Is there any point in appealing for more Financial Aid?

<p>Hi there,
I was recently accepted into UCLA OOS, and like many others, received no financial aid (cost: 55k). UCLA is by far my top choice school, but as it stands, I simply can't afford it. Our EFC is about 33k. This is a little overinflated as we own a business which counts as being able to be sold at any time (you can't really sell 1/3 of the building). Does anyone know if it would make sense to appeal for anything, at all?</p>

<p>Here are stats:
ACT- 33
Attending one of top high schools in nation, GPA 3.97
Extremely strong extracurriculars, research with UChicago & WashU, volunteer work, summer job.
Biochem major</p>

<p>I have been accepted into the following:
WashU (16k in aid, possibly more)- costs 39k
UMiami (27.5k in aid)- costs 32.5k
Tulane (27k in aid)- costs 32k
Ohio State (25k in aid)- costs 10k
UT-Austin - costs 55k (not going here)</p>

<p>I am waiting to hear from other schools (Duke, Stanford, USC, and Berkeley) as well.
That being said, UCLA is my #1 and I would love to go there. Has anyone heard of anything coming from appeals?</p>

<p>Sorry, you’re not likely to get any help from UCLA. At the end of the day, it’s a public university. Any help it provides must be used for in-state residents. Even the large swaths of OOS and international students that it recently began accepting are to help balance out the university budget and, in turn, provide a better experience for its California residents. I’m sorry that you can’t afford UCLA, but you have other great options. Hopefully Duke, Stanford, or USC will be able to provide you with better merit aid. I don’t think Berkeley will provide you with a much better financial aid package than the one that UCLA gave you.</p>

<p>You may call the Financial Aids office to see if you can be awarded for aid as sometimes some information is misinterpreted which can lead to no financial aid. I recall my cousin who was accepted to Stanford received no aid but it was due to the fact that they assumed my uncle made triple his usual salary due to his stock options. Happy ending for them as they were given a generous aid package in the end after the misunderstanding was cleared up.</p>