<p>Let's just say that I'm REALLY happy I applied to two other schools RD, so I can compare financial aid...or lack thereof. Did anyone else get them? My parents weren't surprised, but my head almost fell off.</p>
<p>I hope your guys' went better!</p>
<p>Yeah mine was complete crap. I mean, I don't understand why they would go through all the trouble of so selectively picking students and then offer such bad financial aid... I am hoping luck strikes me twice and I can get into Harvard because their fin. aid is much better...</p>
<p>Sorry that you two are disappointed.</p>
<p>My S is a freshman, and we were thrilled with his FA. To compare FA packages, I punched our numbers into the Harvard calculator, and what they would have given my S was almost exactly the same as what Stanford did give him. I don't know that there is much better aid elsewhere. It is costing him less at Stanford than full price at our state flagship, and they would have given him no aid at all.</p>
<p>There are a number of parents here who have been very pleased wtih Stanford's FA offers. (One in particular comes to mind...) ;)</p>
<p>If you guys want to, feel free to PM me for tips about your financial aid situation and your offer at Stanford. At first I was granted a subpar aid award but after lets say...negotiating...it was absolutely stellar and more than I could have asked for. Many other people were in this situation of a bad offer at first and a far superior offer later. You probably just need to...negotiate...ok I'm sounding like that commercial with William Shatner, but I hope you get the point. I'll be here to help!</p>
<p>I'm glad it worked out better for you two than it did for marchmadness and I!</p>
<p>By bad, I mean pretty bad (read: nonexistent). I consider my family upper-middle class, but my sister is also attending a private high school so it will be hard for us to foot the bill. That's the problem with being stuck in the middle, I guess: Not getting any aid, but not enough income to make that insignificant. It will work out, I'm sure. I was just surprised that the aid seems to be so skewed toward the lower end of the socioeconomic scale.</p>
<p>I wasn't expecting much, but I was expecting something.</p>
<p>I agree. We were expecting close to half, but actually got close to nothing. I guess we are too rich to qualify for more, but we are surely not rich enough to easily pay what they are asking.</p>
<p>Baelor, I was in a very similar situation, but I'm not sure exactly what you define as upper middle class. You should definitely talk to the financial aid officers if you feel that it would be really difficult for you to attend Stanford. Stanford prides itself on finances not being an issue in choosing to attend. Also, if you get better offers from H and Y, they'll very likely match it, contradictory to what is stated on their website. Good luck with the FA process! I know that getting in sometimes only half the battle...</p>
<p>I STILL HAVENT GOTTEN MINE!!!!
and im ****ed.</p>
<p>Did you check axess?</p>
<p>yea!
im really scared!
i think im going to call the financial aid office tomorra</p>
<p>Does it come the mail ? I haven't gotten mine. :(</p>
<p>a) if you didn't get much from Stanford, you probably won't get much from Harvard, b) Stanford may be slightly more stingy about financial aid because of the economy, even though it has stated it isn't (but if this is so, I highly doubt it would be different at HYP), c) Stanford is willing to adjust financial aid if you talk to them about it, and d) perhaps you were expecting too much of financial aid, or perhaps your circumstances have changed somewhat since you applied (the economy and all), in which case you should definitely contact Stanford's financial aid office and work something out.</p>
<p>
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Yeah mine was complete crap. I mean, I don't understand why they would go through all the trouble of so selectively picking students and then offer such bad financial aid...
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</p>
<p>Pretty sure that no one would agree with you that Stanford's financial aid is "bad." See the above a-d.</p>
<p>
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I can get into Harvard because their fin. aid is much better...
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</p>
<p>No, it really isn't--it's about the same (for domestic students, at least). Since this financial aid offer came as such a surprise for you, why are you so confident Harvard's will be what you expect? Hmm...</p>
<p>Harvard promises that any family making below 180k only has to pay 10 percent of the total cost (quoting what I remember from an admission officer here, so I don't know if that is exactly right). But of course, getting into Harvard in the first place is probably getting too far ahead of myself.</p>
<p>That isn't always the case--much, much more is taken into account to determine how much the family will pay (I for one know of two people whose families made about $150,000 but had to pay more than that). And second, Stanford's policy is nearly as generous as Harvard's--it simply doesn't have the "set" lines as high, so the aid is more implicit.</p>
<p>Basically, our aid was nonexistent. And the cost we have to pay is over a fourth of our income at this point. Is this normal? That sounds kind of extreme... Perhaps all schools will have that. Regardless, we will later compare aid and negotiate with schools as necessary.</p>
<p>That's not normal. I'm assuming the income is slightly less than 200k? Yale will make you pay 10% of that and Harvard will probably make you pay a little more than that. Stanford, if you talk to them, will get you down to that level as well.</p>
<p>Thanks. I was planning to wait until RD results come in to deal with FA, but should I deal with this now?</p>
<p>File FAFSA, see what the other awards are, and then when you get your final award from Stanford I would put the wheels in motion.</p>
<p>I never filed a FAFSA or CSS profile, can I still do that and see if I'm eligible for Fin Aid? Normally I'd look this up, but I'm feeling particularly lazy right now, so anyone that knows...</p>