<p>Hey,</p>
<p>so I applied ED and got in. I looked at my financial aid package rite now. my family's income is about 80,000 per yr.</p>
<p>NU gave me 17,000 grants, 3000 student work, 3000 stafford loans</p>
<p>the expected parental contribution is : 31,000 <em>gasp</em></p>
<p>im just wondering if this is reasonable financial aid and if FAFSA will bring it down a bit. my family can afford 25,000. </p>
<p>So any advice/thoughts on NU financial aide?</p>
<p>Thank you</p>
<p>Hi Smarty 99~
If I understand your post correctly…you believe the FAFSA EFC will in some way offset the amount of financial aid being offered by NU. Is that correct?
Taking the premise that it is…for us, the EFC listed by FAFSA was not even close to what the financial aid package offered by NU. Because NU also utilizes the CSS, the Fin.Aid Office sees monies/assets that the FAFSA does not take into account. Ergo, the EFC is higher than what FAFSA projects.
If your family can not cover that amount through savings, maybe they can use a loan? That is what the Fin.Aid Office is figuring your family can afford. If it is a deal breaker, then time to have a talk with the Fin.Aid Office, and your family, to see what can be done, that maybe has not yet been explored.
Congratulations on getting accepted! I know NU is a great college. We have not regretted for a minute the monies we pay for our DD’s education.
G’Luck! APOL-a mom</p>
<p>Oh no! I’m in the same boat!
Hopefully the FAFSA can bring it down, or maybe you can appeal… this is making me so scared…</p>
<p>You should appeal, I have the same income bracket but got a lot more in grants.</p>
<p>ya im gonna have to appeal…so i guess i shouldn’t withdraw all my apps yet</p>
<p>May I ask how and when you got your financial aid package? Was it through e-mail or mail? I was accepted, but have yet to receive any news about financial aid. My income bracket is $30,000-$40,000, so financial aid is very, very crucial to me. I have a small feeling I will have to appeal as well.</p>
<p>ya in the mail i got the enrollment information. inside it makes u set up ur net ID and u can get into ur Caesar account. ur finance package is there</p>
<p>ugh…i need 5k more in grants :((</p>
<p>Sounds like the general impression is that NU isn’t being very generous this year…</p>
<p>lol they were for me haha… i must be weird</p>
<p>I hope it’s not like that across the board… I’m really depending on NU’s FA to be able to go. :/</p>
<p>did you look at your CAESAR stuff yet?</p>
<p>I still haven’t received the admission package.</p>
<p>My family’s income bracket is $30,000-$40,000 (single mom) and the expected contribution is $20,600. Might I add that I also have a sister attending a University of California? :S I’m quite… terrified. I hope this doesn’t take my dream school away from me - it’s up to my mother to see if she can afford it and up to the financial aid officers to decide whether to give me more. Anyone else in this situation?</p>
<p>ya hungrylearner…ur guys financial package is even more ridiculous than mine…hmm…NU didn’t give as much financial aid as expected this yr.</p>
<p>HungryLearner, that’s outrageous… Do you know/remember your estimated EFC on the College Board’s calculator? And can you think of a specific reason your real EFC would be so high?</p>
<p>hungrylearner,</p>
<p>what did usc give? what was efc determined by usc? that looks ridiculously high. nu has twice the endowment as usc and there’s no reason why it doesn’t at least beat usc.</p>
<p>i know this is a stupid question, but not having any experience with financial aid info, i’m a little confused on what everything is. i’ve accessed my caesar account and viewed the aid, but what does each amount mean in context to what i have to pay? there are stafford loans and plus loans, which total a very substantial amount, but it says my expected contribution is still the full amount. money isn’t an issue, but i’d still like to know what it all means. any help??</p>
<p>Hungrylearner you may still be eligible for the Northwestern Scholarship which they probably haven’t awarded yet. They will most likely award them in the spring. We fall into the same bracket and we were awarded the Northwestern and the pledge scholarship. In the end our family contribution was very reasonable for the freshman year. Keep your hopes up you will get a full answer once they go over all your tax returns and verify all your financial info… They will absolutley take into consideration your sister being in college also.</p>
<p>SueWoody, if that’s the case, how are we supposed to confirm with NU before knowing for sure we’ll be able to afford it?</p>
<p>P. S. – I still haven’t got my acceptance info in the mail… is anyone else in the same boat?</p>
<p>that’s weird… I found my stuff on CAESAR, with the scholarship package too. my efc was right for my bracket. if your finaid stuff is wrong, you should appeal now, since this is ED.</p>
<p>SueWoody, did the Norhtwestern Scholarship not show up in CAESAR during your year?</p>
<p>I’m thinking they messed up a few times.</p>
<p>Toward, that might be a problem if you haven’t received your acceptance info yet. You should probably call them because I’m in Washington and I got my stuff on Wednesday.</p>