help!!!!

<p>i really hope somebody can help me on this. financially, rice isn't offering me enough money to attend. i think the total cost of going to rice is around 39k, and i got a scholarship for 21k (1st 2 years) and 14k (2nd 2 years). my parents make about 90k combined and my efc was 28k, but they only want to pay about 15k. is there any way to convince the financial aid officers to give me the extra 4 or 5k that i will need? i called my financial aid officer, but she said there was little chance I could get more aid, since my merit scholarship would cover all of my financial aid. could anybody give me suggestions on appealing the decision or ideas on what to do next?</p>

<p>also, i got similar aid offers from vandy and case western, does anybody think these schools could be negotiated with to give me more aid since rice won't?</p>

<p>work during the school year- that can earn you several thousand dollars and not only can you pay for your books and personal expenses yourself, but if you get an on campus job, it will give you a great way to meet people.
Work during the summer- you can earn $3,000 at least that can be put toward tuition.
Take out student loans- it isn't unreasonable to graduate with $15,000 to $20,000 of debt- this is a valuable purchase you are making, and while I recognize that you have earned a very nice merit award, you can do even more to meet your expenses</p>

<p>tks for the advice, i didn't realize i could make so much doing summer work. but, i was counting on working during the school year, how much could i expect to make doing that? i thought 2k would be about right. but about loans, what kind of loans could i take out?</p>

<p>What is your intended major? If it's technical/engineering and if you live in an area that has lots of big companies with internships, you could make 6K (or more) over the summer.</p>

<p>Rice is a great school, would hate to see you miss out.</p>

<p>well, i'm majoring in psychology/pharmacy w/ premed...so i guess i wouldn't really qualify for those 6k things</p>