I was accepted EDII CS but received no merit aid? Did everyone receive their awards with acceptance? income… great job (300K) so do not qualify for financial aid, although my mom works 30 hrs OT every week to make that income. GPA at 3.7, lots AP, sat m 800 r 740 AB CALC 5. Good EC, other. Thought essay good. Should I accept the fact we will be paying full price?
Is that 3.7 unweighted?
Is your 800/740 from a superscore? If so how many?
Merit is based on academic scores only and these are some questions that would show why you didn’t get merit aid. Just about anyone can get high sat scores if you take the sat enough times, so some schools including RPI check to see how many times you took the sat to get your scores. They recommend no more than 2-3 times.
With 300K income, you are probably full pay. If you live in NY, your parents can set up a 529 plan and a certain amount is deductible from NYS taxes (5K filing single or HOH and $10K for a couple filing jointly). Many people I know fund the account at the end of December and pay the bill in January. This could help a bit with the financial planning, but honestly, I have put kids through state schools in NY at one third of that family income and no loans or FA (except for one year when I got $500 in TAP because i had 2 in school at the same time).
@techmom99 correct me if I’m wrong but I believe that merit-aid does not involve financial need. Merit aid is awarded strictly on where the student falls within a chart of sat and gpa grades. I know that some schools for example Rowan and TCNJ work that way. I am unsure if all schools work this way.
first and only SAT although the GPA isunweighted :"> Thanks for responses.
Call admissions and ask whether it’s normal that you haven’t received a financial aid package aid. Reiterate name and stats, admitted on 1/…
thanks i will
@slimmy - You are correct that merit aid generally is given based on stats and other factors regardless of financial need or lack thereof. The OP said that s/he had not been given merit money and my comment was based on the portion of the post which indicated a family income of $300K and my opinion that this income level would most likely make OP a full pay candidate, meaning no FA. Total full pay since s/eh didn’t qualify for merit aid.
I got my aid about a week after acceptance. If you don’t have a package by now, you probably didn’t get anything. I know I got package for leadership, not based on income. Hope this helps!
@sns3242 How much did you get? I’m wondering if RPI gives a lot of merit aid?
@treepanda there’s a net price calculator on their website that gives you an estimate really close to the actual cost. I suggest you use that because every case is different.
Maybe the school’s merit aid has a need component. It wouldn’t hurt to call and ask.
Also make sure you have completed the CSS Profile for school aid consideration.
does the net price calculator estimate Merit? Most don’t
RPI’s NPC does appear to estimate merit even when there is no need. (We are full-pay and got a substantial merit estimate from the NPC.) Perhaps the GPA was the issue; according to the 2016-17 CDS:
RPI does not require sending all scores. RPI also superscores.