<p>My daughter was accepted EA and her acceptance letter did not include any Merit. At the EA acceptance day they mentioned it was still possible to have a merit offer and it would be posted by April 1st. Has anybody else heard about this? She loves this school, but we certainly can't pay 60k. She has had merit offers from Northeastern, RPI, and just this week Brandeis. Does anybody have info on late merit scholarships? </p>
<p>First congrats on admission to Fordham. Its a very rigorous school and getting admitted is no easy feat. Second. there are late merit offers. But its a bit quirky. Did you file a FAFSA and CSS? DO SO IMMEDIATELY if not. Call or email Fordham Admissions again. Be patientl. They are inundated with questions this time of year. SHARE YOUR OFFERS from Northeastern and Brandeis. and RPI. Let them compare and contrast and see if they can help you. (They may ask you to fax your offers from other schools, with a cover letter. Tell them that Fordham is number one and its imperative they help you find a way to do that.) </p>
<p>You have until May 1 to decide where to attend. Take as much time as you need. RD admission offers go out this week. </p>
<p>Every school is different and your choices are wonderful and also very diverse in personality/vibe. Fordham is very special and being in New York is a real benefit for finding internships and jobs. Fordham’s reputation is stellar, particularly in New York. Its very important your daughter makes the choice and owns it. Yes, finances play a role in that and she must be part of that decision, particularly if student loans are involved.<br>
Good luck. </p>
<p>I didn’t realize that merit scholarships might have been included with the original EA acceptance letter. Not having been offered any, this certainly brings the chances of my D going to Fordham down significantly.</p>
<p>Thank you. She really loved the Vibe at Fordham and that’s why we’re keeping our fingers crossed that she’ll see something April 1st. Up until this week her top two were Northeastern and Fordham loving them both equally for different reasons and money was going to be the final decider. The Brandeis acceptance letter last week added a new component especially when they offered her a Dean’s scholarship and accepted her to the Dean’s Scholar program. We did fill out the CSS and FAFSA on time but I’m not counting on financial aid so Merit would be key. There were students that received Merit in their EA decision letters. A friend of my daughter’s received $15K in her offer. She has already declined and has accepted an offer to Brown. However, don’t lose hope Skedeebs, we specifically asked at the Admitted Student day, and they said that some Merit scholarships were already given, however there would still be more offered to EA applicants along with the RD offers. They said it would be in the portal by April 1st. I haven’t seen anything yet, and that was the original reason for creating this post to see if anybody had heard anything. Keeping my fingers crossed for both of us! I really think Fordham is her first choice as long as it doesn’t involve graduating in debt. Thanks</p>
<p>I know that some kids have even heard about scholarshipsin April, and often when Fordham has a better picture of who is coming and who is not, and comparing offers. However, when I see the words “not graduating with debt” I often cringe. I dont have the numbers but anecdotally over 90% of students graduate with some student loans. You wont go to a college where they give you student loans as part of the financial picture(scholarships and grants are the same thing, a form of discounting the cost of attending. Scholarships are prestigious. Grants are a gift. based on need but also sometimes an enticement from the school) I do understand that most families take “the best offer.” And if that means one with no loans, and another has loans, then so be it. But know that very few have that situation in college. If you can afford to pay the cost of attending, and decide between a no loan and some loans, I understand. l But it appears that you may be looking for the schools to finance her education and she is unwilling to invest in her own education. There is a benefit to taking loans. One, she establishes a strong credit history. If she does well in school she will find a job in New York, probably with a fine salary. Plus it helps her invest in her work, giving her added motivation to do well, own her education and be proud of her investment. </p>
<p>Some take the path of rankings prestige, like an Ivy. But many Fordham students got into higher ranking schools and chose Fordham for financial reasons, for internship and job possibilities and being Jesuit. Its a personal decision. </p>
<p>I wish the scholarship and financialaidprocess was more objective and fair, clear,consistent. Its not. Its a labrynth of all sorts of agendas and quirky reasoning. At the end of theday, fordham only has so many beds in the dorms and so many seats in classes. It accepts about 40-42% from a very strong pool of applicants. Thus, they know that a high number of accepted kids will go elsewhere (yield). A numbers game. </p>
