<p>I received my financial aide package, but, according to my parents, it is still not good enough. Is it reasonable to "negotiate" financial packages with Notre Dame? How flexible and understanding has their financial office generally been in the past?</p>
<p>If it isn't enough it definitely is worth a shot, especially if you have a good package from a comparable school! I haven't negotiated with ND, so I am not sure how flexible they are, but I have heard of it working in the past.</p>
<p>Just tell them you have competing offers from USC and U of M, and they'll bow to your every whim. :)</p>
<p>haha, maybe that would work, maybe not. I'm talking to my counselor, she's hopefully can give me some pointers on how to approach the situation. maybe you should too?</p>
<p>I'm in the exact same situation (if i get in to ND, expecting a letter today or soon). EFC is way too high and unreasonable, but I have a large scholarship to USC, so hopefully they'll be nice if I try to bargain with the financial aid</p>
<p>actually according to the Financial aid people during spring visitation weekend, ND doesnt match othes schools' offers. But u can negotiate with them but u would have to bring something else to the table.</p>
<p>I heard from a grad that ND will negotiate much more than other schools, just tell them you can't go if they don't come down a bit.</p>
<p>I am in the same poisition. I probably will not show any financial need. Yet, there is no way my parents and I can afford to pay 50 grand a year and I have a full ride to texas a&m. ND is my dream school though...tough situation for us.</p>
<p>ROTC is a wonderful way to get $180,000 for ND. I am not recruiting, just letting yall know.</p>
<p>I told my dad what some people said about negotiating aid, so he called and the financial aid office said they have no idea where I could have heard this because it "never" happens. I'm not sure I really believe that.</p>
<p>I called FA and they too said no discussion . Even if daughter gets outside scholarships it will not help with the gap between their offer.our EFC and what we really have to pay. Scholarships mean losing workstudy then Perkins then subsidized Stafford</p>
<p>K2123 and others who called ND: Have you asked if sending them a copy of other schools' offers will help? I'm planning on doing that as soon as we get D's fin. aid letter from ND. It can't hurt right?</p>
<p>I just got off the phone with FA and yes, they said they DO NOT look at other offers. Also, since I haven't received our FA packet yet (they said it was mailed last week) they were willing to email me the info.</p>
<p>My guess is that the 972 people on the waitlist are the reason that Notre Dame doesn't <em>need</em> to negotiate financial aid.</p>
<p>I seem to recall that about half of ND's applicants have financial need, so about half don't. If the waitlist applicants are typical, the University has at least 450 potential "full pay" Freshmen available on the waitlist from which to select.</p>
<p>Notre Dame is expensive, no doubt. Our FAFSA EFC last year was $0, but we still paid about $8,400 out of pocket for my son's first year, in addition to the Stafford and Perkins loans he took. Worth it? You bet, but my answer would have changed if I had a higher EFC. :)</p>
<p>:( Notre Dame is so expensive. This school has always been a dream school for me. Yes, I have been accepted... but seems like i may not end up going to this place.</p>
<p>My D was accepted EA to ND and just got accepted at Penn. Both schools list tuition and fees near $50k. Our ECF was a number larger then my gross salary ( I guess they don't know that the middle class pays 30% of their income as taxes to the Feds, not counting all the other hidden taxes we pay!) Anyway, I too called ND and got the same "Oh well" response when I told them she was offered full tuition at another school. Tough decisions need to be made in the next three weeks.</p>
<p>i think that ND is just too expensive for everyone who is currently accepted so you should just bow out to people on the waiting list :)</p>
<p>lol</p>
<p>thats heartbreaking..ND was a dream come true when I was accepted. I have spent countless hours exploring every option available to finance my education. Now the time appears to be wasted...</p>
<p>To all there are many options including borrowing directly from ND . The debt will probably be paid back to you in more ways than you can imagine in the end. Look carefully at all your options and if it is truly your dream than make it come true!</p>
<p>Kr123 is right. i too doubted if nd would be worth all that money. i was accepted to other universities with almost full scholarships so the decision was hard. but think about it this way... be it luck or faith, you out of more than 14,000 applicants go in. things happen for a reason, and now that you've come this far it'd be a waste not to try it. i know for a fact that notre dame really analyzes each case to determine how much money will be offered. they wouldn't want their graduates to be drowning in debt by the time they graduate. i can tell you one thing, i've never been happier than what i am right now here, and i know that my nd degree will take me to places. and as far as the money goes... things get solved through time.</p>