<p>My DD’s dream school is AU. She applied for ED and was accepted! Unfortunately, they are only offering around $6k in scholarships and grants. This leaves us about $45k short per year! We are able to contribute maybe $10-$15k per year, but that still leaves us short $30k or so. We’ve even looked as skipping the meal plan and living on ramen :)</p>
<p>Her major will be in graphics design and I just don’t see racking up $120k in student loans for that (or almost any) major.</p>
<p>Are others in a similar situation? How do we pay for the shortfall?</p>
<p>I have a friend who was in a predicament like this and since American University has recently switched more of their financial aid from merit based to need-based, you should contact AU Central (AU financial aid office) to ask how to properly send an appeal for more financial aid. I’ve heard all you really need to do is send in an appeal explaining why you need it but I am advising you to call them to make sure how to properly send an appeal for more financial aid. </p>
<p>Also, you cannot skip the meal plan as an undergraduate freshman just in case you did not know.</p>
<p>AU is a great school and I hope you receive more aid!</p>
<p>Thanks for the input Brian! I’ll definitely have her reach out to AU Central to ask for an appeal. </p>
<p>She was also accepted into Hofstra who offered her more FinAid (~$16k) . Would it be worthwhile to mention this to them? Or would they take offense?</p>
<p>I did not know you could not skip the meal plan! Looks like it may be Ramen+plan :)</p>
<p>She is our oldest and the first to go to college so we are new to the whole routine. My college years are a distant memory…</p>
<p>My friend definitely did say that he received more aid from other schools when he appealed to AU so I do think it is worth mentioning because schools want to bring prospective, accepted students. Plus, your D is a ED student so I believe they will be more inclined to give more aid since your D is under a binding contract to come to AU. Though, I think it is important to say this in a non-offensive manner… perhaps something along the lines of “… received more aid from X school, but <em>explanation that coming to AU is best choice and ED student</em>, etc”. </p>
<p>I’m sorry this isn’t working out for your D, but no appeal is going to get you an additional $30K a year. Mentioning Hofstra’s offer will not help, since it is a much lower ranked university. Loans will not do it (Stafford student loans are very limited in amount) unless you are willing and able to take on a huge amount of Parent Plus loans or tap a home equity line or your credit is good enough to support cosigning her private student loans. All those options are terrible, IMHO. You should to move on to other more affordable schools. And since graphic design is not a particular strength of AU, it doesn’t seem like a particularly wise choice for her, certainly a very foolish choice if massive debt is involved.</p>
<p>I somewhat disagree with what MommaJ said. Just because Hofstra is a “lower ranked school” doesn’t mean they won’t realize the fact that your D needs more money. From what I know about ED students, AU is more inclined to bring them there because the ED contract is binding and you should really try to push it. Hell, I’d even go so far as to say in general, even if it’s a lie, that you got more financial aid from other schools and not just Hofstra if that helps. There is no harm in trying since I have seen in my year that many students appealed and many students in the current ED Facebook Class of 2016 page are also appealing (and some I have heard received some more financial aid). Who knows, but if your D doesn’t get enough financial aid, then I agree with MommaJ that $120k in student loans wouldn’t be the best investment for your D.</p>
<p>I don’t expect $30k in additional aid. If we could get $15k more (a government site said AU averages about $20k in aid/yr) I’m comfortable with her grabbing $15k/yr in loans if she can accelerate and finish in 3 years or so.</p>
<p>She really like the campus at AU. I personally think that after you’ve been in the working world a few years, what you got your degree in becomes less relevant so I’m ok with Graphics Design. I think the international flair of the university combined with being in DC was a strong pull for her.</p>
<p>Without more aid though, she will stay instate.</p>
<p>She does like the idea of the international makeup of AU. One of her dreams is to travel the world.</p>
<p>In one of discussions about money, I mentioned that $120k figure and asked her ‘What makes AU worth that type of money versus staying in-state?’ Her response was ‘it’s the experience’.</p>
<p>At that point I told her ‘do you realize how much traveling around the world you could do with $100k and what kind of experience you would get from that?’</p>
<p>I could see the gears turning at that point :)</p>
<p>I would not rely on sites that provide information of what any school provides as average aid. It has no bearing on what your financial situation is. In addition AU provides merit aid so that is also factored into what the averages are.<br>
Did you utilize either AU’s specific Net Price Calculators (NPC) or one of the institutional calculators that are on the web? </p>
<p>I do not think I would have encouraged or signed off on an ED application if I weren’t highly confident that I had run several online calculators, the estimated family contribution from the NPC was within reach, and my financial data was fairly straightforward (no non custodial parent, no large swings income, no large assets, no business income etc) AND the university stated that they meet need (in reality very, very few meet)
As a parent, I agree with MommaJ. It is not worth huge debt, especially for a major such as graphic design where starting salaries my not support repayment. It can be a hard lesson, but early learning about personal finances can impact her many years into the future.</p>
