<p>So I recieved my financial aid package to day and the award was as follows:</p>
<p>COA: $62,800
Penn Grant: $50,500
Work Study: $3,300
Parent/Student Contribution: $9,000</p>
<p>Is this affordable? Personally I am happy with the award but my mother wants to/is going to appeal it to see if we can get more. Is this a good idea, could my award go down? My mother has no money saved for my education so the $9,000 would have to be paid with loans and money I will save from my job over the summer. However, my mom has gone through a bankruptcy recently so I don't know if she will be eligible for any loans. </p>
<p>Sorry if this is a stupid question. I will be the first in my family to go to college so I don't really have much guidence at home and I don't want to make the mistake of taking on way too much debt.</p>
<p>By the way, I would be in Wharton at Penn and plan to study finance mainly, possible looking into a career on wall street. However I don't want to put my self in the position where I am forced to take a job simply because of the pay so I can pay off student loans over a job I may enjoy more.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>That’s an amazing award . . . and you could cover most of the student/family contribution with a combination of loans and summer earnings.</p>
<p>But if your mother can’t afford to contribute anything, and also isn’t eligible to take out loans because of her bankruptcy, then it’s entirely reasonable to ask if the student/family contribution could be reduced. The worst they could do is say “no.” But you never know, they might also say “yes.”</p>
<p>And. no, they won’t punish you for asking . . . your award won’t be reduced.</p>
<p>And you’re correct, if you can possibly avoid taking on loans, you should. Taking on debt of $20 - 30k won’t kill you, but it would certainly be preferable to avoid it if you can. And it’s apparent that Penn intended to give you a package that would allow you to graduate debt free. So, you you can get your award increased even a little, maybe you’ll be able to do that.</p>
<p>That’s a generous grant amount.
With work study you can easily apply for a research position at Penn (my daughter has been doing this). So you learn and get paid.</p>
<p>You can borrow $6000 direct loan by yourself and work during the summer to cover $3000.</p>
<p>The Direct Loan amount is $5.5K for a freshman.</p>
<p>Your mother may have additional information that is not reflected in the paperwork that could increase the amount of the loan. I always say to appeal, if there is any doubt, because one never knows if one can’t get a little more. Yes, the award can be reduced if it is discovered that incorrect information was given on the actual form or info left out, and the award can be reduced if verification shows the same, but those are corrections to make sure the awards are truly accurate. The school won’t take the money away out of spite, no. </p>
<p>Was your mother planning on spending absolutely nothing–a big fat zero on you for school? That’ a bit unreasonable isn’t it? She will get some tax benefit and some savings with you being out of the house and not using food, utilities, sundries. </p>
<p>What needs to be on the UPenn books is the what the school needs towards your tuition/fees and the room/board charges each semester. If there is a shortfall , there, you have to pay it or put yourself on some payment plan to have it paid each month or you will get late fees and penalties on the charge. I don’t know if your award covers the full billable amount. Also some schools require proof of health insurance and if you don’t have adequate coverage, they will put you on their plan and bill you automatically for it whether you want it or not. No choice in that matter. And that cost is hefty and usually front loaded… Anything else, like books, transportation there, things you need for your room, has to come out of pocket since even if a school gives out an overage, the amounts are not paid for a few weeks into the term. '</p>
<p>You can borrow $5500 from the Staffords, and if your mother applies for PLUS and is turned down, you can get an additional $4K in loans through that program. One applies for PLUS privately online and it’s a quick answer, like immediate. But bear in mind that means you are borrowing $9500 and at around 7% interest with some if not all cranking it up as soon as the funds are dispensed. Since costs are most likely, really certainly to go up, you are talking over $50K in loans before you are done at Penn, and I promise you that I know scads of UPenn graduates looking for $30K a year jobs and not finding them. I live in UPenn grad country here. An ivy degree does not guarantee you a job. And do read GWgrad’s posts on having debt after college. He’s living that reality even WITH a good job.</p>
<p>My daughter is at UPenn (3rd year). I believe I have appealed financial aid every year. I’ve never had it reduced, always increased but sometimes by a very nominal amount - but every little bit helps. The pleasant thing you will find about the COA is it is inaccurate. You won’t be spending the amount they list for books or for personal expenses and that is included in the family contribution. It is likely your mom will being much less than $9,000. </p>
<p>Personally - $9,000 a year for a Wharton education seems like a good deal to me.</p>
<p>As for the health insurance - yes if you don’t have any you will have to buy theres. I believe it is $3,000 a year - but they have always accepted my health insurance plan with no problem.</p>
<p>And to answer something else cpt brought up - they bill you for each semester. The first bill comes in about July. Yes, there are late fees and penalties. They also have a monthly payment plan if you choose to do that instead of loans (if you can afford it).</p>
<p>I do suggest that the OP pays the fee and gets the monthly payment plan. The amount that is billed will be a lot less than the $9000 since some of that is made up of discretionary expenses and by not spending what is typical, you can bring that down significantly. If you can get an early start on your books, you might be able to get them a lot cheaper than used at the bookstore by looking on line, renting, or finding someone on campus who took the course last year that can lend you the book. Or borrow from the library; if the re is a copy in the reference section plan on spending book time there using it. </p>
<p>You can also call Housing and ask for the least expensive room if there is such a thing. At my son’s school the prices did vary by close to $1000 on freshman room options. Let them know you are very close on money. Also look at the meal plans and decide what is the least that you can do the best on. With my guys, I didn’t scrimp because they eat gang busters but after first term they all wanted the least expensive plan as they preferred to get their own food at other sources on campus. </p>
<p>Do you have health insurance? You might want to look for other alternatives than UPenn’s if you don’t because $3k seems high to me.</p>
<p>Freshmen can’t pick a meal plan - they all get the most expensive one. I haven’t looked at the dorms in awhile since my daughter loves where she lives but there are aditional expenses besides the dorms since each hall has a theme as it were an there is a cost associated with that but it is somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 a year. Ohterwise unless you want a single I think the dorm fees are all the same.</p>
<p>PM me if you want more specifics.</p>