I toured the campus this summer and absolutely loved it! Boston is looking like my #1 choice as it stands right now, but the only problem is the cost. I’m confident in my ability to get into BU, but not confident enough in my profile to be granted enough merit aid to get the cost to what I need it to be. My parents are willing to send me to any college as long as it is around 30K a year. That means more than half of my tuition would need to be covered. How is BU typically with financial aid based on need? We are a middle class family, I believe they make about 120k a year between the two of them. I am the last of three children, and the only one they actively have to support, they put the other two through college already. Does anyone have an estimate of what I could expect for financial aid?
Turns out I was way off haha, they make about 90k a year. According to the NPC I’d get an estimate of 35k in need based aid. Does anyone know how accurate BU’s NPC is usually?
Need based aid would likely include federal loans and work study. BU does not guarantee to meet full need.
Are your parents self employed, own rental property, divorced? If so NPC’s can be inaccurate.
I don’t want to put a damper on things, but 90k might give you less aid than you hope. That doesn’t mean you won’t get any though! Also, again, they DON’T guarantee to meet full need. Basically it works like this:
If they REALLY want you (as in, your app is amazing with scores, GPA, EC’s, etc.), they will try to meet almost all of your need if they can.
If they kind of want you, they will def. give you aid, but it may not be as much as you need/hoped for.
If they’ll accept you, but really couldn’t care less is you attend (sorry to sound harsh), they’ll give you little to no aid, EVEN IF you have a low EFC. Yes, they will expect you to pay out of pocket.
I take this info from how it was explained to me by a finaid worker.
If it makes you feel better, I asked the same thing when I applied, and a lot of people said I would likely be screwed and not get anything. I actually got a great package in the end, the only thing I’m really paying for is housing. So don’t completely rule it out, just keep things in perspective.