<p>I noticed there is a lot of talk on this page about people who are unhappy with their financial aid package and who are planning to appeal. I am planning on appealing and was wounding if there is anybody who has appealed in the past and been successful with American? Also how successful were you? By that I mean how much money did they offer after appeals and before. If you don’t want to say exact amounts you can just say how much of the appeal they met. Thank you!</p>
<p>I’ve seen people get about 2k a year. Sometimes more, sometimes less. It depends.</p>
<p>is it plausible to appeal and say that the one reason you are not sure about going to AU is because other colleges have better FA packages? would they match other schools’ aid?</p>
<p>I have 3 colleges to decide between. I like AU the best but the 2 other schools I only have to pay around 8k each year. AU I have to pay around 10-11k each year. Would they give me 3k more a year possibly?</p>
<p>I wish AU was offering me the opportunity to pay only $10,000-$11,000 a year.
They want my family to pay $40,000 a year (that only incudes dorm and tuition).</p>
<p>As far as financial aid goes I was only offered a small un-subsidized loan.</p>
<p>Things may have changed. But 2 years ago when D was applying, AU said that they would only consider financial aid appeals if your financial circumstances had changed between the time you applied and the time you were accepted. They required financial statements to be submitted with any appeal. They gave the impression that they would not “compete” with offers from other schools.</p>
<p>AU told us they would not ‘compete’ as well with other schools. We did submit an appeal, but do not expect to hear from them for another week or two. Will post up if/when we do hear.</p>
<p>Our detailed letter and follow-up call to the financial aid office resulted in a suggestion that we pursue Parent Plus loans … They didn’t care that every other school we applied to in the AU price range provided some level of institutional grant and AU gave nothing but an unsubsidized loan. Don’t hold your breath on your appeal unless something significant has changed in the last few months. Seems to be a real take it or leave it attitude - we will probably leave it and save loans for grad school.</p>
<p>Directly from their website: "Generally, only cases involving the following special circumstances are reviewed for consideration: Loss of income (unemployment, retirement, loss of child support), medical expenses not covered by insurance for a situation which is critical and/or life threatening, death of an immediate family member, unusual expenses related to educational needs, disability, or child care. "</p>
<p>Therefore don’t count on any meaningful changes to your award unless you fall into the above categories. We’re not even going to bother.</p>
<p>If there is a reason you think they made a mistake the first time around, then appeal. But when you appeal, you are essentially telling them they were wrong the first time. So don’t be surprised if they turn you down.</p>