Temple accepted me and gave me more time to commit to them past May 1. (I haven’t accepted yet).
They gave me a 3k/year Diamond Scholarship, 4.3k University Grant, and 4k Fly in 4 scholarship. As an OOS, combined with federal need based aid, 30k/year is still uncovered.
I just got accepted off the waitlist at an LAC who offered me a package were everything but 5.5k (loans I’m expected to take out) was covered by gift aid.
Is there a change of Temple offering me more gift aid based on the LAC offer?
I emailed the financial aid dept these details and called for more general info where I was told Temple doesn’t match aid (but would they still raise their offer?) and they don’t know if more funds are available until July.
My SAT is 1550, unweighted GPA is 4.0, weighted is 4.35, and my ECs are okay… not amazing, but not awful.
I don’t think Temple with match the LAC offer, which sounds like it would require Temple to fund another $25K or so. Even if Temple did up their offer for the first year…they don’t meet full need, so the following years could result in $30K net costs.
How would you fund the $30K gap this year at Temple? Is that even an option, or do you need to follow the money?
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Just curious, why would you choose Temple over the LAC?
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You can always ask but I don’t expect Temple would match another offer particularly for an OOS student.
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Take the LAC offer.
Temple won’t negotiate because they don’t meet need. 30k sounds unaffordable for you…and you got a great offer so why would you want to attend Temple with such a cost? (It’s a good university but not really the university you’d go in debt for unless you have no other choice.)
If a LAC funded your full need, jump at the chance to graduate with minimal debt. Odds are, if they can afford to fund you fully, they have excellent resources and you’ll have a great education.
It wouldn’t be impossible to fund the gap if I buckled down and got more tutoring clients (I do some tutoring at $20+/hour) to work a lot over the summer and have some hours during the school year, took the 5.5k loan, stayed in off-campus housing (they have very close private housing–not a long dangerous commute), and had my grandparents and other family help with the rest. But it would obviously be a lot of work. That’s why I’m so interested in negotiating with them. If they’d give me an extra 10k, it would be much easier. I don’t have to follow the money, but it’s what I’ll most likely do.
When people say a college doesn’t match, does that mean they won’t replicate the offer of the other college (what I assumed), or that they won’t change aid at all, even if their change was small, based on other offers? I don’t always understand all of the jargon around financial aid.
I don’t have a good answer, it’s more of a gut feeling–I feel kind of uneasy about the LAC. That’s why I’m trying to get more aid from them. I can’t really justify following the feeling unless the cost is reduced.
Yep, the LAC is a beautiful school. I’ll go there if Temple doesn’t change or if I don’t get any scholarships I’ve applied for (so far, not going well).
It means they don’t negociate at all. Whatever they offered is what they can give you and they consider it pretty generous, probably.
They don’t match, meaning they do not try to replicate any offer, because they have no obligation to and no incentive to (as a large public school) - matching the competition is something selective private colleges do, not universities like Temple. They do not meet need, it means they have no obligation to be affordable for you.
They will NOT give you 10K. (Also, why would they?)
Forget Temple. It’s not going to budge.
(Also, why are you so attached to Temple as an OOS student? Some students like it because of the full tuition merit aid it offers, others because they’re PA residents and they couldn’t get into Pitt/Penn State, but… I fail to see why you’re intent on going there when it’s clearly unaffordable.)
What LAC is it? Why do you have a “bad feeling about it”?
If push comes to shove, go to the LAC for your first year and apply to an in-state university as a transfer. It should be cheaper than Temple OOS.
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Glass- tell us your concerns and which school it is and we can confirm or deny your gut.
Sometimes our own radar is “off” when we are in unfamiliar situations. The worst job I ever had felt like “home” when I interviewed- but boy was I wrong (unless “home” was a highly dysfunctional, sexist, cruel place). And the best job I ever had felt so risky and off-putting and uncomfortable- and none of those things were real- it was fantastic!!!
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@MYOS1634
Thanks for explaining what not matching means. I do understand that they don’t meet need (this is something I looked up for every college I applied to)–I never implied they had an obligation to be affordable.
