<p>How generous is Boston University with fin aid? I heard is good...can anyone speak from experience please.
Thanks</p>
<p>From what I’ve seen, BU practices preferential packaging…the better your stats, the better your aid. </p>
<p>They also put loans in their FA packages. </p>
<p>Do you have high stats for BU? Are your stats well above the numbers below?</p>
<p>SAT Critical Reading: 570 - 660<br>
SAT Math: 600 - 690<br>
SAT Writing: 590 - 680
ACT Composite: 26 - 30 </p>
<p>keep in mind…aid is based on need. So, even a school that gives good aid, will not give “good aid” to someone whose family has a strong income.</p>
<p>My son was accepted to BU with the following stats:</p>
<p>SAT 2100
750 Math, 690 Reading, 660 Writing</p>
<p>ACT composite - 32</p>
<p>GPA - 3.6 (top 20% of class)</p>
<p>Excellent EC’s including Eagle Scout, arts, sciences - all with 3-4 years of commitment culminating in leadership positions.</p>
<p>Legacy - his father is a BU graduate. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, we are from Massachusetts. Although every other school that accepted my son offered him some combination of merit aid and/or grants ranging from 20-25k, BU offered him nothing at all. I must say it was quite disapointing, and needless to say we crossed BU off our list of possibles quite quickly.</p>
<p>I think the aid offered at BU is very mercurial - either a lot or nothing at all. Another classmate of my husband’s, with a daughter with very similar stats, was also offered nothing at all. A third classmate, who’s son was a lessor candidate on paper, was offered $25k/year.</p>
<p>My advice to anybody who likes BU - apply, apply for aid - but don’t fall in love. If the package is good, go. If not - there are other schools.</p>
<p>A third classmate, who’s son was a lessor candidate on paper, was offered $25k/year.</p>
<p>that’s odd… Was the $25k merit? or need based? Is the student a URM?</p>
<p>Nope, boring white kid also from Boston area as well, big bucks grandparents, middle class parents, from a third tier private school (paid for by grandparents, pretty common in our set.) I am actually not sure if the 25k was merit or need based as his parents only said he was offered that amount, and it’s hard to tell based on his financial situation.</p>
<p>BU is a high cost institution that doesn’t have the endowment to compete very well for academically capable students.
The Boston location and reputation has allowed the institution to attract international and domestic high income students.</p>
<p>I am actually not sure if the 25k was merit or need based as his parents only said he was offered that amount,I am actually not sure if the 25k was merit or need based as his parents only said he was offered that amount,</p>
<p>Well, depending on income, that could be a combo of Pell, SEOG, and a grant. He also could have been given a departmental scholarship based on his major. I doubt that the school would offer great merit to a student whose stats are lower than yours.</p>
<p>The information that I have about the other student is purely anecdotal. What is not anecdotal is my own son’s experience with BU, the only school where he was accepted which offered absolutely no grant-based aid, merit or otherwise. The OP asked how generous BU is with financial aid - my experience is relevant, as although my son’s stats are not HYPS they are certainly good enough to be offered admittance with generous grant aid at mid-level tier 1 schools. As a matter of fact, if you look at the information posted on BU’s webside regarding how they allocate grants, it’s clear that most students with his numbers would have received some level of grant funding. His “financial aid award” was a letter from BU basically stating that they don’t have enough money to offer grants to everybody, so, sorry, nothing for you.</p>
<p>“BU is a high cost institution that doesn’t have the endowment to compete very well for academically capable students.” - after reading that I did a little surfing to check the size of BU’s endowment. According to US News, it’s in excess of $1.1 billion - not at Harvard levels but certainly a substantial sum. I really don’t know what their strategy is regarding yields and allocating grant aid - but I do know that in our case it just knocked them right out of contention in the first round.</p>
<p>lol I got absolutely nothing from BU. I got so much more from Rochester than Boston it was pathetic. they were there with Miami as giving the worst aid for me.</p>
<p>BU’s aid was too stingy for me as well. I had stats above those indicated and yet i’d have to pay 20k a year.</p>
<p>Boston University was facing bankruptcy several decades ago. John Silber came in and returned the school to viability. I’ve always felt that it was something of a stingy school. It does have high costs to deal with.</p>
<p>In the 1990s, they did a ton of marketing in Asia and brought in a lot of international students which probably helped their finances out quite a bit.</p>
<p>When we looked at BU a few years ago, it was one of the most transparent schools in terms of financial aid/ merit money eligibility. The financial aid office has a matrix that tells you what SAT score levels with what income levels make you eligible for which award amounts. I wish more schools were that clear.</p>