How do I successfully appeal Harvard's financial aid?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>I was accepted to Harvard SCEA, and I just got my financial aid award today.</p>

<p>Long story short: it's not good. </p>

<p>A bit about my financial situation:
-My parents (combined) make just over $150k a year. This seems to fit roughly within Harvard's "10%" range (right on the upper-limit).
-I have four siblings, one of whom has serious medical issues that require frequent surgeries.
-We're about $20k in debt.</p>

<p>Harvard is asking for $26k a year (from my parents alone), which, frankly, is about twice what we can actually afford.</p>

<p>I'm concerned that a poor financial decision my parents made a few years ago is responsible for this subpar award. About five years ago, they purchased two properties with the intention of reselling them later for a profit. They're not nearly paid off, and neither has generated any real profit. Instead, we've lost money and are in debt because of them. Does Harvard presume we can afford much more simply because we "own" these properties (quotations because, again, they're far from paid off)? I'm no expert when it comes to money, so I'm probably missing some other important factors (my dad mentioned something about retirement savings as well). What else could explain this poor aid package?</p>

<p>Duke, a school not as well-known for its financial aid, is offering me more money than Harvard. UVA, my in-state school, would also be cheaper. (As a side note, Yale's aid, unfortunately, was even worse.) </p>

<p>I want to go to Harvard, but it's just not within my families financial capabilities at the present moment. Unless we can get the parental contribution down to $15k or so, I probably will have to elect for a cheaper option. </p>

<p>What advice do you have for me to achieve this financial goal? I know calling the financial aid office and talking to them is a good idea, but are there specific tactics that tend to be useful in acquiring more aid? Given that they just received a $150 million donation (to primarily go toward financial aid), it would seem that they could spare a little extra money for odd cases like my own. </p>

<p>Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks.</p>

2

<p>

For the purposes of calculating financial aid, Harvard does not consider the value (home equity) of your parents’ primary residence. However, they do consider the value of rental properties, vacations homes, etc – the reason being that those assets are luxuries that most middle class families cannot afford. Why should Harvard give you more money if your parents are not willing to sell their two properties to put you through college? I’m guessing that’s Harvard’s reasoning. </p>

<p>Call Harvard’s financial aid office and ask to speak with an officer. Tell them how excited you are about attending Harvard, but that you have a 100% need-based offer from Duke which is cheaper. Given Duke’'s offer, would Harvard be willing to re-examine your financial aid package. (Be prepared to immediately fax or email Duke’s offer to Harvard.) Harvard may, or may not, opt to re-evaluate their offer.</p>

3

<p>When my son was accepted for the 2012-2013 year, he went for Visitas. I went with him and made an appointment with the financial aid office. I had about a 30 minute meeting with the aid officer and asked why my aid was where it was. I’m self-employed, and that didn’t help. I explained that I had some circumstances that were a little unusual, some expenses that were higher than what would be expected. One big factor was that they assumed a value for my business that was nothing short of hilarious. I told the financial aid officer, if she could get me an offer of that much, I might take it. Then, I’d have the cash for tuition, but of course, then I’d also run out of money before my son graduated since I earn my living from the business, and without the business, I’d have no income. Harvard needed to understand that although I own a small business, any alleged value in the business is illiquid - completely unavailable to pay bills. </p>

<p>The aid officer told me to go back to the hotel room and write her a formal request for higher aid, and include the reasons that we discussed, and she’d present it to the committee.</p>

<p>A few hours later, I received an e-mail with an increase of aid in the amount approximately for which I asked. </p>

<p>So, it seems that you have some extenuating circumstances. You may wish to document them, and then, if you and/or your parents are visiting for Visitas, make an appointment, go see the financial aid folks, explain your circumstances, and see what happens. It sounds like the gap between what’s offered and what you need is much larger than what I needed, so I don’t know how close they can come to meeting what you view your need to be.</p>

<p>But they are very friendly people, and seem quite intent on helping out Harvard families to afford Harvard, and the worst that will happen is that they will not give you what you need.</p>

4

<p>Thank you both for your advice! I’ll show your responses to my parents.</p>

<p>@gibby: Just to be clear, we’ve paid off very little on the houses and thus have not shown that we can really “afford” them in their entirety (spoiler: we cannot). If we were to sell both houses today, the money earned from their sale would simply pay for what we owed on the initial purchases, giving us 0 profit. As you can see, selling them would not help my parents in any way pay for my education. They may become valuable in the (far off) future, but in no way do they demonstrate that my parents currently are able to give 26k a year to Harvard.</p>

5

<p>^^ That is exactly the kind of conversation that notjoe suggested your parents have with Harvard’s financial aid office. </p>

<p>FWIW: Most real estate purchases require 20% cash down. So, unless the property value has decreased below the initial bank’s appraisal, Harvard will assume your parents have at least 20% cash invested in their properties that they could tap into with a Home Equity Loan and use that money to pay for college costs. If that’s not the case, your parents need to document that the properties are “under water.” </p>

6

<p>Okay, thank you gibby! I’ll be sure to pass your advice on to my parents. </p>

7

<p>I feel like my parents are going to have the same problem. Harvard is known to have great financial aid. Definitely talk to them about your individual situation, because there are a lot of things you can’t explain by writing or by phone. Congrats on getting into Harvard!</p>

8

<p>Congratulations on your acceptance and good luck with your appeal. Hope it will all work out and you will get to matriculate. </p>

9

<p>Thank you all for your advice! The appeal went through, and I committed yesterday. Harvard really does take care of its students. Can’t wait!</p>