I need more money from Notre Dame!

Paying for College
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>I was accepted EA and got my finaid today. I am not too happy. Out of the 44,000 (Room, Board, Tuition Expenses), ND awarded me a Scholarship/Aid package of $13,400 which means I have to pay about $31,000 a year from only a single parent income because my mother is not working. My sister graduated last year from college which means I am now the only child attending college. Since I attended boarding high school and my sister attended college, trust me that was also a lot of money to spend on both kids. Now, my sister is working to pay off her college debts this year and I am currently serving my gap year which is costing me around 15,000 dollars. My sister also has plans on attending medical school in another country beginning Fall 2007. I mean affording the tuition is a problem but not to the extent that I am going to make any major sacrifices such as sell the family car or take up a job at ND. I was honestly expecting $20,000 of aid which would have really fulfilled my true financial aid need. </p>

<p>Now, the only other colleges I have applied to are Vandy and NWestern for RD. I am not sure if I will get accepted and I really would definetely choose ND over Vandy (if they both give me same financial package) and I will have to really think hard between ND and NWestern. I mean I have fallen in love with ND over the past few months and I plan on definetely attending but I will be in so much financial constraint and debt by the end of my 4 years.</p>

<p>Thus, my goal is to write a letter to the financial aid office describing my whole predicament and I really hope they understand my situation. Given such circumstances, </p>

<p>1.) Do you think ND, being a huge endowment university, provides additional financial aid to the max of $5,000?</p>

<p>2.) My friend was describing several positions in college where you dont really have to do such manual labor and you get exempt from expenses. Now this pertains with my sophmore and beyond. </p>

<p>---For example, could I be an RA in the dorm soph year and get exempt from paying my room charges? </p>

<p>----Or if I was a researcher (since I plan on doing premed) doing a project with a professor, could I get paid for this? What I am really trying to get at is that I do not wish to have a job because I want to use my time towards academic pursuit so I am thinking of alternatives where my time wont be at stake.</p>

<p>Other than that I really appreciate you for reading this. I am proud to hopefully attend ND and be apart of the Class of '10 but I am just making it as easy of a transition to afford college and I hope you guys can give me that input.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>some schs do have the RA thing. check with your school. but then again, it wont happen in your first yr... which means u still have to live with the finaid package for the first yr. and then again, it wont be for certain that u'd be an ra. there are only so many ra positions, and apparently the staff have to judge your character etc before offering you the place of ra (not that im saying your character's bad or anything). hth</p>

3

<p>You aren't willing to work a couple of hours a week to get rid of some of the debt?</p>

<p>Cry me a river.</p>

4

<p>
[quote]
was accepted EA and got my finaid today. I am not too happy. Out of the 44,000 (Room, Board, Tuition Expenses), ND awarded me a Scholarship/Aid package of $13,400 which means I have to pay about $31,000 a year from only a single parent income because my mother is not working.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>If your mother is not working than either she has considerable assets to draw upon (how does she pay her day to day bills?) or your father/stepfather has a considerable income/ assets which were factored into the equation.</p>

<p>
[quote]
My sister also has plans on attending medical school in another country beginning Fall 2007.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Your sister going to med school is not going to be evaluated in the equation as FA only considers other siblings who are undergrads or in private high school which parents are paying for.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I mean affording the tuition is a problem but not to the extent that I am going to make any major sacrifices such as sell the family car or take up a job at ND

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Then that is a choice that you are going to have to live with. Since you state that you are not willing to work.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I am currently serving my gap year which is costing me around 15,000 dollars.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Life choice that you made which could have filled the $20,000 gap you are looking for (this money had to come from somewhere).</p>

<p>
[quote]
Since I attended boarding high school and my sister attended college, trust me that was also a lot of money to spend on both kids

[/quote]
</p>

<p>No your parents will no longer have the boarding school expense which they can through toward your college tuition and the school probably expects the colelge tuition that they are no longer paying (since your sister graduated) to go toward your college expense.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that ND distributes aid based on financial need, not financial want and there is a major disconnect between the 2.</p>

<p>
[quote]
For example, could I be an RA in the dorm soph year and get exempt from paying my room charges?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Probably not. ND states:</p>

<p>The residence hall staff is here to assist you in every way possible. They are excellent resource people, and you will undoubtedly get to know the residence hall staff and in-residence staff living in your hall. The Resident Assistants are seniors who serve as resource people, activities coordinators and peer counselors. Assistant Rectors are graduate staff members responsible for assisting in the administration of an entire building. The Rector is a full-time professional who is responsible for supervising the activities, staff, and residents of an entire residence hall.</p>

<p><a href="http://orlh.nd.edu/housing/undergraduate/residencelife/communityliving.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://orlh.nd.edu/housing/undergraduate/residencelife/communityliving.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>
[quote]
Or if I was a researcher (since I plan on doing premed) doing a project with a professor, could I get paid for this?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Since you are attending a large research university, you will be at the bottom of the food chain for these opportunities (unless you are a prodigy) because they will most likely go to upperclassmen and grad students.</p>

<p>You need to work, to offset some of these expenses and become a more active participant in the financing of your education as no one else will have as much of a vested interest than you.</p>

5

<p>"ince I attended boarding high school and my sister attended college"</p>

<p>Where did your mom get the $ to send you to boarding school adn to send your sister to college? Presumably the same source could pay more toward your ND education.</p>

<p>" I am currently serving my gap year which is costing me around 15,000 dollars. "</p>

<p>I don't have a lot of sympathy for someone who claims they don't have much money yet takes a gap year that costs them $15,000. My guess is that ND doesn't have much sympathy for you either.</p>

6

<p>OP posted on the ND board:</p>

<p>My EFC or expected financial contribution was $20,000-$24,000. I was willing to pay around $20-24,000 for ND but now I am in the burden of paying $31,000. I am in the process of writing my letter to ND. Do you think that I should send this letter now while they are still in the process of distributing their finances for RD students, etc...? Or should I wait for my Vanderbilt and Northwestern letters?</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=2017962#post2017962%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=2017962#post2017962&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>If your EFC is in the $24,000 range:</p>

<p>Does the other $7,000 consists of a student contribution, workstudy and loans? There is a self help component as you are expected to be an active participant in the financing of your education. You then need to apply for and receive outside scholarships to reduce this course or go to work.</p>

<p>Sounds like the school met your demonstrated need but you are having a few entitlement issues.</p>

7

<p>sybbie, Is it also possible that there is a gap, b/c they expect mom to get a job? I had read on these boards, that financial assistance is lowered if one parent in a two parent home is not working, but I do not know if this is fact or fiction. I also do not know if all schools do this across the board.</p>

8

<p>They also probably expect the student to work a job over the summer and/or during the school year. On another thread, the OP describes plans to take premed courses during at least one summer.</p>

9

<p>*The University of Notre Dame administers a broad array of financial aid programs, including scholarships/grants, loans and work to assist in meeting a student's demonstrated financial need.
*</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nd.edu/%7Efinaid/undergraduate/gen_info/financial_aid_at_nd.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nd.edu/%7Efinaid/undergraduate/gen_info/financial_aid_at_nd.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I doubt if there was a gap or if there is a gap it is a small one.</p>

<p>COA = 44,000 If parent EFC is 24,000</p>

<p>then he has a $20,000 demonstrated need.</p>

<p>S/He states that they got</p>

<p>Scholarship/Aid package of $13,400 </p>

<p>There is definitely going to be a self help component (summer earning, work study and loans) which I think makes up the $7000.</p>