<p>Financial aid package was a lot less than expected.
Has anyone negotiated with financial aid or had any luck getting more money?</p>
<p>How much did you get, if you don’t mind me asking? I’m still waiting on my FA package, and I’m starting to get real nervous.
If you have any better packages from other colleges then you might could use that to your advantage to try to get more money from Ithaca. Of course they would need to be similar caliber schools. You could send them a very nice email stating that Ithaca is your first choice and you really want to go there…but xxxxx college has offered you xxxxx amount, and you really can’t afford to attend Ithaca without more money.</p>
<p>DS is still waiting on his package. He will not be able to attend unless they give him lots. He got an 18K scholarship, but that just helps a little.</p>
<p>Jennee98 I got a 12k scholarship and 2,300 in grants.
With loans/work study, I got a total around 20,000, leaving over 30,000 to be paid each year.</p>
<p>@worldforgetting - I’m sorry you didn’t get more. Will you still be able to attend? If I only get 2,300 in grants then I wouldn’t be able to attend Ithaca…
I’m really getting anxious at this point.</p>
<p>We are going through the appeal process now, so far the financial aid office has been helpful. Ithaca is my first choice, but I would need a significant amount more in order to attend.
I will let you know what they respond with.
Good luck to you!</p>
<p>I will keep my fingers crossed for you. I actually contacted Ithaca just a while ago and they said that they mailed my FA package on the 26th…so I’ll know something in the next few days. Ithaca is my first choice as well but I will also need alot of FA to attend.</p>
<p>We just finished up the appeal process. Very disappointing as I think we have a great case (a FA from another university with same major) … they ended up giving us $2K more. Just not enough IMO as it’s still about $8K more than the other school! Disappointing.</p>
<p>I’m so sorry IthacaMomof3. Is your son/daughter still planning to attend Ithaca even though the other college is a little cheaper?</p>
<p>We’re going to the Accepted Students Day on April 6 (Clarkson) and April 14 (IC). That (how she feels at each school) and looking at the implications of cost will make the final decision. At $8K/year (and since she’s planning on going for Phyiscal Therapy, this means 6 years), that’s a big cost difference. I can’t afford it (as a single mom) so she’d have to pick up that difference in loans. Assuming no cost increase over the next 6 years (ha!), that’s approx $50K in loans. That’s pretty life changing.</p>
<p>But … I want her to feel good about where she is so if she feels that in the long run, IC is the better fit, we’ll somehow figure it out.</p>
<p>Jennee98, good luck!! I hope the numbers are strong for you!</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone on getting more FA. Son still has not received his package, but considering what you are saying, I think that IC will have to come off his list. :-(</p>
<p>@MomTeacherNurse - I would hold off on crossing them off the list until his package comes in, especially if your son really likes Ithaca - you never know what they’re gonna give him and every situation is different.
I actually got my FA on Friday (finally!) and they were actually pretty generous (only $11,000 left over to pay). So don’t give up hope yet.</p>
<p>wow, that’s awesome jennee98!</p>
<p>Apparently they adjust some FA once you go there. This is according to a current IC parent’s personal experience.</p>
<p>jennee98 - Wow, they really were generous! DS heard from the financial aid person today and she said that it would be a “couple of weeks” before DS gets his package. We are so discouraged! My son wanted to have made a decision by a couple weeks.</p>
<p>anghad - They adjust up or they adjust down?</p>
<p>In this parent’s case it was up by 4k. I wrote an appeal today. As another parent said “too poor to pay and too rich for aid.”</p>
<p>anghad - Yeah, that sounds like us: “too poor to pay and too rich for aid”. We are expecting the FA package today. We’ll see.</p>
<p>IthacaMom, IC is a great school, but I do sometimes wonder why people spend the add’l money for degrees in fields where the UG degree has little effect on incomes. To me many technical medical degrees, PT, OT, Rad… like teaching, have a general fixed income band regardless of school attended. Please dont take offense, I am curious of the mindset is all. And ultimately Good Luck!</p>