<p>I have heard Cornell can be a bit stingy with their financial aid. As a transfer applicant who would rather not have to take out $50-60K in loans, I think I might be screwed.</p>
<p>My parent's adjusted gross income is a bit over $240K and I have only one brother (who is in high school). According to the EFC calculator, my parent's annual contribution SHOULD be $62K. They are actually only willing to contribute $7-10K (they have many expenses other than my education), so I would have to make up the rest. Am I probably out of luck?</p>
<p>I know there are many knowledgeable Cornellians on these boards, help me out here! What do you think I will get?</p>
<p>With a parental income of $240k, you're plum out of luck on the financial aid front. And Cornell's generosity may be weak relative to Harvard or Princeton, but compared to most other colleges, they do a pretty good job in supporting students from low and middle income families. You wouldn't get any money at Harvard, either.</p>
<p>Would you be in one of the contract colleges? And how many years left do you have in your studies? </p>
<p>An on or off campus job paying $10 an hour isn't that hard to come by, and if you worked 15 hours a week, you could cover the cost of off-campus living expenses pretty well. If you live in a co-op or in a room down by the Commons or Fall Creek, housing can be pretty cheap in Ithaca. Add in summer employment savings, and you might have to take out less than $30k in loans, which isn't that bad. I graduated with $25k in loans, and I'm doing just fine.</p>
<p>I would also encourage you to apply for as many scholarships as you can. It's amazing how many different organizations (American Legion posts, Credit Unions, Boy Scout Troops, etc.) offer $500 - $1,000 scholarships. And those begin to add up after a while.</p>
<p>The other options would be to declare financial independence from your parents, or, perhaps your parents would be willing to give you a no-interest loan?</p>
<p>And I must say, your situation is pretty unique. I'm from Buffalo, and most families here live very comfortably on $60k a year, let alone $240k a year.</p>
<p>CayugaRed2005, that's awesome, because I've lived in Buffalo all my life, well in a nearby suburb anyways. Are there a lot of Buffalonians at Cornell?</p>
<p>I'd be entering into ILR as a junior (currently at SUNY Buffalo) which I believe means I get a generous discount from NYS.</p>
<p>The on campus job is a good idea. I've applied for a good amount of scholarships, but winning some can be tough due to how many people apply.</p>
<p>I guess the best thing to do would be to harass my dad for more help. Or even if I did have to take out a few loans, paying them back couldn't be that difficult with a Cornell degree. It's just scary to think I would be graduating in debt like that.</p>