36a0ba&s=jobs&ss=jobs
These are just a sample of the kind of jobs you’ll be able to find. February isn’t the best time to find an on-campus job, lol. If you started looking in August you’d be set for the new academic year.
@LovelyAshley That sounds like quite the standard financial aid package for a student here. @NHuffer did a great job of breaking down the cost analysis, and what you’re actually going to pay. One thing that I will say is that depending on what department you work for at the university, they may keep you for over your federal work study allowance. So you can make a little more than $2200 (like I do).
Make sure you talk over the costs with your family, and see what they can afford to do. But keep in mind that your tuition is locked in, and this can be a huge factor in determining where you spend your money. Almost any institution you go to will charge you an additional 3.5% in tuition increases every year, which can average to an additional $1500-2000 per year. You will not face that here.
Good luck, and I hope you are able to attend.
@NHuffer @GWU2018 Thank you so much! I cannot express my gratitude. Your response have helped so much. Every has been telling me that it would be impossible to pay for GWU so it is nice to see some helpful positive advices. I know that is not going to be easy but evidently it is possible.
Hey, any time. I know exactly what it feels like to really want to attend GW but have everyone tell me it’s not affordable. Hang in there, figure out what you’re willing to do with regard to working during the summer and during the school year, and keep us posted. If you need any other help feel free to shoot me a message!
@LovelyAshley what is your cost of attendance?
@Hippobirdy I don’t know.
@NHuffer I am not sure what to do because my parents think it’s too much…having the worst time convincing them.
how much is owed to GW?
@lovelyAshley When you log into your GWU application status page, there should be a link to your “cost of attendance page” it will show the GWU costs for 2015-16 year, then your grants and scholarships (free money) will be subtracted from that number. This will show what your net costs actually are. This is the number that is important because it is the real number before any loans, work study etc. This is the number you have to discuss with your parents to figure out if GWU is affordable. Then below this number it shows you your options to pay: work study, loans and your expected family contribution (usually higher than on the FAFSA form).
Although GWU has fixed tuition, other things go up, most notably housing. My son’s housing and meal plans had a net increase of almost 5k from freshman to sophomore year (The dorm went way up and the meal plan went down). There are options for dorms that are not as steep, but he is in affinity housing and the dorm is dictated by that. All the information on the dorms and meal plans are clearly spelled out on the website, so make sure you check that out also to factor in costs in subsequent years.