<p>We had the same choice, $6,000 also. With AP and early college experience he was given over 30 credits. He was able to graduate in 3 years or in 4 with a masters (some AU undergrad credits can count towards your masters if both are at AU). Our calculation was 3X$6000= $18,000 + at least $57,000 saved by graduating in 3 years = $75,000 in savings. It was in line with other schools offering us 15-20 thousand a year, but using AP scores for placement. Just another way of looking at it.</p>
<p>AU has not been very forthcoming about aid. When we pressed early on, they stated the usual ‘over x% of our students get aid’ and ‘we can’t comment on your particular situation without applying and submitting fafsa, etc’. So we went for it. The application fee is small potatoes compared to wondering ‘what if’.</p>
<p>Now that she is accepted, we are having a hard time getting them to tell her what credit will transfer so we can plan out how long it takes.</p>
<p>What I’m getting from this discussion though is that there isn’t much she can do. Either fork over the rest of the cash or don’t go.</p>
<p>We’ll try Brian’s suggestion of calling and asking for more and see what turns up. Hopefully we start hearing back from all the scholarships she’s been applying for soon as well.</p>
<p>Here is a list of what credits are awarded for different AP exams, A-levels, etc.</p>
<p>Individual schools also have lists of what requirements are fulfilled by different exams.</p>
<p>After looking at the SIS list, my daughter realized that she could get 6 credits and knock out some big Gen Ed and SIS requirements if she managed a 4 on the American History AP. She hadn’t taken AP US History in school, but she got a couple of prep books and paid the late registration fee, because AU really made it worth her while.</p>
<p>Some other schools cap the number of credits you can bring in from APs, but AU doesn’t seem to.</p>
<p>IslandDreaming, please come back to post the details of your AU FA appeal (i.e., whether they will entertain it at all, what sort of criteria they have for reconsideration, and whether you receive an improved package)–it will be very helpful to others in the same position.</p>
<p>Standard advise on the FA forum is that some schools will consider an offer from a “peer school” but of course that is just annecdotal, so I agree with MommaJ that feedback regarding AU would be helpful going forward. </p>
<p>I was also wondering if you utilized the Net Price Calculators schools were required to make available this year. As this is the first year that schools are required to post them, it would be helpful to know from anyone who used them how close the estimate came to the actual package rec’d.</p>
<p>In all fairness – AU’s Net Price Calculator isn’t that informative or detailed. Other schools connect through Collegeboard and give you a pretty detailed breakdown based on your data. AU doesn’t use Collegeboard for theirs and it’s pretty bareboned.</p>
<p>That being said, it’s better NOT to apply ED to a school unless you’re prepared to pay full ticket. We received numerous emails from AU urging us to re-classify D2’s application for ED2 and we didn’t do it because we could never afford full fare.</p>
<p>I was in the same boat with the financial aid. The appeal is really easy and is well worth it. I was awarded $20,000 more than the original package! You need to contact the financial aid office and you write a letter explaining what might have not been considered in the previous process. Call the Financial Aid office they explain it all. Good Luck!</p>
<p>My daughter was accepted at her first choice school, where she applied non-binding EA, but did not attend because we could not afford the high tuition (we thought she would be granted a merit scholarship there). She is now attending AU because of the merit scholarship AU gave her. She loves the school and you would never know that she did not originally want to attend. I am not writing this to tell you how wonderful AU is. I am writing to tell you that it if you decide you can not swing the tuition at AU, and your daughter attends a school that is more affordable for you, that does not mean she won’t have a great experience. My daughter did not commit to AU until May 1 last year hoping that someone how she would end up at her then favorite school. By all means try to have AU increase your daughter’s financial aid. However, if they do not, your daughter will most probably be very happy where she ends up.</p>
<p>I can’t say whether AU will increase your D’s aid offer - but I can say that, IMO, going into debt for a graphic design degree is not a good idea. There are many fine public universities that would offer a graphic design program and that are more affordable. Your D should understand the economic realities.</p>
<p>NJmom - completely agree. The state school she was accepted into is not a shabby school at all. Part of it I think is wanting to leave the state she spent the majority of her life in see other parts of the country. I can’t blame her in that respect.</p>
<p>Megpmom - She will make the decision (with guidance of course) whether going into debt is a good idea or not. I really think it’s how much debt is she comfortable taking on. I’m willing to bet that she is more financially savvy than 99% of her peers in school and 90% where we live. I’ve been teaching her about finances since she was around 12 - currently manages her own checking account, credit card and job. And of course knows you never carry a balance on a credit card and think hard about paying interest for something.</p>
<p>Athena - thanks for the encouraging words. She called last Thursday and they said call back in ‘a couple of days’ because they were swamped with FAFSA. We’ll see how it goes.</p>