@jsw1310 UR calculates their own efc for students using institutional methodology, and they utilize info provided on the CSS profile. They do meet 100% of the need calculated based on the info provided.
The UR efc will not likely be the same as a fafsa efc. More complicated situations like divorce, owning a business or a farm, being self-employed, having a lot of home equity or other assets can also be big factors in the efc calculation. If your UR efc makes no sense at all, it would be a good idea to make sure that the information on the forms submitted does not have errors. If something seems really out of whack, contact financial aid with any questions or concerns.
UR, like many colleges, also expects students to borrow the federal loans available to students, and I believe it also expects some level of student contribution from working, etc. The efc they calculate is not offset by those amounts (Virginia students with family income less than $60K receive grant aid to cover COA without loans).
Just so disillusioned with higher education in this country. Daughter also admitted to chapel hill out of state and their meeting 100% need package for one year included 9,000 in loans (they have 5,500 chapel hill loan) and did not yet max out federal loans. If they max them out in years 2-4 she could have 47,000 in debt for a four year degree. She is smart enough to know that is a bad idea.
We are recently divorced and not my choice. Wiped out the savings. Fafsa said 13,900 EFC. Richmond wants us to pay almost 30,000 before loans and work study. If you are divorced a CSS school will pretty much be out of reach from what I can tell (unless you are loaded) and guess what? All the best schools are CSS schools. Supply and demand. Judges in my state cannot order any parent to pay for college in a divorce decree. The rich get richer and get to go to better schools. But no one said life is fair. We are moving on and making lemonade.
jsw1310 - sorry to hear your story. It must be very disappointing for your daughter. I hope she ends up at a college that will be a perfect fit for her. Best of luck!
@jsw1310. i am also disillusioned with this college search as well. I believe a lot of it is unfair, on many,many levels. My son comes from a family with financial options. he has had many prividges in his life. i came from nothing, but still managed to go to my local college (and major in education) and my husband is an immigrant who came to this country at 13 with nothing, literally nothing in his pocket. he also went to a state program. we both took out our own loans to cover the tuition. Somehow, we are doing very well financially because we had the opportunities that only the USA could give us. With that being said there are sooo many amazing colleges in the USA. I too feel upset at the moment but for different reasons. My son, has the sat scores, grades, and money to get into many top schools (so I thought). He studies about 4 hours a night. he goes to a very rigorous private school and he has been denied at several top colleges thus far, including another one yesterday for ED2. This process is very relative and is sucking the life out of our family, as well. In our case we can afford these schools. But in this day and age money doesnāt buy your ticket into a great college either. things are changing in colleges, very, very fast. what was once a shoe in for a kid like mine is a far reach. my son has no hooks. heās not an athlete, heās not first generation, and heās not low income, and does not come from what colleges are now looking at as a desirable background (this year it seems a lot of these factors are very advantageous). believe it or not people who have money still have struggles as well. My son will not attend any of his top schools, in my opinion because of the factors i just listed, but yes he will survive, not because he has money because he has grit and comes from a family of hard workers. we will all will be ok, no matter where our kids end up in college. My son was admitted to Richmond. He may attend, he might not. that is still up in the air. I donāt want to sound judgemental but we all have our stories and I guess I needed for my voice to be heard as well. good luck to everyone with this college process, itās not easy.
@KuriousMom we are right there with you. No hooks. Top student. Deferrals with the rejections to come in March. Hate this process and wish we had known how demoralizing it would be. Immigrant background and paid own way here too. The CA has created a proliferation of applicants to many schools. Each applicant can only attend one. Hereās hoping for a solid outcome for all our seniors. Sorry @jsw1310 it is tough everywhere; the admission cycle is brutal on kids and parents. On the positive, you have a stellar senior who has been admitted to some great schools albeit unaffordable. Your senior can thrive wherever planted and in the end, that is what we all want for our kids.
@citymama9 Yes I did but we will not get any. Make too much in the eyes of the FASFA. We will get the standard unsubsidized 5k per year like all the rest who make too much moneyā¦ of course what too much money is and the reality of what you can afford are always two different things. She got a ton of money from Furman, Bryant, and Elon and still waiting to hear from Holy Cross, Conneticut College,and Mulhenburg. In the end I think it will come down to who provides her the most money. Personally, undergrad is not the end game, so if you can go to a solid undergrad for a little money as possible, and kill it, you can get into the very best grad school you can and spend the money there. Noone will look at undergrad in the job market, they will only look at where you went to grad school. Then 4 years after that you will evaluated on how you did in the real world. Just my thoughts.
@gherbss Yea, you never know what a college is really looking for. Demographics, grades, interests, etc all play a part in the decision making process. I have see it with other schools where people got in with lesser stats and people got rejected with higher stats. In the end, not really sure how they make the decisions. so many factors. For example, my daughter got into Furman and got a ton of money. She got into Providence College which in my opinion doesnt hold a candle to Furman and didnt get a dime. Her stats blew away everyone else who got substantial merit in every way shape and form. No big deal for her since it was on the lower part of her list, but my point is you just donāt know. Glad you got in. Congrats!
Any one from North Dakota?.. LOL Seems like every college we went to and toured said that they have students from every state EXCEPT North Dakota. I wonder if I moved there 4 years ago if my daughter would get into every school she applied to? You laugh but you would be surprised how the logistics plays into the marketing piece of a college or university.
I was curious about when my son will hear from Richmond on RD and noticed that Richmond delivers results the old-fashioned way - by letter. It appears the letters went out on following dates in past 3 years:
does anyone here know anything about the art department? I am undecided but I may lean to art. My other option is Brandeis, so i want to choose the school with the most options I can choose from but also the one with the strongest art department for majors and minors
VCU is in Richmond and is one of the best in the nation, top 3 maybe? UR art dept., from what I know, is not a very big dept. and they do not offer much in the way of courses.
If itās still relevant, I know a few VMAP students at UR, and they seem to enjoy it (VMAP = Visual & Media Arts Practice = Studio Art). Iām taking a one-and-done VMAP course for Gen Ed this semester, and I really enjoy it for what itās worth, but I personally am not interested in pursuing it and canāt speak much about the department. If you havenāt already, Iād say just visit both schools and talk to somebody either in the department or one of the faculty in it, and see which one sticks.
