<p>I was just recently accepted into WashU. However, my parents did not start working until 2001, which means that we do not have much in savings. Plus my sister is only five and my parents will have to think about her as well since they will be retiring in only 10 years. </p>
<p>I just got the financial aide notification today and WashU is only going to provide 2000 dollars a year and expects me to pay that back as well later on...(ridiculous right? 2000 bucks for the almost $50,000 more)</p>
<p>I have already tried to contact the financial aide counselor at WashU, and all he gave me was that "we have strict policies."</p>
<p>What should I do? It's driving me crazy right now. Should I try to contact them again? What should I say? </p>
<p>Please help</p>
<p>What did your parents do for income the first 10 years of your life? How can someone with a 5 year old be thinking of retiring in 10 years if they have only worked for the past 7 years.</p>
<p>What was your EFC? and if you don’t mind me asking, how old are your parents?</p>
<p>based on your stats(I found a post on another thread), it seems like you would have gotten more scholarship $$</p>
<p>I just checked WashU website and they say you apply for scholarships over the summer (which seems weird if you depending on the $$ to decide whether or not to attend)
maybe I’m missing something
<a href=“http://admissions.wustl.edu/admissions/ua.nsf/3rd%20Level%20Pages_Scholarships_scholarship_ataglace.htm?OpenPage&charset=iso-8859-1[/url]”>http://admissions.wustl.edu/admissions/ua.nsf/3rd%20Level%20Pages_Scholarships_scholarship_ataglace.htm?OpenPage&charset=iso-8859-1</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://admissions.wustl.edu/admissions/ua.nsf/3rd%20Level%20Pages_Scholarships_scholarship_programs.htm?OpenPage&charset=iso-8859-1[/url]”>http://admissions.wustl.edu/admissions/ua.nsf/3rd%20Level%20Pages_Scholarships_scholarship_programs.htm?OpenPage&charset=iso-8859-1</a></p>
<p>For the first 10 years, they had to start over in the United States and get degrees in addition to the ones they had in China because US companies don’t recognize Chinese degrees. They lived on the scholarships awarded to them by their college as well as some additional income earned on the side on part time jobs. My parents are around 50 yrs. old right now. According to my parents, EFC is pretty much all on me. </p>
<p>Could you explain why you think that I should have gotten more money?</p>
<p>And I have tried to apply for the scholarships that fit my profile, however I did not win any. </p>
<p>So I’m pretty much stuck in a tight spot right now =/</p>
<p>Did you apply to any other colleges? Did you apply to your state college?</p>
<p>I do have other options, IU gave me a full ride, but WashU is my top choice</p>
<p>Good job! Take the full ride and don’t look back!</p>
<p>I don’t want to sound like a snob, but IU is hardly an option. I’ve worked all of high school to get out of Indiana and into something better. Even though Missouri isn’t exactly the ideal state, I’ve seen WashU’s campus and talked to the students there and I believe that it is a step up from IU (understatement of the year)</p>
<p>but is it really worth it to go into 200,000 dollars of debt for your undergrad education?</p>
<p>No, which is why I want to figure out some other way to get money.</p>
<p>So, what other options do you have besides IU and WashU?</p>
<p>Purdue, another in-state college</p>
<p>I don’t think I’m going to hear from any other colleges until around April. </p>
<p>But the thing is, all these other colleges cost about the same. I just hope they don’t have the same policy as WashU</p>
<p>You might get better offers from the other colleges you applied to. Why don’t you wait and see what happens?</p>
<p>I suppose, but I still want to get a head start to see what my other options are</p>
<p>razzlegrl, I can completely relate (trying to get out of Florida and afford UChicago . . . but need-based = awful). I don’t have any advice (I need some myself), but I really hope it works out for you - hang in there.</p>
<p>I would take the free ride. You have you ENTIRE life to get out of Indiana. </p>
<p>You’ll be ~22 when you graduate</p>
<p>what was your EFC?</p>
<p>I live in NY and a lot of local kids want to go to IU! It can’t be that bad and you seem like one of those kids who will have an excellent academic career no matter where you go. Take the free ride and go to Wustl for grad school!</p>
<p>If your family EFC is in the $45,000 range (full cost of Wash U) then your family income now is likely in excess of $150,000 per year. Your parents have been working for seven years…it’s not like they were unemployed last year. And from your post, it sounds like they were making ends meet on their college stipends previous to 2001. </p>
<p>If your EFC is really in the $40K range, and your family income is as high as I’m estimating, there is little you can do to get more need based aid. </p>
<p>You have a major decision to make. You can take your full ride offer and have no debt for undergraduate school. Graduate school could be at the “prestige school”.</p>
<p>Also, your parents are 50 and are planning to retire at 60? The average age for retirement in the U.S. is higher than that and is expected to go even higher over the next ten years. Many folks work well into their 60’s or even 70’s. Also, I don’t think financial aid considers retirement that is going to happen 10 years from now…at the age of 60. In addition, these formulas do not take into account siblings attending college well into the future. Your 5 year old sister would not be attending college for at least 12 more years.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that fronting a loan for $40,000 per year will require a co-signer. You will not likely get that kind of loan without having your parents co-sign as borrowers.</p>
<p>did the OP say their EFC was 40K? I know I posed the 'what was your EFC question".</p>
<p>I also wonder if they are American citizens. because I don’t see any mention of even an unsubsidized stafford loan.</p>
<p>dear god, if I ever earn 150,000 a year, I promise I will never ever ever complain about money. </p>
<p>The govt doesn’t care that 10 years ago I was making 20K and now I’m making 3x that. their EFC formula looks at current income, vs historical income (which the Social security administration keeps track of very well based on that paper they send me every year before my birthday). </p>
<p>If I was in charge (ha ha), historical earnings would be part of the formula. That would be a better indicator of how much I potentially could have saved. There’s no indication in my current scenario that I qualified for WIC when my son was a toddler</p>
<p>Sue, the OP has so far neglected to tell us what her EFC is. I think that thumper1 is assuming an EFC of about $40,000, based on the fact that WashU isn’t giving the OP any need-based aid.</p>
<p>Razzlegrl, do you know for sure that your parents aren’t going to help you out? Also, have you applied for all the WashU scholarships available?</p>
<p>I misread the info about scholarships. I thought you were supposed to apply this summer for fall. I was wrong. The applications this summer are for Next years fall 2009 class.</p>
<p>so the OP would have had to apply last summer for this fall. </p>
<p>Oops, my bad :-)</p>