Questions about Grinnell

<p>So if I received a 3500 dollar scholarship, they would basically give me 3250 of it? Does it change if I spread this scholarship out over 4 years? Or would they just take off that 250 no matter what?</p>

<p>Also I have started a thread trying to help me make a decision: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1480135-grinnell-vs-earlham-vs-other-lacs.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1480135-grinnell-vs-earlham-vs-other-lacs.html&lt;/a&gt; Any input is appreciated!</p>

<p>Thirrdplanet: why don’t you take the advice of people here and contact Grinnell’s FA directly? Are you really willing to stake your financial aid decision on second-hand information rather than working it through with the school? You seem to want a rigorous education, so perhaps you might begin honing your skills and go directly to the primary research source…Just pick up the phone.</p>

<p>Thirdplanet: yes, do call them. My D was accepted ED so we have had several months worth of Q&A with admissions and FA. It is striking how nice and patient they are. You are “in the family” now, so do call.</p>

<p>thirdplanet - Linda in financial aid is very helpful. I gave the example to give you an idea of what their policy is. Linda worked very patiently with me to make sure we made the best of the outside scholarship that my daughter received. Plus, policies change and what we did last year may be different. One of the advantages of a small college like Grinnell is that you pick up the phone and don’t have to “press 1” - you get a live person who either answers your question or sends you to someone who can.</p>

<p>I talked to her! She said it could all be used to either reduce loans or how much we have to pay. So great. Seems silly some schools wouldn’t do this and would just reduce their grant.</p>

<p>Thirdplanet - isn’t Linda great! Also - reducing loans is in effect a way of reducing aid because the financial aid package can include work study, the student summer contribution, loans, grants and scholarships. Hope it works out for you.</p>

<p>Does grinnell change FA year to year? As in, will they expect me to take out more loans in future years? I don’t see a summer contribution on there either.</p>

<p>Call Linda, but I doubt they would do a switcheroo on an enrolled student. When my son got his merit award, Grinnell said they would increase it to cover any increases in tuition and they faithfully did that, but you need to ask FA directly because Grinnell has a new president since my son enrolled, new admissions people and probably new FA people. Your questions are important ones and you need to got official answers. Changes in your parent(s) income could certainly lead to changes in your FA packet.</p>

<p>Thirdplanet: the summer contribution isn’t listed as such on the award letter. I think it is included in the net amount that you will be responsible for. In other words, there would likely be 3,000 in loans, 2,200 in work study (these were last year’s amounts) and 2,500 not covered in other aid. These numbers are based on last years policies by the way so they may be different now.</p>

<p>As for loans increasing - for students admitted in 2013 there will be a “modest” increase each year, according to a letter we received last week.</p>

<p>Does Grinnell match financial aid offers? It is about 5k cheaper per year to attend Earlham than Grinnell.</p>

<p>Bethievit- did they increase your son’s merit this year as well by $3,000? My daughter’s only increased by $900. I also believe they will no longer do this for students entering 2013, according to the letter we received last week.</p>

<p>My son graduated almost 2 years ago. At that point, they were increasing his merit award to cover increases in tuition.</p>

<p>This illustrates why prospective students/parents need to go directly to the FA office with questions, rather than asking here. Stuff keeps changing.</p>

<p>Do they match aid awards?</p>

<p>thirrdplanet–call FA!! make a list of your questions and give them a call. We might have erroneous information.</p>

<p>Bethievt - while I totally agree that people should call FA directly I also think that asking questions on this forum first helps us all get a sense of what came before to even know if something is possible. I remember last year when I was trying to figure out how Grinnell dealth with outside scholarships, it helped me hear how it impacted others. I was then able to ask better questions when I did call FA.</p>

<p>Thirdplanet - I don’t know about matching aid because none of the schools that my D applied to were comparable to Grinnell so we didn’t ask. But maybe there are others who did ask and can share their experiences.</p>

<p>Hello,
Does Grinnell offer any scholarship if I have a reccomendation from an alumni. the alumni is not related to me but is a family friend so will that work. Plus does Grinnell offer merit based scholarship on first year performance at Grinnell. also does anybody know if there is a limit to the student exchange programs a student can be invoved in. Can a student attend back to back exchange programs and would it have any effect on his education or any complication? thank you.</p>