<p>I found out last week that I have been accepted to Northwestern University. My first reaction: Yay!!!! Then I flipped through a few pages in my packet of papers until I came upon the financial aid award. It might as well have said financial aid nightmare. In case you aren't aware, the total cost of attendance for Northwestern is about $44,000 per year. My "award" consisted of $34,000 in loans. That's it. Let me also add that Northwestern does not give out merit-based scholarships.</p>
<p>According to the FAFSA and CSS Profile, my family is supposed to be able to afford this. Yeah right. My dad is planning on calling the financial aid office to see if anything can be done to help us out. I really want to go to Northwestern, but if we can't figure out how to pay for it, then I won't get to go there. I was wondering if there are any parents out there who have gone or are going through this same situation with having to pay extremely high college costs. How can I convince my parents to let me attend Northwestern despite the high costs? Any advice/help is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Ask them to recalculate your aid. I saw a student posting here a couple of years ago who got a fin aid package from Northwestern that wasn't acceptable to her family. She asked for reconsideration, and they reduced her loans and increased her grants. It still was less money than her family had hoped for, but she accepted it and seems to be happy there.</p>
<p>That being said, however Northwestern isn't known for generosity of its aid. What are your other options? I agree that $34,000 in loans is way too much in loans.</p>
<p>Go ahead and let your dad call, but start looking at Plan B now. No college is worth that amount of loans for you or your parents. Just remember the long-term study that found that people who turned down ivy league schools did just as well as those who went. Same for you with Northwestern. It's more about you than the school. Believe in yourself.</p>
<p>Pm tensighs and ask about her experience with Northwestern's financial aid. She went through what you're going through a couple of years ago, and things worked out for her.</p>
<p>I also thought that $34,000 seemed like a lot in loans. I've read through many of the other Northwestern threads about financial aid and other people are reporting that they have received grants as part of their financial aid. I just don't understand why they wouldn't offer this to everyone they accept. Another college that I have been accepted at also has $40,000+ costs, but this school offered a grant. I'll be sure to let you all know for future reference what I find out once my dad calls.</p>