No aid with FAFSA EFC of $1800... any chance for an appeal?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rice University
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<p>A little background... Rice is my dream school, and I was ecstatic when I found our I was accepted. I was crushed when I found out a few days later that my family is ineligible for financial aid due to our unique financial situation.</p>

<p>I live on a ranch in Nebraska that's been in my family for generations. We raise cattle and currently run about 700 head. The market, though it's decent now, hasn't been so good in past years. In 2008 our AGI was -$400k, in 2009 -$90k, and in 2010 -$5k. We've had a substantial net loss carryover and a debt of $875k against the ranch, with a $1.5 million unsecured loan. The business is family operated with one part-time employee. My dad also got a job teaching this past year to help pay off the debt.</p>

<p>Here's the deal: the FAFSA, calculates our EFC as $1,800. The CSS PROFILE says it's $100k because we have $2.5 million worth of assets in the form of ranchland. There's just no way that my family can pay that. It's not a simple matter of "sell some land!" The land is all needed for rotational grazing and haying.</p>

<p>I knew there was a chance the "getting no aid" thing would happen, but I was really hopefully after Questbridge looked beyond the numbers and saw that we really can't afford to pay $50k/year, and named me a Finalist. We qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch and Pell Grants! </p>

<p>My mom did call the financial aid office, who said that the most they could give us is a $3200 Pell Grand and a $2500 work study. </p>

<p>I do have a two financial safeties (Creighton Honors Program and University of Nebraska-Lincoln Honors College), but Rice is my dream. It truly has everything I want in an undergraduate school. The fact that I've earned my spot there, but probably won't be able to attend is breaking my heart. Is there any way an appeal could be successful? Is there any information I could send or anything I could do that might get them to change their minds?</p>

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<p>This is ********.</p>

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<p>Email them detailing the entire situation. They get 100 phone calls an hour this time of year. Be very detailed, but get to the point. Hopefully they’ll do the right thing.</p>

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<p>Man, that really sucks. They recently changed the CSS/Profile to include all property values and this has brought about a lot of such problems.</p>

<p>I agree with Tilgaham, email them in detail and explain your situation. They need to be aware that you cannot just chop off and sell part of the land.</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

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<p>Thanks, guys. I’m not expecting a miracle, but I’ll still try. Gosh, this has got to be more painful than rejection.</p>

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<p>Be persistent! Don’t take the first no. There has to be a solution to your problem. I just read on some other thread about a student contacting Rice about matching another school’s offer and Rice upped their $. Keep us posted.</p>

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<p>Talk to the financial aid office. Your situation is unique and I bet they can help you out.</p>

<p>If not, UNL and Creighton are both fine schools and you should believe in yourself and your ability to succeed anywhere.</p>