According to @jmjmm 's post above, they got a merit award and did not file a FAFSA. There’s another post above about a deferred student with strong stats and National Merit.
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Congrats! I think CSS schools mainly focus on what they perceive as your “need.” We received a pre-read from Northeastern who thinks we can pay $33K based on the FAFSA & CSS. In reality we can budget for SUNY prices, closer to $25K. Can we pull off $33K? Probably with some loans. Do we want to for my son who has an end goal of PhD in clinical psych and a long road of schooling ahead? No. So my guess is that the FA package for us, whether or not it includes merit, will come in between $30K-$40K for Fordham. Since we have offers ranging between $20K-$30K right now (with more merit on the table for competitive awards and some schools willing to honor appeals for more $) Fordham probably won’t work out. So if parents do not file the FAFSA, I think they assume you can pay full price but often still offer some merit.
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Mine too.
I do wonder if the are reducing the portion of National Merit applicants who they award aid to this year.
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Following
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For some, Fordham makes sense if they get the major merit award but not if they are full pay, regardless of parents capacity to pay.
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At the information session, the AO said that to be considered for all the merit awards, you need to file the FAFSA. Even if you think you don’t qualify for any aid. She said it twice. So if you didn’t file, there are some awards that are off the table.
On the website, requirements for renewal of some merit awards include filing the FAFSA each year. I suspect they gave financial aid to those who need it and a smaller merit award to those who don’t qualify.
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That really is a bummer since you had such a positive experience. You would think being an alum would mean SOMETHING. Did your kids visit and really like the vibe? Were they leaning towards Rose Hill? My son didn’t visit but based on the remote tour, he liked LC better because it was smaller and closer to the Manhattan area which he is more familiar with due to frequent travel there when my daughter was in high school and involved with theatre. Where did your oldest end up? Best of luck to your kids and here’s hoping you get an FA package that can make this work!
@AmyIzzy yes, both daughters visited Fordham a couple of times. Both preferred Rose Hill b/c they wanted an actual campus. Oldest did a tour of LC but it was too small for her in terms of how many students lived there. Both want/wanted urban schools, but figured RH offers the traditional experience with opportunity to take classes at LC so they applied to RH.
Will PM you where my oldest ended up.
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We didn’t file a FAFSA and daughter got the $20,000/year award. Perhaps there are larger award that are not based on being a NMSF.
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My kid got the NMSF full-tuition award even though they didn’t fill out FAFSA. I think one has to submit it in order to actually receive the money tho.
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This is interesting. In our case, we did not submit the FAFSA b/c there is no chance of DD getting financial aid. I actually spoke to Fordham early on and explained this and they said you could actually submit FAFSA later or sign a form verifying income. One of the reasons we looked at Fordham was b/c she potentially could be eligible for both the National Recognition and/or National Merit Award, and ended up being deferred.
If someone does submit the FAFSA and is eligible for financial aid, say $20,000 as an example, would the University then provide the National Merit scholarship for the balance? Whereas with someone that clearly will receive no aid, the school receives $0 in financial aid and has to foot the entire bill? Is this how merit aid would work in a situation where the student is eligible for a full merit scholarship?
It’s not the 20,000 one. There are smaller awards that come out in January.
I don’t know. The vast majority of applicants are not up for full tuition awards. That said, many students receive 7,500, 10,000, 12,500 awards. Sometimes they receive a 12,500 Loyola + a 10,000 tuition award.
I don’t know how the National Merit awards work.
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I am not talking about a $20k merit award. I am saying that if a kid is admitted with the National Recognition or NMSF full scholarship, but qualifies for financial aid (pick any amount, $5k, $20, etc.) does the school file and keep the financial aid award and then provide the rest of the merit scholarship for tuition up to the amount of tuition?
Whereas if another kid qualifies for no financial aid, but receives the NMSF Award then the school would not recover any need based aid and would then cover the entire cost of the tuition?
Per the Fordham site regarding how financial aid meshes with full tuition scholarships — at least from the NMSF & NRP side of things.
Semifinalist and National Recognition Program Scholarships
The full-tuition award renewable for four years. All students who are designated as Semifinalists by the National Merit Recognition Program or Scholars by the National Hispanic Recognition Program, African American Recognition Program, or Indigenous Recognition Program (new in 2021) will be considered for this scholarship. Of this pool of candidates last year, 71% of designees received the award. This scholarship augments gift aid from all sources to cover the full tuition cost each year (fees not included) for courses taken as a traditional undergraduate student at Fordham. Other sources may include the Federal Pell Grant, state assistance, and other resources. The scholarship will be adjusted for only one-half of other non-tuition-specific outside resources or scholarships. The remaining half may be used for additional educational expenses.
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Yes, that is my impression of how it works. That there is a pot of money for need-based aid, and then a pot of money for these full tuition scholarships. To maintain my kid’s full tuition (for being NMS), we have to fill out the FAFSA each year at Fordham. I guess just in case our income dips and we are suddenly eligible for money from other “pots” or even Pell etc. ETA: Although they don’t guarantee the full tuition scholarship at the beginning, only 71% are awarded this. Your kid may still be in the running for the full scholarship if she is admitted in RD, as far as we know.
Anyone get an invite to the Ignite Scholars Program at Gabelli?
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We submitted both the CSS and FAFSA forms for merit to Fordham. Thought we had to submit both forms in order to quality for merit. (We don’t quality for FA.) Daughter received the dean’s scholarship–(20 K) so filing didn’t impact scholarship. Still quite expensive though and would need to receive more $ to make it doable.
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When do people get invited to the Honors Program at Rose Hill? Has anyone been invited yet?
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