<p>I'm in a huge dilemma and need some advice on what to do.</p>
<p>I was accepted and chose to enroll at my dream school--Vassar College. The original FinAid package required that my parents pay 40K/yr but we got that reduced to 30K/yr which my parents thought would be completely manageable. However, my parents planned on using my father's G.I. Bill to pay some of that. We then found out that the Bill counts as outside scholarship and would go to reduce the school's financial package. Unfortunately, we found this out waaaaaaaaay too late. </p>
<p>I was granted admission to Denison University with an 18K scholarship and they're allowing me to decide after the May 1st deadline but as soon as possible. Because of the 18K scholarship, my parents have to pay 32K/year. And because I only received merit based aid from here, any outside scholarships I win will go to reducing my family contribution unlike at Vassar.</p>
<p>Sadly, Denison is really, really not where I want to go and I can't see myself being happy there (26mi away from Columbus, really?) so I'm at a stand still with regards to what to do. </p>
<p>I can turn down Denison with the hopes that I make about 28-30K in scholarship money (won't know until end of May/ early June) which will cover all of my Vassar FinAid and my parents can cover the rest without the G.I. Bill going to waste. Or I can even ask (see: Beg) back for my spot at other schools I was accepted to that gave me no FinAid like Pomona, Bowdoin or UChicago. This is a huge risk. I know.</p>
<p>But, if I don't make <em>enough</em> money, I have two options: 1) Ask (See: BEG) for a spot at Denison or George Washington Univ. which offered me 15K/yr in merit or 2) Restart the admissions process again and apply to places with more merit aid like Emory and WUSTL. The problem with the latter option is that there is no guarantee that I will be as fortunate in the next cycle as I was in this one with regards to acceptances. Also, I don't know if I'll be able to defer any scholarships I win to a following year or re-apply for the next year. Additionally, a gap year is never something I wanted for myself and never imagined myself taking that route seeing as I have waited so long to finally graduate and begin my college career. Waiting another year would kill me.</p>
<p>Sorry this is so long but I really need help. Thanks for everything and feel free to ask me any questions.</p>
<p>Denison is a fantastic choice here. It’s not the same student body as Vassar obviously, but as they pull in more and more of the NMFs, etc., Denison is losing the preppy rep (lots more nerds, hipsters, artsy’s, etc. now). It’s #34 on the Kiplinger’s Best buys this year nationally and #2 for Ohio. I would not take a Gap year just because you were hoping for more prestige, which I’m wondering based on your even considering a Gap year and reapplying next year (?). Does it really matter that much to you? Ohio is kind of known for being a hotbed of great LAC’s (Kenyon, Oberlin, Denison, Ohio Wesleyan…). Denison is a great school and it’s sounds like Vassar isn’t in your cost range. I get it though, I do (S also applied to Vassar and Brown, great vibes). But really, Denison is a great option here and you are lucky to have this offer still on the table.</p>
<p>Hahahahahahaha… yeah… As much as I HATE to admit it, prestige does sort of matter to me sadly. :-\ Not a whole lot, but just enough to cause this problem…</p>
<p>Thanks for your help. You’ve definitely put things into perspective for me. :-)</p>
<p>I am appalled that Vassar would do this. IMHO, GI benefits should be treated no harshly than parent savings. Do they expect parent savings to be used dollar for dollar for college? Your father earned these benefits, they are not a scholarship.</p>
<p>^ Thats unduly harsh. The very fact that the GI Bill now pays for the education of family members is a wonderful benefit that did not exist before. The Post-9/11 GI Bill pays up to the highest public in-state undergraduate tuition or up to $17,500/yr for private schools. Vassar participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program <a href=“http://www.gibill.va.gov/documents/pamphlets/Yellow_Ribbon_Pamphlet.pdf[/url]”>http://www.gibill.va.gov/documents/pamphlets/Yellow_Ribbon_Pamphlet.pdf</a>
This is an outside entitlement that his is not provided by the school, so the fact that it is applied to the FA package is not surprising. It is probably viewed this same way by many schools.</p>
<p>If I follow the OP’s post correctly, the Vassar has reconsidered their FA and calculated his EFC at 30K. Since total cost, with room and board, is up around $54K or so, then it looks like the GI Bill/Yellow Ribbon is covering part of the FA package. If I follow correctly, difference is that Denison has offered an $18K merit (?) scholarship that Vassar is not. Is this correct, OP?</p>
<p>That is correct. and since I only got merit aid from Denison, any outside scholarships (incl. the G.I. Bill) will not reduce their merit offer. They will reduce the amount of money my parents have to pay. Whereas, with Vassar, any outside scholarships I ear (incl. the G.I. Bill) will go to reducing the institutions aid before they reduce my family contribution. So essentially, I need to earn about 28K in outside scholarships in order for the G.I. Bill to help at all.</p>
<p>If the GI bill will reduce student loans and work-study mostly, then you can still take out those student loans (unsub) and work part time elsewhere to make up for work study. You can also work over the summer to bring in more money. </p>
<p>Usually when scholarships get applied and aid is reduced, the school FIRST reduces “self help” …like loans and work-study. Has Vassar told you what they will be removing?</p>
<p>In essence, Vassar offered you a 10K “scholarship” (for lack of a better word) because they lowered your EFC from 40K to 30K. They do not offer merit aid. I am terrible at calculationg the CSS and FAFSA stuff, so I am not sure what that means in terms of your parents income/assets to have the initial high EFC of 40K. Did you get work-study or stafford loans?</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids: Vassar does eliminate self-help aid first which prompted me to come up with the plan below.</p>
<p>@jym626: Loans and work study were part of my package. My EFC according to FAFSA was ~58K so Vassar has been pretty generous.</p>