<p>As between Northeastern and Fordham, it comes down to Boston vs. New York, and a very urban campus (Northeastern) versus a bucolic gated campus (Fordham) in an urban setting. Northeastern is also very much larger. But Boston has its own penache of being a very collegiate town, with so many schools (Harvard, MIT, BC, BU, Northeastern and more nearby) Just know that Fordham is hugely respected by employers. And that may make it wortth some student loans. My kid has loans from Fordham and graduate school (in Boston!). She is working and doing just fine. Good luck. </p>
<p>Thank You again. I’m not against her having some debt, I think that is important to be somewhat invested, however even though Fordham is her top choice, if she’s getting 22K in Merit at her second choice school, and $17,500. at her 3rd vs. no merit at her first, she would would have to weigh the option of paying an addition $90,000.00 for her education. Every encounter we have had at Fordham has been positive and she does feel honored to have bee,n accepted there. We’re really hoping something is offered on April 1st, and understand it if isn’t, but it will certainly determine where she attends school next year, and that’s why we are hoping for the best. </p>
<p>Okay. I understand your position. I strongly recommend sharing her offers from Brandeis and Northeastern with Fordham. By fax. Immediately. </p>
<p>@VirginiaDare Thanks for the kind words of encouragement. I looked at my daughter’s page again, and a new message under financial aid mentions both a Loyola scholarship and a Tuition Scholarship without actually saying “we are giving this to you.” That appears to be a decent potential award, but may not be enough in the end. We will see what it comes out to, and of course which other schools accept her and their cost/scholarship offers. Here’s wishing you all as stress-free a last week of college decisions as possible.</p>
<p>Fordham is well-known for giving a lot of merit-based money as time wears on. I started off with 10,000 and wound up with 25,000. I’m sure you’ll get something. Don’t worry :)</p>
<p>Has anyone who has filed the CSS Profile heard back from Fordham??</p>
<p>I just spoke with someone in financial services because we still hadn’t heard anything. Somehow there was one form missing on her account preventing it from going to the final package. It turns out they did have the form so they cleared her account and sent it off for finalizing. He said we would hear by the end of the week. The gentleman said that everybody should hear by the end of this week if you haven’t already. We had submitted the CSS back in November and she was an EA acceptance. If you’re concerned that this may be the case you may want to call. It sounds like many people have heard, but that there are also students who have not. They are trying their best to get everything out. Hope that helps </p>
<p>How did it go? Did you (hopefully!) get some good news?</p>
<p>Still waiting. My daughter called Friday, and they said within 2 business days. The lady she spoke with mentioned there was Merit but couldn’t say amount because they were finalizing. Still hoping for the best. </p>
<p>We are still waiting, too. Fingers crossed for everyone who is waiting. </p>
<p>I still have not heard back from Fordham LC about my Financial Aid and apparently I won’t until I show them original proof of my Green Card at one of their offices. I applied EA and under my Document tab, it appears that they already have scanned copies of my green card on file, but they want original proof. I plan on calling them tomorrow and working something out about this. Here’s my question though: is there a possibility I might get some merit aid? I received some merit aid from Emerson College (17k per year) and a Financial Aid package totaling to (31k per year). Although I am more than grateful for this generous package, Fordham is my number one choice, with Emerson in second. Without any merit aid, Fordham is well out of the picture 
</p>
<p>My biggest fear is flying all the way up to Lincoln Center and finding out that I’ve got no financial or merit aid. If there is a good chance I might get something, as I did from Emerson, then by all means I’ll find a way to visit their offices even if it means going by myself. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any advice? if they don’t give me any aid… do you think if I send them copies of my Emerson letters, they’ll give in? will my appeal stand a chance? I’m a first generation student (so I have no idea how this whole process works) and I’m determined to do whatever it takes 
please help! </p>
<p>I can’t help you with the green card thing, but I can tell you one thing. When we appealed last year, we were told by Fordham that they don’t match schools, meaning they will not try to match another school’s financial aid offer. Now, you can still try and see what happens, but that’s what we were told by FA.</p>