<p>Hello everyone! We are new to the forum and we have a problem...we would appreciate any answers and advice you can give us.</p>
<p>My son will be going to college this Fall, and we have gone through all the college process already. But we are hesitant in making our decision because of financial troubles. EFC 33,000 looks good income but not anymore because I was laid off. Because I got a severance package, 2005 income looks high. We are waiting for NYU and Boston U's response.</p>
<p>Question 1: Should we contact the financial offices of NYU and Boston U right now, or after we get the acceptance letter (assuming he gets in)? </p>
<p>Question 2: He got a scholarship from Rutgers for $5000 a year, and since it is out of state and he is in the Pharm D. Program, it will cost us roughly $180,000 for the six years, and the $20,000 won't help much. Can I still talk to Financial office of Rutgers with supporting documents?</p>
<p>I am sorry to hear about your difficult situation. </p>
<p>My advice is to look right now for a financial safety that you know that your son can gain acceptance to and also you can afford. That's likely to be a public university or community college within commuting distance.</p>
<p>Both NYU and BU are not known for being generous with their aid. Because your S is out of state, I'm doubting that Rutgers will give what you need, though you definitely should contact them.</p>
<p>I also suggest that you have your son talk ASAP with his guidance counselor to find out if there are any colleges that might be willing to accept him at this late date and that he also could afford to go to.</p>
<p>Another option would be for him to take a gap year, do something productive like Americorps (in which he would do community service while earning a small stipend plus about $4,500 that he could use for college). </p>
<p>In a worst case scenerio in which you don't get another job for a long time, if he applies to college for the year 2007, your income this year would be what the collleges would be looking at.</p>
<p>I hope, though, that things work out in that you quickly get a well paying new job.</p>
<p>I'd talk to them now. I can't imagine anything worse than getting an acceptance, and being told at the same time that financially it is simply impossible. At least call them, and ask what you should do.</p>
<p>If berurah does not check this thread, PM her. Her H had a layoff situation with similar timing last year. So she has been through this and will have first hand experience about what/when to say to the financial aid folks.</p>
<p>--
"PM" is Private Message. If you are not familiar, search for posts by berurah. When you find one, click on her name to the left of the post. It will give you the option of sending her a private message or (perhaps) sending her an email. Either one and she will help - she is a generous poster.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replys! I did PM berurah. It's difficult to make my son to understand that it's not our fault and he has to take the hit! My promise to him is he did his best and we will break our necks for him!</p>
<p>I am very sorry to hear about what happened, the job market is pretty cruel these days.
However, i agree with mini
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I'd talk to them now. I can't imagine anything worse than getting an acceptance, and being told at the same time that financially it is simply impossible. At least call them, and ask what you should do
[/quote]
Even though it may jeopardize your son's chances, since he is US citizen, i don't think it'll affect him that much.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My promise to him is he did his best and we will break our necks for him!
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wow, you are a great parent.
and if your son deserves to go to the school, i don't think fin. aid prob. will keep him out!
best of luck</p>
<p>Colleges often make changes for situations such as yours. The FAO's realize that the FAFSA and Profile forms do not give a perfect picture.</p>
<p>Send a letter to the FAO explaining your situation. Provide numbers to back it up. FAO's are people too. If you make a compelling appeal, you can expect to see better awards.</p>
<p>Many fin aid people are on your side, they do want your kid to receive best package so talking to all your colleges is a must. OTOH if your numbers for 2005 year look good their hands might be tied and they could not do much.</p>
<p>I agree with Northstar mom suggestions- BU and especially NYU are not known for being flexible or offering good aid to anyone- since you know at the outset that financial challenges exist- I would look for a more affordable alternative.</p>
<p>Do it now, for a simple, practical reason:
It might be easier to get aid now than when all of the money has been allocated. </p>
<p>Colleges have yield formulas and try to allocate all of what they have. If the money is already gone, it's hard to ask for (a lot) extra. OTOH, if you let the college know now that you'll be needing extra money, it's easier for them to adjust for you.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear about the lay-off. Being unemployed is scary at any time, but even worse when our kids are about to go to college, and even more expenses are looming.</p>
<p>From what you say, you got laid off and received the severance package in 2005. I hope that in these past 2 months you have encouraged your son to apply to more affordable schools. Many schools had deadlines after Jan.1 2006</p>
<p>Can you apply to your State schools at this point? There are still schools accepting applications in March.</p>
<p>Do contact the 3 schools (Rutgers, NYU and BU), a.s.a.p. and explain the situation. I cannot imagine that waiting would do any good.</p>
<p>We were told by friends that if we notify the college of financial problem before he is accepted will lower his chance to get into that college!? I don't want to do anything that may ruin his hard work.
Since the change of financial situation, we made him applied to a bunch of safety schools and he get accepted into all of them and I can see no excitement on his face and it really hurt my feeling.</p>
<p>if you can't afford to pay for the school- will it matter if he is accepted or not?
There are many good schools that are affordable and that offer good aid.
As Carolyn and others have posted- a "safety" school is often not one that you can be excited about.
However a good fit or a good match school you can get excited about if you are careful about selecting your good match school as you are your reach.
Schools may adjust your financial aid package even though the 2006-2007 year is based on 2005 income.
However ancedotal experience for example on NYU aid isn't great.
For example, I know one girl who was recruited by NYU, attended for two years, her mother , who was a single parent died during her sophmore year, although she was able to scrape up the money to finish her 2nd year, NYU, even though she was a current student, did not help her complete her studies there and she had to drop out.
I understand having your eye on a certain school, but it is far better to start somewhere you have a good chance of staying, than to have to transfer later because of funds
Contact the schools and explain your situation- without waiting to see if he is accepted or not.
You may also wish to read some of the threads from students who are attending their 2nd or 6th choices, many of them are doing very well and are happy.</p>
<p>I'm with Emerald. Why bother with the acceptance if you can't pay for it?</p>
<p>Generally, the financial aid differenetial only matters for a few people. Most students are admitted or rejected either way. I think the largest thing you can do to jeopardize his chances are to not properly plan for paying for college - and, at this time, not contacting Financial Aid is the biggest mistake you can make.</p>
<p>"We were told by friends that if we notify the college of financial problem before he is accepted will lower his chance to get into that college!? I don't want to do anything that may ruin his hard work."</p>
<p>You have bought into the fallacy that just because a student works hard, they deserve to be able to go to any college of their choice that admits them.</p>
<p>This is simply not true for college or for anything else in life. People work hard -- very hard -- and still have to buy the house, furniture, car, clothing, etc. that they can afford. I am sure that if you had unlimited funds, you probably would have, for instance, a different lifestyle and more than likely your kids also would have gone to a different (possibly expensive private) secondary and elementary school.</p>
<p>Still, virtually everyone manages to be reasonably happy with the things that their hard work affords.</p>
<p>The same can be true for your son. We are fortunate that the US has literally thousands of colleges. There are many colleges where any individual student would be happy. </p>
<p>Understandably, your son probably is disappointed that his possibilities now face some restrictions, but it will be his choice whether to curse fate and choose to be miserable or whether to enjoy the still wide possibilities that he has.</p>
<p>Please know that most very smart, hard working students can't afford to go to expensive, financially stingy schools like BU or NYU. They still manage to happily be college educated.</p>
<p>"We were told by friends..." continues to be the most dangerous phrase in the college funding process. You are assured that it will provide faulty information and false expectations.</p>
<p>Never forget! Choosing a college is an economic decision. Never choose a college based upon a "good name" and put you and your child in debt beyond your eyeballs, when you could get an education that is just as good for much less.</p>