<p>I’m pretty sure about 99% of you are curious as to whether it is possible to get more aid (I know I am :\ ) and if so how to go about asking, so I thought I would make a thread for it so we could all possibly discuss our financial circumstances with current BU students who know a little bit about this. I’ll start:</p>
<p>I was accepted into the college of engineering and the UHC with a Half tuition scholarship for being a NMSF (as well as about 5500 in ubsub loans). I was ecstatic about being accepted into the UHC (because it was part of the reason I was excited about applying), and I’m extremely grateful for the huge merit award… but 25k off of 55k just isn’t going to cut it. UT Austin is my in state safety, and even though all they could give me was a 5k/yr merit award (what with Texas’s education budget crisis, you may have heard about) I still would only have to pay 15k per year since it’s in state, vs the 30k per year that BU would cost me…</p>
<p>I believe the reason that I didn’t get any grant money is because of our reeeeally high FAFSA EFC (like 30k), but its not really an end-be-all summary of our financial situation. My father was always a good investor, so we have a decent amount of money in savings as well as rent property, but he lost his job and my mother cannot find work either. We are paying a mortgage on our house and putting my sister through college too, so our savings is dwindling and our rent property obviously isn’t liquid enough to pay for tuition (plus its kind of their retirement investment…). </p>
<p>What do you recommend I do? should i write a letter to the admissions office? I feel that BU did a good job of following FAFSA’s assessment of me, so I don’t blame them, but FAFSA itself sort of screwed me b/c of our current situation. I have a high EFC so I feel like I would be an ass if I tried to negotiate with them. Since a lot of the people who were given scholarships may turn them down to attend other top schools, will BU redistribute those later? And if so would they go to people who already got merit aid, or strictly students who need support to begin with?</p>
<p>Thanks, and everyone else feel free to post Q’s too
-Michael</p>
<p>I’m in the same boat. Well, actually, a similar boat. I have a low EFC, but it will be more average next year when my brother gets out of school. Nevertheless, BU was nowhere near meeting my demonstrated need. They were, however, close to the demonstrated need that I will have next year. I have heard from many previous posters on here that BU is very willing to negotiate an appeal to financial aid. I will be doing so, especially given that Syracuse offered me $36k in grant + 7K subsidized loans + work study and I only received $28k in grant + 3.5k in subsidized loans at BU. I really want to see how my financial aid will be affected next year. Given that BU didn’t come close to meeting my need this year, I’m hoping that they wouldn’t change my aid much for next year and would then fill a higher percentage of my need. If that happens and Syracuse lowers my offer next year to reflect my changing need, the two will be financially the same for me. Here’s to hoping. </p>
<p>I think you have a much better chance at getting additional money than I do. If you explain your real financial circumstances, offer evidence of it, explain that you were admitted to the honors college, and that you received quite a bit of merit aid, they might decide to be more…“encouraging”…with respect to your financial situation. </p>
<p>EFC for me is around 7000 and they gave me no grants. I know theyre pretty straightforward about giving money to those with strong academic records, but everything Ive read on BU’s site and on various pamphlets etc I’ve received from them that with my income bracket and my stats (1980 SAT, 12%, 3.6 GPA), 97% of people receive a median aid package of 25-41,000 per year. Are they just flat out lying about that? Because I wouldn’t have applied if I knew they would give me ZERO financial aid.</p>
<p>^I was wondering about that too. The statistics in that chart youre talking about seem crazy in light of all of the rough finaid packages people in this forum are talking about.</p>
<p>That chart got my hopes up… now I’m absolutaly crushed. I thought I’d get, say, 25k at least!!! But NOTHING?!? All I got was the pell grant and 6k in federal loans. Definately going to negotiate. I worked <em>hard</em> to get in, and I got into the program I chose – yet they somehow deem me unworthy of their money?</p>
<p>@23simone23 i agree!!
like BU is such a tease! they accept you, and then knowing that there is no way in hell you can pay the full tuition on your own (at least in my case) they gave you no break… makes total sense…</p>
<p>My act is 28 and gpa is 3.1 (even though school doesn’t calculate) and I received around 37k in grants and 7k in loans. My EFC is very low almost 0 just fyi.</p>
<p>Well, you have 83 posts, a low EFC, and and only mentioned that when prompted, so that’s believable. If you look at my question again and the replies, it seems pretty clear that his comment was completely random.</p>
<p>BU is a tease and it hurts, I want to go here so bad but man I just cab’t afford it. I got accepted into the program I wanted and BAM only 11k out of 55k need to go here was given… :(</p>
<p>I wrote an e-mail to BU’s financial aid department asking if there is a process to appeal a financial aid decision before deciding to enroll. I’ll let you know if they respond</p>
<p>I sen’t my appeal letter a couple days ago. They review them on an on-going basis and will email you once the review is complete. I’ll post back and let you know if BU generously gave me some more aid. Good Luck!</p>
<p>Where do you go to accept the financial aid award? I got a link to the site but it says i cant enter because i am only a recently admitted student and not a registered student.</p>
<p>Are you required to enroll if you appeal? I really want to go here, and I got absolutely no aid, but I don’t want to take the chance of them not giving me anything again and then being stuck paying a full tuition with a ton of debt.</p>
<p>It sounds like you’re required to enroll seeing as the first step is to accept the aid package you’ve already been given. The deadline to appeal is April 15th for fall semester. That’s just not enough time seeing as I have other schools I’m seriously considering, which have given me more aid off the bat. I guess BU just isn’t meant for me, but good luck to everyone.</p>
<p>No, no. From my understanding, accepting the aid is just a necessary step in the appeal process. If after the appeal they still do not give you enough aid, you do not have to attend. However, please do not submit an appeal if if given the money, you would not attend. It’s unfair to those who really want to go to BU. </p>
<p>JBieber, you accept the aid in the “next steps” link on the student account.
Btw guys, BU only sets aside a small amount of money for appeals. Don’t expect a huge increase in your financial aid unless a big mistake was made. I was told that $1,000-$3,000 was a common amount given to appeals. </p>
<p>Also, submit the appeal closer to the April 15th deadline. They come in on a rolling basis which means the later you submit the appeal, the later you’ll hear back. I was told that it’s possible that if it’s handed in later, it’s possible not to hear back until after the enrollment deposit is due (May 1). </p>
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