<p>For those accepted for the class of 2015, how generous was BC in their financial assistance?</p>
<p>Beyond atrocious. Total ****. I probably can’t go there anymore and I’ve been the biggest BC fan since I was 4 years old. It costs $56K and I got $2,400 in work-study and $4,500 in loans. So, basically $0. I’m hoping they update it since they have since received the FAFSA and other documents but I am so, so disappointed in this school.</p>
<p>I know there’s far more to it than this (and I have met numerous students there who are proof of the contrary), but it really makes me wonder whether everyone who goes there is a rich, snobby trust fund baby or an extremely disadvantaged minority. Seriously, how can you afford this ****? And that just turns me off more. </p>
<p>Yes, I am quite angry and probably irrationally so.</p>
<p>BC doesn’t give a lot of merit aid, apparently - they say their focus is more on need-based aid. My son got almost nothing, $7400 in grants and a small amt in loans and work study. He received at least $20 in merit aid from every other school he’s applied to, so their merit really is minimal. They pretty much met our EFC for need-based aid, so if you have a lot of need they may be generous there - not sure.</p>
<p>BC gives no merit aid, it’s need based, which is the norm for many schools of its caliber (unless you get a presidential scholarship). I had a FAFSA efc of around 5540? I got 38.9k schol/year with some other loans totaling almost 49k/year in money, so I lucked out. I also got a $2400 work study.</p>
<p>I got absolutely nothing in aid. Every other school I applied to gave me at least a few thousand minimum.</p>
<p>mpwmom:</p>
<p>bc only gives merit aid to ~15 students per year, besides athletic merit (D1 sports). If BC met your EFC, they have done what they claim to do. (Of course, many of the merit aid schools do not meet full need, so if you are more needy than $20k…)</p>
<p>Dear Lightsout565 and All : Take a second reading of masserano’s posting and then come back to our writing here. Look at the quote FAFSA EFC - then be honest about where your FAFSA calculation stands.</p>
<p>Here is once again the general rule that I have used on College Confidential for years : If your family has $150,000 per year in total income, $100,000 in cash assets, and owns your own home in combination, you will receive no financial relief from Boston College. Second, there is no merit aid at Boston College aside from the ~15 Presidential Scholarships. Third, this has been discussed so many times, with so many warnings to accepted students, by me personally, that the keycaps on my laptop are worn. The values get posted and generally receive zero comments unless and until the financial aid letters are circulated and then we have a flurry of “how am I going to do this?” notes.</p>
<p>Every year, runs like a cycle here on BC’s College Confidential Board - the school is $50,000+ per year and if you are at or above the financial levels discussed, you will be paying the full freight or moving to another choice.</p>
<p>Finally, please note that Boston College works very hard to not “price out” students already on campus that are on aid or have had a radical shift in family finances during the year. These get reviewed and considered on priority over entering freshmen. Now, the impact overall is small on incoming freshman financial aid packages, but this is also a consideration for the university.</p>
<p>IMO, two key differentiators for BC is that is does not offer merit scholarships (unlike many lower ranked colleges) and counts a good chunk of home equity as an asset (unlike the wealthier colleges in the NE - such as the Ivies & Stanford & MIT). In both cases, the net cost of attendance to BC will be higher for an upper class family. But note, many schools that offer merit scholarships do not meet full need.</p>
<p>A lot of kids who apply to BC get merit awards from other schools and expect the same from BC. Nope, not a dime unless you are one of the top 15 (?) selected kids. They will be more generous in financial aid than a lot of schools but the packages do include loans and work study. They also use PROFILE to get need figures and include home equity and 401 K accounts in their reckoning, among other things. So they are not the most generous of schools needwise, but rank high up there over all since most schools do not come close to meeting need for the vast majority of their students.</p>
<p>I do not understand why so many students and their parents are surprised by their financial aid packages from BC. As other posters have noted, this topic has been discussed over and over and the school’s financial aid policues have not changed for years. The school makes it very, very clear – on the website, in published materials, and in Eagle Eye sessions that BC does not give merit aid for anyone other than the 15-20 Presidential Scholars. BC’s focus in not just “more” on need-based aid, it is almost entirely need-based aid! </p>
<p>There seems to be an awful lot of “magical thinking” going on out there. And unfortunately, that just leads to a lot of disappointment at this time of year.</p>
<p>I don’t think most of us are ‘surprised’ about it - at least we weren’t. That doesn’t mean you can’t hope to be one of those top students who get the Presidential Scholarship. That was the only way my son was going to BC, because there’s no chance we’re paying any school at the level our EFC came out when there are so many other opportunities out there.</p>
<p>Just want to throw out some advice to disappointed applications…</p>
<p>Talk to the financial aid office. They have given you an amount that based on the information they have seems fair for you to pay. Perhaps the documents they have in front of them do not tell the whole story, or you just feel that for whatever reason you need more aid in order to be able to attend. Either way, if you talk to them and explain your situation, the aid package can be adjusted. They aren’t going to get involved in a race to the bottom against a lesser school that threw you some merit money or make BC cheaper for you just because you would prefer it to be, but they are understanding, flexible, and can adjust aid packages to a more reasonable level. I’m not promising they will give you thousands and thousands more in grant money, but it is worth trying and there is a good chance you can get your total contribution reduced.</p>
<p>I don’t know if any of these posts are directed at me since I never mentioned merit aid, but I will respond anyway.</p>
<p>I probably shouldn’t have been so harsh in my post. I’m very frustrated that up until now, I have been offered diddly squat in grant money and it might prevent me from going there. I was and am aware that BC’s only merit aid is Presidential Scholarships and I know that they have a bad reputation for need-based aid, and I’m not even sure that my offer is the final offer since I sent in the FAFSA and tax returns in February, after the initial offer. So I have no idea what my EFC is according to them. (It differs greatly between the CSS and the FAFSA – we own 1.5 houses with no mortgage but my parents are both out of work, so no traditional “income” other than stock market trading. Very complicated.) If they increase their offer I will gladly eat my words and if not I will contact them like the poster above me suggests. It’s just disappointing that they don’t try a little harder to give real FA instead of loans and work-study.</p>
<p>HI Gingerbreadmann…sorry its so frustrating for you. Our situation is also complicated… husband owns a couple of business that took a turn for the worse the last couple of years… so our AGI was very low… our EFC was only 2800 and BC first off was very low. But after everything was submitted and re looked at they more then doubled the offer. But, speaking to them its not about if you can write the whole 50,000 check right then… but if you have the ability to take out a loan and make payments on the 50,000 They found we had enough assets to do that… even though that is all we have and 3 other kids to go through school…
Uof Michigan gave us next to nothing… so I am pleased with BC offer now.</p>
<p>APPEAL APPEAL APPEAL. My family went through the appeals process and got about $6000 more in grant money.</p>
<p>I just want to emphasize iMac15 and BC2012guy’s posts - your initial FA package is not necessarily the only money you’ll get. Negotiate with the FA office, it can’t hurt (and for me, and it made a huge difference that enabled me to come here).</p>