<p>OK, well I haven’t gotten my financial aid package yet, so I will see :]</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>Does anyone have anything else on appealing financial aid decisions at CMU? This has been great information so far.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if they will match financial aid offers after May 1st? I got admitted to CMU but I’m on the waitlist for three other schools, all which Carnegie Mellon considers peer institutions. If I get admitted off one of the waitlists, will they match the financial aid I get offered?</p>
<p>On the where am i in the process site, my financial aid was posted. But, is that for the first year, or is that for all four years? It says fall semester, spring semester, and then “offered” which is the total of the fall and spring semesters. Does anyone know?</p>
<p>Financial offers are generally made for the first year, unless it’s a scholarship.</p>
<p>It can vary depending if your EFC changes and also depending on what kind of aid it is. My D got a scholarship and a grant the first 2 years that were based on need (in fine print on the letter). She also got another scholarship which was not based on need. Those two years her brother was also in college. Year three her brother had graduated so her EFC nearly doubled and the scholarship and grant went away, which I expected. But she kept the second scholarship. So that was good.</p>
<p>My son’s financial aid package was disappointing compared to the others he received. In one case, the total package from a smaller LAC (a profile school) was was almost $10000 more (the difference all in need-based grant - no merit scholarships). The financial aid game is very interesting.</p>
<p>You should give it a go. However, most kids accepted to CMU could get substantial scholarships at other state schools. It seems to me, what they consider are the ones who have better offers from schools that they consider their peers or above in college rankings.</p>
<p>I’m wondering if it is worth putting in the paperwork for financial aid, does anyone know approx what parental salary level financial aid kicks in at? Don’t want to make the effort if it’s futile.</p>
<p>Got FA today and it meets our EFC differential…faxed the better offer from the peer institution…should hear by the 18th according to the info on the form…fingers and toes crossed…c’mon CMU! You know we love you…</p>
<p>busdriver11, Cornell, rice, and CMU all offered me $0 in need-based aid, but since I submitted the FAFSA i qualified for the Presidential scholarship which is for strong applicants who submitted FA material but “qualified for little or no need-based aid”. The amount of the scholarship varies greatly from person to person (idk how they determine how much you get), but mine is 10k/year… So yeah, i’d say 40k for spending a weekend filling out forms was a pretty nice deal.</p>
<p>Edit: Oh, and note that i found out about this scholarship before I ever called them up and told them about rice being 10k cheaper</p>
<p>Thanks bco09. I’m wondering also, after we get the financial aid award soon in the mail (which I’m sure will be 0), sounds like we need to fill out the request for review of financial aid package, fax it, include offers from other schools. We don’t mind filling out more forms, it’s just that it sounds as if you need to turn in your tax returns for 2008 (which I always get an extension for until Sept, so that’s an ordeal I want to avoid if it’s an exercise in futility). Congratulations on that 10K/year, wow!</p>
<p>busdriver11, we were in the same position. We knew we would not qualify for need based aid but thought the presidential was likely. Financial aid award had still not arrived today (although supposedly mailed last Friday). D called CMU and was told her award was zero. She told the admissions officer, “it makes my decision easier”.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, sharonohio, bummer about the zero award. My son is not expecting anything at all, so at least it won’t be a surprise. Are you considering sending off copies of other schools fa awards, just in the hope that CMU might match them? Or at least offer a little?</p>
<p>No, daughter has decided to go to U of Richmond on a full merit scholarship. No way CMU will come close. I think it was mostly her ego that was hurt because she was given nothing.</p>
<p>^Congratulations on full merit to U of Richmond. Any full tuition scholarship to anywhere is rare and deserving. </p>
<p>The question that prospective students need to ask is “How much to you wish to attend Carnegie Mellon?” compared to ABCollege with big scholarship. Would you change to CMU if CMU offers $5k, $10K, $15K, or 50% of URichmond, against your big ABCollege award?</p>
<p>for our DS, it didn’t take all that much.</p>
<p>Longprime, agree 100% with your comment but D wants to study biology and truthfully CMU is good but not worlds best and Pittsburgh has some negatives for her weatherwise (she really needs to move somewhere warmer than OH). Had CMU come through with a decent sized award, she would have actually had to do some comparison and come up with that number which you referenced above, but with nothing (and negotiation not likely to lead to anything bigger than 25% tuition), the decision became very easy.</p>
<p>my reviewed FA letter came today, no increase in aid</p>
<p>looks like its cornell for me, that was the only thing for cmu anyway</p>
<p>i sent in my request for review of FA award letter and they sent it back with no increase, so we went and talked with the dean of admissions and told him about other offers and refiled the form and ended up with a 7k institutional scholarship, so if you work for it, cmu will give you more</p>