<p>12k/yr in merit and they offered the rest of the tuition in the form of those loans. If I attend, I'll just cancel the loans since I don't need them, take my 48,000 and run with it.</p>
<p>we got 17.000 merit...and the rest in loans....which are worthless!
I honestly cannot see paying almost 30,000 more per year when Purdue is giving a free ride.
sorry but it is not that much of a better school...if any better</p>
<p>I obviously disagree about your characterization indymom and could list any number of reasons why I preferred Rose over Purdue, but to each his own. Each school certainly has it's merits, and if your son/daughter feels that Purdue is the better school for him/her, best of luck.</p>
<p>Indymom, I totally understand! and you got more merit than most!!!
trust me, I agree.... no way is any degree worth that much more money! Purdue is a great school too and is ranked right up there with RoseHulman so the degrees will be worth the same! Plus Purdue offers far more extra classes too.
just think.... for 30,000 x 4 years = a house!</p>
<p>Yet, every year people keep choosing Rose over Purdue, despite the burden of loans that almost everyone here carries. I know we're each trying to rationalize our decision, but I guess we'll have to agree to disagree about the degree not being worth it.</p>
<p>what do you guys consider merit? Just the Rose Hulman Merit Scholarship or everything minus the loans? I got about 21k a year in everything minus the loans but only 6k a year in RH merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Definitely talk to the financial aid office. They did more than double my offer after my parents talked to them. They might also renew one year scholarships for all four years. Also look on sites like fastweb or check with local charities or companies. There are a lot of little known scholarship opportunities that you can take advantage of.</p>
<p>what??? ian_pike1990, did you get any need based finaids? How come you got extra money in addition to your 6k merit based scholarship?</p>
<p>the extra money was through various grants and whatnot, 3k RH grant, 1k ACG Grant, 3.5k Freedom of Choice Grant (whatever that is). There are a couple others but those are the ones that i can think of off the top of my head.</p>
<p>So, for "grant", do you have to pay back like "loan"?</p>
<p>jackwang, a grant is an award that does not have to be repaid, while a loan does have to be repaid.</p>
<p>"It's really easy to get them to increase your award if you just ask", right?. Just make a phone call. So we asked for a review. No difference. Did they "double the aid"? Did we get "another 5000"? No. Not even another $2k/yr. FA just changed around the loans. In spite of an EFC of 0 (rounded up from -50000). Despite one parent out of work 4 years out of the last 6 years. ACT of 34, 2220 SAT, NMF. Merit aid=10.5k/yr Grants offered= 12.5k/yr. Debt after 4 years: 78k. </p>
<p>Sorry Nic, the price is too high.</p>
<p>Sorry it worked out that way for you. I've been there. I was in a similar boat. I called and asked for an increase because my step-dad had been out of work for much of my high school career, and got an increase, but it still would've been a little more debt than you, about 90K. </p>
<p>So yeah, your bitter attitude and quotes don't earn you any sympathy from me.</p>
<p>I ended up doing Army ROTC so I could come to Rose because I really loved the school. I wouldn't expect others to understand or emulate my decision, but it's been very much worth it to me. Now I'm getting a great education and netting about 7K/year while I'm in college (which is paid for in full)</p>
<p>Nic,
Not bitter. Bittersweet better describes it. I'm sad that I won't be going to such a great school with great guys there like you and everyone in Admissions was very nice. But I'm happy I got some great aid elsewhere. So no sympathy is needed. However, prior postings in this thread have made it sound almost automatic that their financial aid will be improved upon appeal. I wanted people to know that this is not the case. I don't want people to have unrealistic expectations as implied above. The original package is about as good as they were able to come up with. I had hoped that they could at least come close percentage-wise to the gift aid from other schools.
Even total debt of 40-50k might have been tolerable.</p>
<p>I'm glad you made things work. And I thank you for all the support and encouragement you've given to probably hundreds of prospective students. I don't know where you find the time to do it.
So that's why I'm sorry, Nic. I wish it had turned out differently.</p>
<p>I have a junior daughter and Rose-Hulman has been recommended to her. She has high SATs and GPA and has been very involved with ECs at her school but nothing earth-shattering. We should qualify for some need aid but would also need merit aid to make things affordable. This thread indicates a variety of experiences with merit aid. I'm curious to know if female students have an easier time getting merit aid? Does coming from outside the midwest help?</p>
<p>I came from outside the midwest (3.5GPA, 30ACT, 1 sport), I got $7,000 a year.
A girl from Indiana I know was in plays, ~3.5GPA, no idea on her test scores, part of the varsity basketball team, etc. She got $7,000 a year. </p>
<p>I think they could have done a wee-bit better for both of us, but unless she's an anomaly I don't see much bias for the local students or girls. Maybe as students from my class drop/fail out they could redistribute that aid to the good performers? I like that idea ;)</p>
<p>Many times you will find that if the student is in-state (Indiana) they are given more in aid and scholarships.
My son decided not to attend since the aid wasn't anywhere close to what he needed.</p>