<p>This was my plan: I feel pretty confident about my chances of earning enough local scholarships to cover my $3,500 loan and $1,750 campus job. These are reduced first by outside scholarships. After this, I would still take out a $5,500 Stafford Loan and pay off the monthly interest with an on-campus job. This would reduce my parents contribution to 25K/yr. My parents still aren’t sure how well this will work considering costs are raised yearly.</p>
<p>My 2nd plan was to earn enough scholarship money to cover the loan and work parts of my package and take out a private loan for 40K over 4 years. This would make my parent’s contribution only 20K per year which they find to be very doable. The problem is that I don’t know of any loans that allow you to begin repayment after undergrad and I don’t know if a campus job will be enough to cover the loan payments if they begin while I’m in school. Furthermore, I am considering (tentatively) law school or other grad school options and don’t want to be bogged down with too much debt after undergrad.</p>
<p>Thanks for posting. Any advice considering these two things?</p>
<p>Local scholarships…many are one year only. What about year 2,3 and 4? Go to Dennison. You must have applied there for a reason, no?? Try to remember why you chose it when you were applying. Or, you take a gap year and start over with the knowledge you’ve learned from the experience with Vassar.</p>
<p>Sounds like you were essentially considered a full-pay based on that EFC, so yes, it looks like Vassar has been quite generous.Will you be using the Yellow Ribbon Program? I’d love to hear how that works out.</p>
<p>What do you plan to study? When I was at Vassar, many moons ago, I was offered a TA in my junior or senior year (frankly, I forget) so had, IIRC, some $$ for the assistantship. I also worked in the Wimpfheimer Nursery School. I was a full pay student (had only some NY State Regents scholarship) so none of this was work study. </p>
<p>Most of the outside scholarships are only for one year, but some are renewable. Are the ones you applied for renewable? </p>
<p>I am having a little trouble understanding the bottom line $ that you will have to pay at Denison. If I undestand correctly, you got a $18K merit award, so if, for example, they also estimated your OOP cost at $30, then almost 1/2 of that will be paid for by the GI Bill, leaving you with about $15k/yr to pay. Is that correct? Is the priced difference between the 2 schools equivalent to the $18K/yr merit award you got at Denison? What is the bottom line cost difference between the 2 schools?</p>
<p>All of the local ones I’ve applied for (quite a few) are renewable and worth between $2,000-$5,000 per year. I’m also in the next round for a few national renewable scholarships worth $5,000+ per year.</p>
<p>The bottom line cost for Denison taking into consideration their merit scholarship is $32,000 per year. </p>
<p>The bottom line cost for Vassar with their finaid is $30,000 per year.</p>
<p>The problem is that in order for the G.I. Bill to help us at all with Vassar (if I do not get Yellow Ribbon), I need to earn about 28K in outside scholarships which would completely eliminate the school’s package.</p>
<p>With Denison, any outside scholarships will reduce my parents contribution so that looks like the better deal, right? But Denison was never the dream. I’ll admit though, I’m starting to like the school a little and it may be a good fit as well sans its proximity to a big city…</p>
<p>@PrinceMuzic - expecting to earn $28k in outside scholarships is not realistic. </p>
<p>The bottom line cost for Vassar is not $30,000 per year; that is no longer a real, viable figure, so you need to replace it with the current, real figure.</p>
<p>What is the CURRENT bottom line cost for Vassar, taking into account the G.I. Bill?</p>
<p>College is just a 4-year process on the path towards achieving your dreams. College is not the end-result. Go to Denison. If, by some chance, you do get more outside scholarships, you’ll just be in that much better shape.</p>
<p>Had you read previous posts, you would have noticed that I can’t take into account the G.I. Bill with regards to Vassar considering (according to Vassar), it is under the same umbrella as outside scholarships and would go to reducing institutional aid first (self-help followed by grants). The bottom line cost remains at $30,000.</p>
<p>I have read thru this thread several times. I may have mis-understood some of the info as I am not knowledgeable about GI Bills and financial aid. There is no reason for being snide to someone who is taking the time to write and respond to your HUGE PROBLEM and plea for help.</p>
<p>I think you are saying that Vassar is only financially viable if you get additional outside scholarships of about $28k. If that’s true, then that is an unrealistic expectation, and Vassar should be taken off the table as a possibility. Pat yourself on the back for acceptance, have a good cry, and move on.</p>
<p>I think you are saying that Dennison is viable without additional scholarships, and becomes even better if you do get more scholarships. That seems to be a great option.</p>
<p>If I read correctly, Denison and Vassar have equivalent costs, but for Denison they will factor in the GI bill against their $32k COA, leaving 14K OOP, Is that correct? so the cost difference is the 18K merit scholarship?</p>
<p>If so, thats a $72K price difference. Is Vassar to you worth the72K (assuming worst case scenario that none of the other scholarships come through?) Can your parents afford it? Do you have other siblings? Are they older/younger? These are all factors. I admit bias since I am a Vassar grad, but these are all factors to consider. When do you find out about the Yellow ribbon? What is the bottom line amount your parents can/will pay oop for college? With a high EFC of $58k (per fafsa) they should have either high incomes, savings/investments or both. IF they can pay without it hurting a lot if family investments, go to Vassar. If you will be saddled with 100K in loans after Vassar undergrad, go to Denison. If you were to have only a small loan (say $40K) after college, thats very doable.</p>
<p>@mtpaper: I’m sorry. I reread my post after I had submitted it and I did not mean for it to come across as obnoxious or snide as it did. I really do appreciate the advice that I have received thus far. Really. Thank you.</p>