<p>My DS is a recent EA admit to the class of 2011.</p>
<p>Excitement over this great news turned to disappoinment and tears when we received the dreaded estimate of financial aid. I have done the EFC calculators many times, so I thought I had some idea of where we stood and was willing to really stretch to meet that number. However, the EFC came in $10,000 higher than any of the calculators said it would. In addition, the aid amount is $10,000 lower than the averages for our income posted on the UC website. So obviously, this was a bit of a shock.</p>
<p>My questions is this - Has anyone had any experience dealing with the Financial Aid office? Are they at all flexible? Is there a certain person there who is particularly good to deal with? I am self-employed and am a real straight arrow about reporting all my income, so maybe I'm just stuck.</p>
<p>Of course I'm going to call the office on Tuesday, but any advice - either posted or PM'd - would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Oh- and I truly hope that DS is a blind Jewish African-American athletic superstar who was once adopted to a single parent who served in the gulf war, Vietnam, and WWII- and is recently diagnosed with multiple types of cancer.
If not- I'm sure that fastweb will still find you some type of scholarship to fit your situation (if you do not already have an account there).</p>
<p>I would contact them and ask for a review. If possible, an in person meeting at which you discus your EFC results as compared to theirs may be the best approach.</p>
<p>Pretty much same boat. My parents expected pretty much nothing, but I expected a lot. Unfortunately they were right. Maybe UChicago calculates it a lot differently than other schools? I dunno.</p>
<p>SBdad,
Our experience last year with the Chicago financial aid office was also very disappointing. They were totally unflexible and would not review their decision, which compared badly to other colleges where S was accepted and received financial aid $$[ C offered $0]. I had read before on CC that Chicago was very stingly with financial aid. Wish I could say why, but I expect it is because of their relatively small endowment compared to many similar excellent but wealthier universities. Don't hold your breath hoping for more $$$.</p>
<p>The financial aid my son received was almost exactly what the college board and Princeton finaid calculators predicted, so there were no surprises for us. Grant aid went up this year with the tuition increase. Our situation is pretty straight-forward, though - 2 incomes, no other kids in college, a moderate amount of home equity, only investments in 401K's, no family business. </p>
<p>SBDad - I think it is worth requesting a review - 10K is a awfully large discrepancy.</p>
<p>Son got full tuition Trustees scholarship at USC, 1/2 tuition at Brown, Dartmouth, lesser amounts at Pomona, Wash U., Carleton, and a few more I can't remember right now[ it's Xmas night]</p>
<p>I'm a U of C student. I don't qualify for aid, but I've heard a lot of bad things about the financial aid office. I don't know what you're supposed to do to get the numbers looked at again, but I just wanted to warn you about that. If your son is a very strong applicant, remember that merit aid awards are mailed out in the Spring. Good luck!</p>
<p>menlo -
"1/2 tuition at Brown, Dartmouth" - these are needs-based. Did they exclude your equity of your primary residence in the EFC calculation? I think that Princeton does, for example.</p>
<p>Update: I spoke with the office and it appears to be worked out. My numbers were fairly accurate and theirs greatly overstated to be "conservative".</p>
<p>The group of colleges that use this methodolgy is called "The 568 Group". Google it and you can verify the the information, but I can assure you that it is correct. If you search "568 Group" on this site you will find a list of the colleges that belong.</p>
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Update: I spoke with the office and it appears to be worked out. My numbers were fairly accurate and theirs greatly overstated to be "conservative".
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<p>SBDad: This is great news. Interesting use of the word conservative. Conservative for whom?</p>
<p>For parents of Juniors - the 568 Group info is especially important to know about if you live in an area of inflated property values as it mitigates it a bit.</p>