I recently received my financial aid offer from Pomona, and it appears that my dad won’t be able to pay for the expected parent contribution, which is ~24-27K (the lower end being the price if I rent textbooks/don’t spend on much else). He has told me repeatedly that the most he can pay for college is ~$10K ($15K if he takes from his retirement, though I don’t want to force that on my dad), but I can definitely talk everything over with him to see if he can afford more, given that we’re lucky enough to have a ~110K household income.
I went on the Pomona financial aid website, and it says that it considers appeals if a change in financial circumstances occurs. Well, thankfully, no changes in financial circumstances has occurred to my family — it’s just that we can’t afford mid 20K. Should I appeal to Pomona even then? Also, I am not sure yet if I want to enroll at Pomona (I want to attend the admitted students days to see if Pomona would be the right choice for me), and I still have some more decisions coming up. If I should appeal to Pomona, should I do it now or only when I know for sure I want to enroll in Pomona? Also, does Pomona match other colleges’ aid?
I don’t know much about appealing (so take this FWIW) but I suspect without a change in circumstances you won’t have much (or any success). Meets need schools meet what they feel your need is, not what you think can (or simply want to) pay.
You can only appeal if there is a change in your circumstances or if you feel a factor wasn’t correctly considered. Sadly, the amount you “think” you can afford–or are willing to pay–often differs from the amount the college “determines” you should pay. They meet your demonstrated need, not what you feel you can contribute.
No harm in appealing but agree with other posters that not likely to change especially if their FA package is similar to other schools. Of note -we did appeal to Bowdoin when their package came in very different than the 4 other schools including Pomona’s package and it turns out there was a mistake and they revised their FA package to be in line with others. I do know of kids taking out their Own loans if their parents can’t/won’t pay the EPC so you might want to call the FA office at Pomona to find out what your options are to take out loans.
@khanam@ClaremontMom@klingon97@momof2eagles Thank you for your responses! I did at first suspect that Pomona wouldn’t change my reward because that was what they determined as 100% of my need. After I receive all my decisions/financial aid packages and visit Pomona I will see if it’s worth taking out substantial loans for.