Ohio State University financial aid

<p>I really wanted to go to The Ohio State University up until when I was given the information for my financial aid package. I was quite surprised. I got almost no financial aid from them. The only merit aid I received was the $2700 Maximus scholarship and a $300 engineering scholarship. Then there was a $3500 subsidized loan and a $2000 unsubsidized loan. They expect me to take out $17633 in PLUS loans, and my EFC is $8936. I have a twin going to college next year. My parents have no savings for us, and we have 2 mortgages. There is NO WAY I can afford to pay for OSU. When I called the financial aid office, they offered me no help and told me that either my financial situation was already accounted for or that it was a choice that my parents made (buying the house, getting a new car out of necessity because our old was was totaled). I don't feel good knowing that out of the two times I had a discussion with a financial aid officer from OSU, they seemed to not want to do anything for my situation.</p>

<p>Is there anything I can do to have OSU reassess my situation/give me more financial aid? I'm not a bad student, my GPA is 4.731 and my ACT score is 32. I'm 3rd in a class of 340.</p>

<p>I don’t think there will be any more aid given to you from the school. You probably can try calling their financial aid office.</p>

<p>I called them twice. They were no help at all. In fact, even though I tried working with them, they talked to me as if they were going to say no to any requests for assistance or appeals… and they did.</p>

<p>Yeah, are there any other more affordable options?</p>

<p>Not really, the University of Michigan is still reevaluating my package so I’m not sure about them yet. My best bet would be to go to Case Western Reserve University, but I still need to talk to a financial aid officer from there. I also applied to Rensselaer and appealed to them, but they didn’t offer much more so I can’t afford to go there. I’m not sure about appealing to Miami for a better package, because I’m not sure about their undergraduate engineering program.</p>

<p>Well you seem to have good options, you should probably figure out which is more affordable. I would assume OSU since your in-state.</p>

<p>OSU is second to last on my list of affordability. This was hard for me to fathom since I am in-state. I actually thought OSU, being cheaper than any of the other schools that I applied to in terms of cost of attendance (other than Miami) would be the school that would help me out the most.</p>

<p>Well then I definately would keep the school as a option, and compared to your other options overall OSU financial aid is good.</p>

<p>I mean, I would have to pay back $16,000 at case, compared to $22000 at OSU, $15,500 at Miami and an even larger amount at Rensselaer.</p>

<p>Miami, are you speaking of University of Miami?
Well yeah, as you stated in a post there is no way you can afford OSU. And according to recent/ above post, OSU will not be second most affordable.
Well whether its Miami University or University of Miami it seems like the best option.</p>

<p>miami university in oxford. but i want to be an engineer. they dont have that great of an engineering school, i was told. and i meant that OSU was second to last, meaning almost last.</p>

<p>I’m not sure how closely they follow their own guidance but this is published on their website: <a href=“http://sfa.osu.edu/awardguide/FreshmanFAQ.pdf[/url]”>http://sfa.osu.edu/awardguide/FreshmanFAQ.pdf&lt;/a&gt;

</p>

<p>To the original poster. I’m in nearly the same situation as you are. Im also a twin, whose single mother makes no money(1461 efc) and I have a brother going to college next year too. I can’t believe the cost is that high, even for in state. 18k in plus loans? thats bananas!! I was given roughly the same package, 4100 pell, 3k scarlet, 3500 sub and 2k unsub…The kicker for me was the 28k parental plus loan they wanted my mom to take out. Im out of state and got no scholarships, my gpa is a 3.3 from a very competitive highschool and im hispanic. I think alot of it has to do with the fact that it is a public school, and they have no money right now because of the recession. I really wanted to go there too, but it just isnt financially possible. I couldnt even get a hold the of FA office, because they are so busy. They have provided no help at all and do not seem interested in my attending. SO I sadly had to write them off.</p>

<p>^^^</p>

<p>Your biggest problem is probably that you’re OOS. OOS publics don’t usually have money to give to OOS kids to meet need. </p>

<hr>

<p>To the OP… What happened with UPitt? </p>

<p>I still think you need to throw a couple of apps at some schools that are still accepting apps that might reward your stats with money. </p>

<p>Not to freak you out or anything…LOL…but UA Huntsville, which has a really good engineering school, would give you free tuition if you apply now. I wouldn’t be surprised if they gave you a bit more, too. As a safety, you should apply - just in case. </p>

<p>The school is nice (I drive by it all the time) and the dorms are nice. </p>

<p><a href=“http://finaid.uah.edu/1011scholarshipgrid.pdf[/url]”>http://finaid.uah.edu/1011scholarshipgrid.pdf&lt;/a&gt; (must be admitted by June 1st, and the other scholarships that say earlier dates are just “priority dates”. They do award them to top students who apply after the priority date.)</p>

<p>UA Huntsville has the advantage of sitting in Cummings Research Park - the second largest research park in the nation, therefore its engineering students easily get co-ops and paid internships at the many high-tech companies that are in CRP. My H’s company is one of those companies. </p>

<p>At a minimum, you should consider this for at least a year or two to save on loan amounts. </p>

<p>Understand that the COE at UAH has many children of engineers who work at CRP, so these aren’t dumb kids. So, your stats won’t be unusually high in COE. This area has one of the highest concentrations of PhDs in the nation, so the kids in this area are smart, too.</p>

<p>I’ll take a look at UA.</p>

<p>Also, Pitt has all of my application materials and I emailed them a letter describing my financial situation, so they should review it and get back to me shortly. I visited Pitt on Saturday for an information session and tour with my parents and brother. I asked the financial aid representative about late applications. He told me that firstly, considering the lateness of my application, the committee should try to decide relatively quickly to get back to all of the applicants. Regarding scholarships, he told me that the committee will see what they can do for me when they review my application. I assume that means that nothing is set in stone, so I am hopeful for Pitt.</p>

<p>Hblock44: It’s unfortunate that you are in the same situation as me, but I could tell that was the case with OSU. I also got the feeling that they could care less whether I attended. After speaking to 2 OSU representatives, I found there was no use trying to get them to understand my situation. They had the worst reasons for not accepting my explanation. Oh well.</p>