<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I'm a rising sophomore in CALS at Cornell. I submitted all of my paperwork necessary to determine a financial aid package for me on time, but I have yet to receive a financial aid package, and it's August 11th...classes start in 11 days! I don't know what to do, I'm freaking out because I definitely cannot attend Cornell without financial aid, and to make it worse, I contacted the financial aid office and they said I should receive one in "4-5 WEEKS if not sooner" :O this is ridiculous. Can it get to the point where they run out of funds so they result to giving me less aid then before? The financial aid officer said she was advising families to start making payments for the same contribution they did last year but last year I had a scholarship and took classes at Cornell in the summer before freshman year so my contribution changed. I don't know what to do, my family is freaking out as well, I feel like Cornell pushed its current students aside in order to woo incoming freshmen :(</p>
<p>This might be a situation where lawyers are good. If Cornell doesn’t provide you with a financial aid package in a timely manner, causing you loss of money, vocation, etc., they may be liable.</p>
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<p>With all due respect, that may be the stupidest advice I’ve ever heard!</p>
<p>jadore - First, if the financial aid officer said she was advising “families” to make the same contributions as last year, then it sounds like you’re not the only student affected. Cornell seems to have screwed up on a rather large scale . . . and they’re aware of the problem. They’re probably also getting lots of phone calls and giving everyone the same advice. Their delay does not mean your aid package will be reduced.</p>
<p>If what they’ve told you isn’t adequate, then what you (or your parents, perhaps?) need to do is call back and ask to speak to a senior financial aid officer. </p>
<p>Perhaps before you do that, though, you should sit down and look at both your total cost of attendance and your total aid package for last year and, as the financial aid officer suggested, try to come up with a reasonable estimate for this year. Subtract the cost of the summer classes you took last year, subtract the value of the one-time scholarship you received, and see what you come up with.</p>
<p>Dodgersmom is likely correct. Sounds like they’re behind with processing.</p>
<p>As for making your contribution based on last year’s aid…Well, you know what you paid last year. You also know what you “brought in” as scholarships. So, if the scholarships were one-time only, then add that amount to what you brought in last year.</p>
<p>However, if the scholarships just replaced loans and work study, then you probably could just pay about the same as last year, because this year the school would put in the loans and work study to replace the loss of scholarships, and maybe have to increase grants that were reduced due to the scholarships (since Cornell meets need )</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry much about any small differences. The school knows people are estimating. They’re not going to kick you out if you paid $10k last year, so you pay $10k this year, when you need to really pay $11k. </p>
<p>If you’re concerned about the difference being large, then contribute more…the school will refund the difference if you over-pay. </p>
<p>Did you take out student loans last year (about $5500)? </p>
<p>This year, you can borrow $6500.</p>
<p>Hiring a lawyer will not benefit you at all, and will just cost you money for naught.</p>
<p>Call again and ask to speak to someone else than the person who answers the phone. All you really need is an explanation about this situation.</p>
<p>I’m sorry but telling returning students about need based aid 5 weeks or so after school starts isn’t sounding right to me…especially if financial situations change and students have the potential to not receive adequate aid. KEEP CALLING until you find someone to tell you what’s up. AND keep checking your student link for information as well.</p>
<p>This sounds too simple, but have you looked at your on-line student accounts this summer? One of my kids’ colleges switched from sending actual printed letters to on-line notification and never communicated outside the on-line system. I had asked my son about finaid and finally I asked him to go into his account and lo and behold there was the finaid and an on-line method to accept. So, if you have NOT been checking your messages, on-line accounts etc. this summer do that and if there still isn’t any info, then I agree with the others to get past the person who answers the phone and get to the next person up the chain of command.</p>
<p>First, go to your online account to make sure that you do not have any outstanding documents listed. I don’t care if you turned everything in. If it is listed as outstanding, you need to turn it in again. If everything shows as received, and if no awards are listed, do call back and ask to speak with a financial aid officer. </p>
<p>A few years ago, my school’s financial aid office started imaging documents (rather than using paper). This resulted in a backlog that put the office incredibly far behind in processing. Students did not have their award packages ready before school began in many cases. There were 3-hour waits to talk to financial aid in the walk-in area. It was a nightmare. It was also a double-edged sword … the more students who came in to ask about their aid, the less opportunity for the aid officers to process the aid (because they had to talk to students). </p>
<p>Things happen in aid offices. Cornell may be way behind in processing, and if so, I can assure you they are trying hard to do everything they can to get back on track. However, it is also possible that there is something going on with your account that might be holding things up. Calling and/or emailing is a good idea.</p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with checking to make sure all forms have been submitted properly. But, again, if the FA officer referred to the advice he or she has been giving “families” (plural), that suggests a delay in processing that’s affecting everyone, and not just the OP.</p>
<p>No point in putting the OP in a panic when today’s is Saturday and there’s not a darned thing that can be done before Monday anyway.</p>
<p>And, as m2ck pointed out, since Cornell meets 100% of need, it’s unlikely there will be a catastrophic change in the amount of aid the OP is awarded. (Yes, I do understand that it could change if family income has changed.)</p>
<p>Do go back and review your aid package from last year . . . what impact did that scholarship have on the rest of the package? Did it reduce loans? Grants? Work study?</p>
<p>My daughters school is also late and she got a letter from the burser demanding payment, while we knew that financial aid, grant, gov loans would cover tuition, with a small
L difference</p>
<p>I called fin aid, and they said they had just approved everything. Wuld take anther week. I asked that they notify bursar so daughters classes wouldn’t be pulled. They said account would be noted. So be sure one department knows that there was a delay. </p>
<p>Seems this isn’t just one schools problem.</p>
<p>Same here. My D’s financial aid still wasn’t settle two weeks before the tuition and fees are due. So I used my credit card to pay the full amount; hopefully the financial aid settles soon and I will get my money back in early September.</p>
<p>This is also a good lesson for parents of sophomore…the finaid etc. can take longer than for the freshman! They take care of the incoming freshman and then turn to the upperclassmen (women). Generally you’ll see it in late June or early July but sometimes it slips into August.</p>
<p>What I meant was this: jadore317 said they can’t attend without financial aid. If they are denied financial aid or enough financial aid, they must find another school. But if they aren’t notified until it’s too late to find another school, they could be liability on Cornell’s part. However, I now see one poster says Cornell meets 100% of need. If that is true, the jadore317 seems to have nothing to worry about.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone! I have been checking my student center and bursar all summer, all of my documents were turned in by the due date in April so that is not the problem. As for my scholarship last year, it covered some of my Summer Savings Expectation and reduced my work study. I did not have any loans my freshmen year, and my family’s circumstances have changed- my mom took a $5,000 pay cut, which was shown on her 1040. I checked fafsa and hesc.org, and my TAP award and my Pell Grant and they were both increased. It’s also reassuring to know that I won’t be penalized for Cornell’s mistake.</p>