@crimsonwarrior I think showing other schools’ offers only works if the other schools are CMU’s “peer” schools. They have a list on their website.
@stressedgirl7 Did you receive a Carnegie scholarshop and/or Presidential Scholarship, if you don’t mind me asking?
@stressedgirl7 Yeah my family is around 100k per year and I was just excited that they covered my calculated need with grants but I got nothing close to 50k per year!
@crimsonwarrior I’m trying to do a financial aid appeal for another school and this is the basic advice I’ve gleaned from others (counselors/parents/etc).
- Show them offers from comparable schools
- Show them the calculations from their net price calculator
- Don't beg, but state your desire to attend if you can get it within your price range. Clearly explain why you can't afford a certain price.
May the financial aid deities look favorably on the both of us! 
@MandomeLife it just said “Carnegie Mellon Undergraduate Grant”
Thank you @dr0wning and @Calciferous - I hope it all works out for us!
Are financial aid awards supposed to be out already? My portal still says “Your Financial Aid Processing is not yet complete” and I’m not sure whether I should be concerned. All financial aid documents are listed as received or waived.
@stressedgirl7 Wow! That’s a huge institutional scholarship omg
@synack I’d called the admissions office asap
I just got my FA notification, and under work study it says “based on schedule and availability”. Does anyone know if work study is really rare or hard to get?
My daughter is waitlisted at both CMU and GATech. She is planning to accept CMU priority waiting list.
If she got admission from CMU priority waiting list on May 6 and choose to deposit $800, Is this binding.
If she gets admission later from GATech, is she allowed to enroll at GATech. CMU is her top choice, but we are Georgia residents. The total cost for us will be 15K at GA Tech vs 51K at CMU.
@rchandra I had the same confusion but someone cleared it up really well a couple pages back by saying- if accepted off priority waitlist, you only have like 48 hours to pay the 800$ deposit and secure your seat. It is not binding however that time limit forces you to make a quick decision. Plus, I highly doubt that CMU would provide you with full financial aid info the day they decide if you are accepted or not (as far as your personal grants). If you need time to decide I’d recommend regular waitlist because with priority you are put in a position to make an important decision under a small time limit. That is most likely why CMU insists priority for students who know they will enroll because it makes the process easier. If I were you I would do regular at CMU this way I can wait for GAtech result (fantastic school btw) and then make my decision. I would wait for GAtech because it financially makes the most sense to go there.
So far I have a very low financial aid offer…like 22K, which leaves like 48K for me to pay, waaayyy more than my parents and I can afford. not all my documents are in but I hope this doesn’t mean I’ll have to say goodbye to CMU
@Marz23C exact same numbers for me, too, with one unprocessed document. Maybe our 22K is a “default” of some sort for incomplete files and we will be offered more later? fingers crossed . . .
@stressedgirl7 Me too! I got $49k per year as an instuitutional grant. I feel so lucky!
Son got waitlisted, but then got a FinAid package that included about 50% in grants. That was puzzling. The Priority Waitlist is also somewhat confusing. I guess they are expecting people to swallow the cost of a deposit to another school.
We were waiting for a “yes / no” to decide whether to visit Pittsburgh in April. With the waitlist, S is choosing to drop any consideration of CMU.
Then if you got WL without a Fin Aid package, sounds like you should contact them to get it. Then on May 6th you can deposit or not. Sometimes a university works from a WL which means they expect to take some students from the WL and depend on it. BC has almost always used the WL and it keeps the acceptance #s down if you finish your last accepts with students who will deposit.
GTech - $21K less to start with so if you get off the WL and cost is an issue, it’s likely a no-brainer! You lose the deposit to CMU but small price to pay if you get no aid at CMU or GTech!!
Oops $15K means you are in state so that really is a ‘no-brainer’!!
@crimsonwarrior I really really hope so, they’re all in now so fingers crossed for the next couple of days
We have received Financial Aid info which is about 11K grant, loans, work study with total of 15K. Our NetPrice still comes to 50K. Can we ask them for more financial aid even when you are on wait list.