@Sybylla, read my previous post. My son, after two years with no aid, got a Pell with our change in circumstance. We had three houses and a business. High start up costs can radically change the FAFSA. He didn’t get any other aid though because we were OOS and he was at a state school.
Really, the thing is this is apples and oranges, merit vs FA. The answer seems obvious. Those awards from Tulane are highly sought after, take it and run.
I agree, take the free money any day. I do however get the curiosity the OP has. You cannot get a Pell unless your FAFSA says your EFC is VERY low. For a school that says it meets 100% of need and the student gets a Pell, I can see why they’d wonder why their award wasn’t higher.
If the second home has very little equity or the family met the simplified needs/Auto $0, the FAFSA EFC could be low, but then the CSS should also be low because the asset has little value.
I understand how an FAFSA can be $0, but it is harder to understand how the CSS calculated need is so low. However, if several schools are calculating this the same way, that must be how it is.
Are your parents married?
Was their adjusted gross income below $49,999 for the 2017 tax year?
In 2017, were they eligible to file a 1040A tax form? I would think not since they own a business.
Did your family qualify for free or reduced lunch?
You own two homes, and one is not your residence. The equity in that home is counted in the financial aid formula as an asset. Your parents own a business…of less than a certain number of people, this would not be on the FAFSA, ur would be on the Profile. There are business deductions allowed by the IRS that are not allowed for financial aid purposes…and are added back in as income.
What was your parent gross income in 2017?
Were you selected for verification by Wellesley?
My opinion…go to Tulane. This sounds like a very good merit award, and those are not based on your family finances. Take the money and don’t look back.
Go to Tulane on full scholarship. Even if you are successful in getting more money out of Wellesley, it won’t come anywhere near full tuition.
When a family owned business is involved, it is entirely possible to come up with a low, or even zero EFC, but come up with something altogether different from PROFILE or a college’s additional financial questionnaire. That’s what happened here. I have a brother who lives very well from savings, investments, with very little income showing up on his tax return. All legitimate. If he had kids going to college, I’m sure his EFC is very low. Not so with PROFILE.
I believe everyone should understand how the schools that asssessed their need should understand how the numbers came out as they did. So I encourage the OP to call and ask. Sometimes, mistakes are made. I’ve seen it happen.
I agree that Tulane looks like the best deal here. With s zero EFC, the OP might want to send the FAFSA to Tulane to see if she qualifies for some PELL money there in addition to the merit money she has been awarded
But you’d get FA every year, the pell grant and the student loans.
You will not get ANY need based FA from a California school, so the Pell grant is what you will get from UC SC. No work study, no SEOG, only the Pell grant and loans.
Being so complicated, I am not sure I would want too much scrutiny, period on how this yields a Pell grant.
What are the conditions on maintaining the Tulane award? GPA etc?
@txstella I visited and it just did not go well. I’m worried I will spend the next four years of my life miserable. I know it’s where the money’s at but many of the students there said they didn’t like it, which makes me hesitant.
What other affordable school do you have lined up?
Well, Tulane may be your only choice, even if you don’t like it.
Are you a California resident? If so, why is Cruz your only choice? If not, how did you get the cost down so low without need based FA?
There might be something wrong with your Wellesley CSS forms, and if corrected they may award full aid, but if not they aren’t going to give you enough to cover that $60k since all their aid is need based.
@BelknapPoint I called but didn’t get a very specific answer.
@thumper1 AGI is negative. The industry they are in is really struggling right now. No free/reduced lunch.
@Sybylla 3.0 and above
Call again, make sure you are talking to someone who knows what they are doing, and ask the question clearly and concisely.
“My FAFSA EFC is $0 and I get a full Pell grant. What on my financial aid documents results in no institutional aid being offered? There is no way that I can attend Wellesley without institutional aid.”
@lookingforaid101 I’m sorry you had a poor visit. Investigate the RLC housing options at Tulane as Tulane might be your only affordable choice.
What major are you considering?
Call Wellesley this morning and ask why you received no aid. You need to understand.
Might you have filled out something wrong on the CSS profile?
Call today and say you’re trying to understand how with an EFC 0 you ended up full pay for Wellesley, if you made a mistake or if there’s a reason.
Right now Tulane is your only affordable choice so you need to prepare mentally to deposit there on Wednesday.
unless your parents or those other schools come up with the funds, you either go to Tulane, find a local option that’s affordable for next year, take a gap year, or look for another school that is taking apps this late that may also cough up the money for you to attend. Those are your choices. If you cannot get Wellesley to talk to you, can’t get more money and you can’t afford it, it’s not an option for you right now. These are your choices.
We know a number of very happy graduates of Tulane. Very happy.
Can you afford any of these other colleges with a $0 EFC?
What was your family GROSS income. I understand they had some business loss issues, but colleges may not see it that way.
What is the equity in the home you don’t live in…is it in CA? What about YOUR residence? Home equity values, if you live in CA are sometimes very very high. Where are these homes located?
Are you a CA resident? If yes, were there other CA publics on your list? If NO…what state do you reside in, and did you apply to their public universities.
Clearly, there is something on your CSS Profile financially that is not on the FAFSA. This could be primary residence equity, value of the business, something.
Did you check the Profile for errors? I only ask because there is NO WAY a one year financial aid award would,read as you posted it…
All of the amounts are for one year…but you wrote the Parent contribution for FOUR years…nope…that would not be how the financial aid award would read. Your parent contribution for one year would not be $258,805.
So…check your Profile entries…maybe you added a zero! Or put a decimal point in the wrong spot. Or put Parent income and assets in the student section…or something.
And absolutely, you should be on the phone RIGHT NOW with a financial aid advisor from Wellesley asking for an explanation.
Do you realize how rare a full ride to Tulane is?
Lots of high stats students get rejected every year, or don’t get enough merit.
Some schools that use the CSS profile have some very detailed and specific questions for parents when there is real estate, business and self-employed earnings reported. The income number they come up with doesn’t necessarily correspond directly with GAAP or cash flow. Even if the business tax schedule or return may show a loss, the schools may decide that based on their calculation the business is profitable. Also, depending on how the CSS profile is filled out, even if by their metrics they see a loss, they may decide that the value of the business is great enough that they award no need based aid.