Financial Award Letter

<p>I received my financial award letter from Bard today, and I have several questions.
Question 1: Does Bard give financial aid for rooms and board?
On the letter, where it says Bard Scholarshp, does it usually include financial<br>
aid for rooms and board?
Some colleges, especially public colleges in my state, gives scholarships for
students rooms and board; bard doesn’t seem like one of them.</p>

<p>Question 2: Is $37,200 a good amount of financial aid at Bard?
$37,200 including $3,500 federal direct loan(sub) and $2,000 federal direct loan
(Unsub)
The estimated budget for the 2011-2012 Aid Year is $59,487, which means I
have to take out $20,000 loan!?</p>

<p>Bard is my first choice, but chances are that I will go to NJ state public college where I only have to take out $5,000/year. I applied for New Generation Scholarships, but either in my acceptance letter nor in my financial award letter indicate anything regarding the scholarships. My family is really struggling with our fiances even now when I am still in a public high school. $20,000 for some people may not be a big deal, but for my parents, who are struggling to pay off the monthly rent, $20,000 is just impossible.</p>

<p>Anyone has any suggestions about what I should do with financial aid? Maybe give up Bard and go to my state’s public college are my ultimate and only choices?</p>

<p>1) the aid they give you is towards the total cost, so ~60k/yr minus ~37k/yr comes out to ~23k/yr that you would have to pay for tuition, rm/brd, fees etc.</p>

<p>2) that seems like a great package, but i don’t know what your EFC is like. a $32,000/yr scholarship/grant is pretty substantial. supposing you went to bard for 4 years, that’s $128,000 that you don’t have to pay. but it makes sense that the difference is tough to pay, bard is one of the most expensive colleges in the country :/</p>

<p>you can always appeal to the office of financial aid and see if they can give you a better offer. explain to them that you really want to go there, but financially it might not be possible, and you might have to go to a state school even if you don’t want to. i’m sure they’ll understand. best of luck!</p>

<p>My EFC is $2500.
I either have to take out $20,000 loan to go to bard, or take $5,000 loan to go to NJ State College.
I visited NJ state college, it is actually nice.
I will visit Bard this saturday and then I will have to make my final decision.
It is very unfortunate and distressed when financial aid has became the determining factor in students’ college decision.
Does it have to be that way? Why everything has to be money based? We work for money, and controlled by it our whole life. I choose Bard because I am tired of competition. I am tired of numbers, which has became the ultimate measurement for students’ ability. I want to take a break, to relax myself in the midest of woods, to learn without pressure for pure enjoyment of learning. In the end, I have discovered that it was a dream. A dream, pure and beautiful, is an altered state of reality.</p>

<p>Your FAFSA EFC may be $2500, but perhaps the CSS Profile is looking at additional assets, such as home equity? If you really think there has been a mistake made you should appeal to the financial aid office. I don’t believe they expect you to take out an additional $20,000 in loans per year on top of the $5,500 in your offer. Bard must believe that your parents have the funds to contribute most, if not all, of that $20,000. If they do not understand your personal circumstances, then you should see if you can clear up any misunderstandings.</p>

<p>I will try to talk to the financial aid department, and address my personal circumstances.
Even if my EFC is 2500, my parents are not going to pay a penny for my education.
They believe that education is like an investment. Since the day that I decided to go to liberal art school, and be an English major, they have refused to support me, knowing that their investment will never paid back.
I don’t blame them. I know how much they have gone through their whole life. Working 12 hours a day, making minimum wage, they are just tired of being poor, and I have disappointed them by destroying their dream, the dream that I will be rich one day.
I am not saying it is impossible to go to Bard by taking out loans. I will probably receive $8,000 scholarships from my public high school. I will work in the summer and whenever I have time. I am not a party person. For me, library, a shelter to sleep, and food is enough. I just need to quiet myself down and rest my minds, keeping my thoughts in the form of writing and it is enough to be happy.
The first year, I will probably end up taking $15,000 loan. The question is do I have to make myself work so hard to go to Bard? Sometimes I feel I am still not mature enough. I am a very emotional person, but most of the times I follow by my reasons rather than my emotions. I have a lot of options besides Bard and they are much cheaper. I don’t know why I feel that I HAVE to go to Bard. It is a feeling, an emotional one. I feel that I am becoming a child once again, a stubborn one. Life is short. How many times can you take risks in your life with no fear of forthcoming challenges. The more we grow, the more resonable we are, the less emotional we appear to be, and less likely we are going to take risks.</p>

<p>I too received far less than I can afford from Bard in my financial aid award. I will also have to pay around 20,000 + per year, seeing as my mother and I can nowhere near afford the remaining amount after my package of 34,200 a year. </p>

<p>Honestly, Bard is where I want to go and as much as money can be scary, I don’t want it to be the sole reason I can’t go where I want to go and be happy. I plan on taking out loans this summer for school, working very hard and then in the fall I will go into financial aid and ask them to reevaluate my amount, which I’ve heard can work. I also plan to see if they give me more next year. Not only that but if I apply to become an RA/PC (looks after dorms and such) I can slash room and board costs off from my annual expenses. That’s Bard’s reward for RA’s. </p>

<p>Given that none of this works over the course of next year, then I WILL have to once again reevaluate my options and consider transferring, as i won’t be able to afford this amount after four whole years. I’m hoping for the best and I plan on giving it a year just to see how things go.</p>

<p>Best of luck to you and hopefully this helped a little.</p>