<p>I have a feeling that I am not getting the amount of aid I deserve. I was hoping some of you can post how much loan you are taking each year and how much aid you are receiving. My parent's income was around $18,000 during my 2010 freshman year. Now they are making even less... Nevertheless, UCI suddenly keeps asking me to pay couple of hundred dollars out of pocket in the middle of the year. It doesn't seem right when I find out that other students have more grants when their parents make the same income as my parents...sometimes even more. </p>
<p>I would appreciate any posts with financial aid info, thanks.</p>
<p>You don’t “deserve” more aid just because your family happens to make less than others. No need to sound so entitled. Many grants are need based and obviously you’ve qualified for those, having only to pay a couple hundred dollars. However, there are also merit based grants/scholarships and perhaps that’s where those “other students” are getting that extra amount from.</p>
<p>Actually, UCI students from low income families get more benefits with aid than higher income families because the school believes that they deserve them. My real concern is with the need based grants you mentioned. I am not getting the maximum amount of need based aid that was suggested by Calgrant. I meet all the requirements, but they were withdrawn wihtout any reason. I guess I need to speak with Fin Aid about the reason but it is taking a long time to reach them during summer hours.</p>
<p>I am sorry you found the wrong tone in my post but I am only worried about possible mistakes the Fin Aid office could have made with my aid. Do you really blame me for being a little skeptical when everyone I speak to is getting more need based aid and my loans are exceeding well above average UCI students’ ?</p>
<p>HP has a point. My family makes a little over $10k more than OP and I am pretty much getting a full ride (minus the dorming). Haven’t actually started school yet, but my fin aid is reported to be so. Although I am wary that it is subject to change with possible increasing tuition and CA’s cuts in funding for schools.</p>
<p>With the amount that your parents earn, you should qualify for blue and gold, meaning that you will earn enough loans to cover the costs of school that aren’t covered by the grants that they give you. Just take out a small loan for that amount that they say you should pay. The average UCI student graduates with about 10,000 dollars in loans, so it’s not abnormal to take out loans.</p>