Is getting financial aid a wise choice for the SFS?

<p>Hey everyone,</p>

<p>I got accepted to Georgetown SFS this fall and was wondering how many of you applied for financial aid? My dad convinced me not to apply because he said with a major like mine, it would be hard to pay all of it back. However, my dad has never heard of Georgetown before and doesn't know how good it is. He only had heard about the university after I applied. I wanted to ask all of you: would it be wise of me to apply for financial aid considering people majoring in international relations/ political science and around those areas usually have a harder time finding a job as opposed to lawyers or doctors? Or is my statement completely way off base considering that Georgetown is an amazing university and people who graduate from there with good grades shouldn't have a hard time finding a job?</p>

<p>Thanx in advance.</p>

<p>Financial aid is given primarily as grants which do not need to be paid back.There is also a work study component and a loan component.However the loan component (if you stick to the Stafford loans) will only amount to apprx 15k over 4 years.</p>

<p>I suspect it is too late to apply for financial aid now but you should call the school and ask them</p>

<p>I don't know anyone who's graduated from SFS recently who has had a hard time landing a job. The flip side of that is that a lot of those jobs are in DC, which is a rather pricey place to live (not as bad as NY or San Fran though) so even if you land a very good job right out of school, your expenses are going to be kind of high as well.</p>

<p>Thanks for your responses</p>

<p>When I initially wrote this post, I meant to say loans instead of financial aid. I always seem to get all that type of stuff messed up. Anyway, Georgetown is a bit heavy on the pocket (and yes living there adds to it) and my scholarship is only 500 dollars. Does anyone else have any advice on getting loans in the SFS? I think I missed the deadline but I intend to apply if i'm desperate in my sophomore year. Any extra advice from this forum would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>depending on your major, SFS grads aren't virtually guaranteed good jobs when they graduate, as I was told coming in. most international politics majors aren't gonna make that much right out of school, plus its mostly in DC where the price of living is quite high. econ majors do pretty well though.</p>

<p>That's a personal decision that you have to make for yourself. </p>

<p>I have huge loans, and will live a very, very, very, meager existence until they are paid off...However, hopefully by my senior year I'll be able to become a part-time student and save that way, or graduate a semester early. </p>

<p>I suppose it is a quality of life vs. quality of education/experience question. Will Georgetown really give you that much of an edge to warrant taking out so many loans? Probably not, but it's a labor of love. The SFS is awesome.</p>

<p>(Plus, it sounds like you've already committed to Georgetown...so regardless of where you get the money, you will have to pay them. It sounds like you don't absolutely HAVE to take out loans. If you can avoid it, then don't do it)</p>

<p>I just decided to "reject" Georgetown SFS acceptance as a transfer and a big factor was their very very poor financial aid package. I pretty much got no scholarship and maybe $10,000 in federal loans. I'm sure SFS would have been great, but I just didn't think 3 years of great college experience should cost $150,000. I talked to some kids I know at Georgetown and they told me that there isn't too many merit scholarships out there and you'd have to search pretty hard for generous scholarships in general. On the flip side, I've received about $15,000 just in scholarships to other private colleges so just blame poor Georgetown FA with low low low endowments.</p>

<p>yeah i got ridiculous financial aid pack ammounting to like $1000 in scholarships, $3000 in loans and $2000 in work study.. and lets just say my parents arent exactly rich.. </p>

<p>sorry to hijack this thread but is it possible to decline the Loans section of the package and only accept the scholarship?</p>

<p>i mean obviously anything thats going to contribute to my tuition is going to come in handy..but yeah I dont want to have any loans, which i indicated on all of the forms too!</p>

<p>Yeah, you should be able to decide which financial offer to decline or accept. My dad wrote on FAFSA as parent contribution as $5000, and Georgetown tweeked it just a little bit and replaced it with $36,000. Great, just great.</p>

<p>Well, your parent doesn't decide what the family contribution is green, FAFSA decides. Did FAFSA say your contribution was $5,000 or was that what your dad said he was willing to pay?</p>

<p>During GAAP, I realized how many cool, down-to-earth people were accepted but there was a big chance that they would be going somewhere due to the cost. I guess that's how that snobby Joe and Jane Hoya stereotype is perpetuated-they're the only ones that can pay lol.</p>

<p>Thanks for all your help u guys! </p>

<p>After reading your posts, I realized I'm not the only one facing this problem. I thought most of the Georgetown students received scholarships. I know in the end it comes down to my decision (just like manderz 1 said) and choosing educational experiance or quality of living, but I wanted to know. If you were in my position, what would you do? After all, I feel really bad for my father (my mother doesn't work) it is going to be a huge financial burden on him.</p>

<p>I don't know exactly what my dad put down on FAFSA or whether $5000 was FAFSA's call or my dad's.
Regardless, I turned down Georgetown SFS. But it shouldn't matter to you. You should make the decision solely based on how you see it. I'm sure there are hundreds of Georgetown kids who are there and they're taking on loans worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars because they truly think SFS experience is worth it. If you're really really into international relations and your parents can pay for the tuition without having to declare bankrupcy, I'd say why not. I would strongly consider the financial part, but don't make it a 100% factor in your decision.</p>

<p>Fafsa gave me an estimated family contribution of $15000, but like green09, it got tweaked to $34000 ish :/</p>

<p>Fortune
IMHO,taking on huge debt for undergrad school is a big mistake.They will hang around your neck for years and crimp your ability to do things like buy a house,have children,survive a bout of unemployment etc.</p>

<p>Hey again everyone,</p>

<p>Thank you for all your responses once again! Your insights have helped me greatly in trying to finalize a decision. I guess for the time being, I will attend Georgetown and after a year, i'll see how it goes from there. Good luck everyone in your future endeavors whether you decide to stay in Georgetown or not. :-)</p>