<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>I have been accepted to Rice University, but going to Rice right now is a financial impossibility because Rice said my I do not qualify for any need-based financial aid, and there is no way my parents can pay the full sticker price.</p>
<p>What is the best thing to do now? Call the financial aid office? Email the office? And how should my parents explain our situation?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>In the same situation. Any one who has dealt with this before, could you please post some advice?</p>
<p>Email them with any additional information that you have. What was your FAFSA like? They don’t go below the FAFSA EFC in parental contribution. In 5 years, our contribution at Rice has been just about exactly what the FAFSA says. If you have other assets, etc, your contribution might be higher than the FAFSA EFC. Let them know if there are any extenuating circumstances, such as high medical bills, paying for grandparent’s expenses or other family members, unemployment, etc.</p>
<p>We had the identical situation a couple of years ago - accepted and no need-based aid. We were very disappointed and were seriously considering other options than Rice. Then, about a week after the acceptance/no aid package, we received a letter from the Rice financial aid office with information about 2 grants they offered our son - which have been renewed since he’s been there. Don’t know why this wasn’t in the first communication - and maybe ours was an isolated case - but don’t give up yet - you still have some time to make your decision.</p>
<p>I emailed the FA office on Wednesday (I think) with my extenuating circumstances. No reply yet.</p>
<p>They will be SWAMPED right now, so it may take a while! :)</p>
<p>It’s now been an entire week since I emailed Fin-Aid. Not so much as even an acknowledgement from them.</p>
<p>Try calling and asking to speak with them. You’ll have the most luck if you have some extenuating circumstances.</p>
<p>Parent of a Rice senior, here.</p>
<p>After havig dealt with the Rice fin aid dept here for several years, I have to say that that they are NOT a great group to deal with. I am sure others might have other experiences, but every step of the way they have made things much more difficult for us than they needed to be. GREAT school, child LOVED it, but they have been just awful to deal with…so stick with it, and don’t take it personally :)</p>
<p>they are also really busy, so id cut them some slack. Definitely call them. It cannot hurt</p>
<p>DS may be manning the phones - go easy on him!</p>
<p>Really, anxiousmom? If DS is named David, then he helped me out a week or so ago!</p>
<p>Nope - not “David” (said Rumplestiltskin, chuckling away…) My guess is that DS is not actually working all his workstudy hours; he’s pretty busy right now, but should be on the phone lines sometimes. (He won’t actually answer your questions unless they are super easy. He’ll just transfer you to someone who knows something) But you might catch him on the phone one day! ;)</p>
<p>What is the D in DS stand for?</p>
<p>Im guessing it implies Son?</p>
<p>D = Darling or Dear</p>
<p>Testing if when I type “s o n” it automatically replaces with DS.</p>
<p>son</p>
<p>edit: mystery solved.</p>