I’m not intent on going there… I told you I will go to the LAC if I can’t get other scholarships or grants.
Also, thank you for telling me I could apply as an instate transfer if I went to another college in PA! I wasn’t 100% sure where I would be considered a resident.
@blossom Franklin & Marshall. Thank you for being encouraging that it’s okay to feel uncomfortable with the college.
Franklin and Marshall vs. Temple-
Rural vs. urban
Campus separate from the area vs. pretty embedded in it
Don’t know where you live-- but likely that Temple is easier to get to and from than F&M
But affordable at F&M isn’t something to sneer at- excellent academic resources, wonderful faculty, great student body, highly regarded among employers and grad schools. Food is probably better at F&M although the off-campus dining options are more robust at Temple (but eating out costs $ as you know). Easier to park at F&M if you have a car, better public transportation at Temple.
What were your concerns???
F&M is a highly respectable college indeed. What are you concerned about?
(And Temple isn’t worth 30k more).
I’m afraid I meant you would be able to apply to your instate choice - let’s say you’re from NJ, you could easily apply to Rutgers, Rowan, TCNJ… from.F& M.
Instate= where your parents reside and pay taxes… 
Basically if your gut feeling turns out to be right, then you can always try and find a better place. Transfers get lousy aid so that’s why transferring back to your state U is always less risky and more likely.
I’m worried that I’ll take less courses relevant to my degree/field (STEM) than at Temple. F&M has a lot of required courses that seem a lot less relevant than Temple’s required courses. I don’t fully remember all of the requirements, but I know they require 2 art classes and 3 semesters of a foreign language in addition to the normal writing and history stuff. The student who gave me a tour of F&M said that the first 2 years are mostly just requirements, not major specific classes. I’m not sure how a degree from F&M looks compared to Temple in this sense.
I’m also worried the atmosphere at F&M would be elitist/preppy. I do appreciate this is a tradeoff the school makes when meeting 100% of need though.
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Ah okay! I misinterpreted you on what you meant about instate! That’s what I thought before, but it is a bummer.
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Which STEM field? F&M has an EXCELLENT academic reputation, and part of that is because of a more robust set of requirements.
I don’t think F&M is elitist, although you may meet more private and magnet school kids than you would at Temple (but not all private schools are prep schools, and not all private schools are elitist). And even at Temple, you won’t be taking all your courses in one department…
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All universities have distribution requirements and pre major requirements.
For instance, no matter where you go, if you want to major in Physics, you will take General Physics 1&2+labs, Calculus 1&2+MVC, another science sequence, before you get to take specialized courses.
Freshman seminar/composition, social science, humanities, art, and a foreign language are part of a typical freshman schedule. They ensure your mind is stretched and your knowledge isn’t narrow.
Wrt foreign language, the level indicated means level reached. So, if you took AP foreign language in HS you’ll take fewer classes than if you stopped at level 2 or 3 in HS. Level 3 means intermediate level, ie., able to function independently at a basic level +some knowledge of the sociocultural aspects of the countries where that language is spoken that you can use to analyze intercultural situations.
This is a no brainer. You can rarely win an appeal…only if circumstances change. As an OOS student it’s really tough because their obligation isn’t to you.
I get the fit concern but then I would ask why did you apply to F & M to begin with. All 21 schools my daughter applied to, there had to be a reasonable chance she’d go. I realize that was tougher with covid but there were so many online resources and you did visit.
Bottom line and know that college costs more than they tell you but if you have $100k over four years to throw out plus the interest you’ll pay on loans you may not even be able to get because they are above federal limits. And the financial and emotional strain it will put on your family and your income stream when you graduate for many years because you chose Temple will be a terror on your life.
I get it…you prefer Temple. I would rather eat a steak at Flemings or Morton’s instead of Outback but I’m not willing to pay for it.
Lucky for you, the Flemings of colleges is letting you get that high end steak not at the outback price…but the truck stop restaurant price.
You’re an adult now. You have to make adult decisions. The most important part of choosing a college is fit. The #1 consideration In the fit category is budget. That’s $100k will find a car, house, grad school.
This is a no brainer. Take advantage. Good luck.