For all those who did not receive financial aid offers when the decisions were rolled out March 10, have you received any updates on aid? Any ideas when they will complete the financial aid offers?
@walrusperson i contacted the financial aid office and i was told that i was missing documents. i filled those out and then called on friday. apparently some of the items they needed were received on friday, so i’m supposed to get everything by the end of the week.
I got waitlisted by RPI during RD. They sent me an email a couple days before the decisions came out saying that they need to know how many people are in my household, I didn’t see it until after I checked my portal and I immediately replied. Does that have anything to do with my decision?
@miktrwww Yes a very similar issue happened with my son in answering a question to Rowan, after we answered the question the app went into review and took an extra 3 weeks to get a response. Not sure if it’s the reason for your waitlist, just saying a similar thing happened and hopefully you’ll get a response. When you are placed on waitlist you will get a notice asking if you want to remain on waitlist, you must respond YES if you want them to reconsider your app and keep you on the possible list, otherwise after a few days if you don’t respond they will drop you from waitlist.
Thanks, @Pianomonster20, the fin aid package finally came through today.
@walrusperson lol pretty sure mine hasn’t and I’m supposed to wait until the end of the week because some docs were submitted late. Which is sort of annoying because even though I applied for need based aid they should be able to tell that I’m not getting any like northeastern did…
But you’re welcome 
Guys, I have a pretty urgent question. So, I got a 25k scholarship for Rensselaer. I was wondering, is the cost of attendance decreased by 25k every year, or is it just freshman year? My parents can’t afford 70k a year for three years.
How/where do the fin aid notifications come in at this point? I still only see the original acceptance letter on the application portal.
@ucAdmirer the email or letter where they told you about the $25k will tell you if it is repeating. I believe most are but check the letter. Good luck!
@ucAdmirer I am assuming that your 25k is called the Renssealer Medal? If it is, the medal is a merit-based scholarship awarded to promising secondary school juniors who have distinguished themselves in mathematics and science. Responsibility for selecting the Medalist belongs to the faculty and staff within the participating secondary school. Recipients receive this award for a maximum of eight semesters of full-time undergraduate study. School of Architecture or Co-Terminal program students may receive the award for up to ten semesters. There is no minimum grade point average required for renewal each year.
Do you know the name of the scholarship?
source: http://catalog.rpi.edu/content.php?catoid=10&navoid=224
@reformedman The scholarship I got is called the Rensselaer Leadership Award. For some reason, I can’t find in the letter whether or not it’s repeating.
@ucAdmirer My DD graduated in 2016. Her award was for FIVE years (not archie). Many of her cohort were able to do co-term masters because of the extra year of funding. I would call financial aid and ask.
@ucAdmirer
The leadership award is similar, do please read the sources I am citing to you because they provide all the information you need.
Rensselaer Leadership Award/Rensselaer Merit Award These merit-based awards are given in recognition of an outstanding record of academic and personal achievements, a strong commitment to excellence, and illustration of intellectual curiosity. Recipients receive one of these awards for a maximum of eight semesters of full-time undergraduate study. School of Architecture or Co-Terminal program students may receive awards for up to 10 semesters. There is no minimum grade point average required for renewal each year.
source: http://catalog.rpi.edu/content.php?catoid=10&navoid=224
Ok, thank you @Polar2000 and @reformedman I’m going to call financial aid. It concerns me that it says “a maximum of eight semesters” and not just “eight semesters.”
It just means that if you can’t get it for more than 8 semesters. For example, some people who receive many AP credits graduate in less than 8 semesters, they’re not going to receive the award for a semester that they’re not present at the school for. Furthermore, if you take longer than 8 semesters to graduate, you won’t receive the award.
So I just checked my portal and the notice about financial aid being released went away but I can’t find the financial info… can anyone help me?
RPI acceptance package just came in the mail.
@ucAdmirer The wording isn’t supposed to be decieptful - you get it for eight semesters for undergraduate and they can be extended for graduate studies. If you need to stay for a ninth semester they may also extend it then. As long as you maintain above a 2.0 you won’t lose the money, I’ve never heard of anyone losing it unless they got on academic probation two semesters in a row.
In regards to the rest of the money, remember you can move off campus and save around 10k a year after sophomore year (or after freshman year if you join Greek Life). Working a summer job can cut 3k-5k off also, etc. Loans also help within reason.
@joedoe Yeah, you’re right. The scholarship is for eight semesters. I figured it was but just wanted to be safe because I didn’t want to risk putting myself in a really bad situation. Thanks for replying!