<p>to hear back from Chapel Hill re financial aid. They just asked for my 1040 which I sent by fax this a.m. They said we may get our package by the END OF NEXT WEEK! I guess I should just pay the downpayment even though I do not know our aid package? I don't want my kid to lose her place even though we know nothing about the package. This is crazy. I got my information into the university the first week of January. They said because I have a special circumstance form (child support ending), my package is now manual. If my daughter doesn't get financial aid, then she can't go to this school. It's 41000 OOS. I wish they could tell us something/anything. What I don't understand is that they already have my information on my CSS and FAFSA. Is this a verification of my 1040? If so, they will see the same thing that I already submitted. Wow, I wish they had asked like a month ago ;)</p>
<p>TIme to talk to D and lay out the options. Pray like crazy but also get her head open to the notion that this may not work. </p>
<p>Do see if you can establish a relationship with a specific person. If you get “Carol” on the phone and she is nice, make an effort to get her extension and continue to work with “Carol” throughout. </p>
<p>Also, keep a log of day, time, action so you can quickly refer to steps taken. </p>
<p>This is a very, very lean year. Colleges everywhere are struggling. I hope all this unfolds well for you but do take the step, now, of sorting out the alternatives.<br>
Good luck.</p>
<p>I have talked to D. She is now even more disheartened since her friend just got a whopping 29,000 grant to Chapel Hill. She found out about this today. I talked with the other student’s mom and she is convinced that we will get a great aid package too. Who knows. This is so frustrating. I have put money away for my daughter’s college which I know the other mom did not. I do know her salary is higher than mine so I am thinking we should get something. We are both single moms, but she is 10k more than me in salary. If she doesn’t get aid, it will have to be our state school where she got no money. My EFC is 17,600. It’s high because and I quote “you have too many assets, you put too much money into your 401K”. This is a quote from our state school financial aid office.</p>
<p>Believe it or not, we are still waiting. I know there a lot of people in my position. It’s ironic that I got my information in very early and still no word. I wonder if this means anything good or bad…</p>
<p>First, I am so sorry that you have this on your plate</p>
<p>Second, it is SO important that you give up comparing yourself to another parent and direct your D to never compare herself to another student. You never know all the details going on in another person’s life. Maybe the other parent is supporting an orphanage. Maybe her D is a far superior essayist than your D – who knows. You need to focus on YOUR D and YOUR life. (There are worse things than having too much in a 401k!). </p>
<p>Lastly, keep up with the polite but persistent contacts with FA. They know it is a hard time – and your D has to make up her mind in time to get room deposits in elsewhere. So it is ok to keep contacting FA (perhaps even once a day, politely) until you get the details. </p>
<p>Good luck. I hope it pans out.</p>
<p>I think UNC-CH has been slow for years. By the time my D heard from them about FA 4 years ago, she had long moved on. In the end she didn’t get any aid anyhow.</p>