<p>I have been reading a lot of posts by people who are unhappy with their financial aid packages and was really pessimistic when I decided to appeal, especially since BC met our EFC (27,000) with a generous amount of scholarships. I just got my new financial aid package and they gave me a 9,500 grant on top of everything else, which is way more than I was expecting! Going to BC for 20,000 a year is amazing for our income, and I think everyone who is disappointed with their finaid package should definitely try to appeal instead of just giving up, especially if you really love BC :)</p>
<p>Congrats on that! Do you think it is too late to appeal?</p>
<p>make sure to ask them if they’re going to offer a similar amount for all four years. just as a precaution :)</p>
<p>congrats! i should try that with my school</p>
<p>i got an additional 13k through appealing…def worth the effort</p>
<p>patsfan - how did you go about appealing?</p>
<p>patsfan and XYZ:</p>
<p>Did you have specific life situation changes? I thought the EFC was set by federal calculations – I appealed to BC and got nothing out of it. Did you go through the official appeal process, or did you talk to someone (FA representative, admissions) directly in order to get the changes? I gues what I’m asking is: What was the basis for your appeals? Did you just say “I need more money”, or was it based on some miscalculation by BC on the original EFC?</p>
<p>I was thinking about appealing too. How did you go about it? Do you have any tips?</p>
<p>I second that, what are the steps necessary to appeal a financial aid award?</p>
<p>I got an extra 9700 in a grant as well which was fantastic. All I did was call my finaid counselor and ask for my award to be explained. We discussed it and finally I asked if there was anything I could do. They looked it over and found one thing and said we just have to write a letter and that it would give us that much more. It is really easy. I think that BC is really generous to those that show they really want to be there.</p>
<p>Okay thank you so much soontobesenior!!!</p>
<p>Dear hyunjuhoney and others : Remember that this original discussion was taking place in 2009. The full impact of the economic downturn had not yet been fully understood which allowed for greater flexibility for financial aid appeals (with grounds for appeal). Boston College’s focus in 2009-2010 was making sure that current students/families were reviewed first followed by incoming students/families.</p>
<p>While soontobesenior’s experience is positive, one should not assume that a simple phone call will result in such automatic adjustments.</p>
<p>As a closing thought, if one is truly passionate about attending Boston College at a decreased price point, being able to navigate the financial aid office via telephone should not be an issue.</p>
<p>also recognize that soontobe’s numbers may have changed? EA applicants were basing their original financial aid documents on 2009 tax returns, but the current award is based on final numbers from 2010.</p>
<p>Hey guys- i probably shouldn’t have worded it as it was so easy it should happen to everyone…
my point was that if you really want to change it, call and see what you can do because that can’t hurt. Even if something cant be adjusted, at least your finaid counselor can actually explain your award to you, and you willl understand more what you can do. Thats what I meant.</p>
<p>Has anyone been through the finaid appeals process at BC and can give advice on how to proceed? Like what are the steps, and should I write and send a letter or call the finaid office? </p>
<p>Any help would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>@annamations, I would suggest calling the office, they will put you directly in touch with whoever your financial aid officer is. From there they can evaluate the situation, but things may or may not change.</p>
<p>The final curtain is falling on our process…the conclusion BC is coming to is we should spend 1/3of our net worth if our daughter wants to attend BC. It’s been a very tough few weeks…as parents we were completely fooled…we’re smart enough to have net worth but not smart enough to sift thru the maze of college financial aid. So we just laid it out for our daughter…go to Ohio State (they’ve pursued her as if she’s a star qb for their football team) she’ll enter in their Honors program ( $75,000 for 4 years) and get as good of an education as is available in USA ( both business peeps and physians I know tell me so) . In so doing, if she is still interested in going to medical school in 4 years she will be able do so and at least start debt free. I feel confident my daughter will 1 day fully understand where we were coming from…</p>
<p>A very sad situation from BC, but The Ohio State is AMAZING. Free education? Agreed; too good to turn down. My son was wooed, too, by Ohio State, but elected not to apply and now I’m wondering if my son should have applied…The School of Hard Knocks has better prepared me for my next child’s labyrinthine experience.</p>
<p>Lapla, trust me mom & dad understand the value of tOSU…their academic rep continues to grow in all fields, d has also been accepted to Miami Univ Honors w/ scholarship and Denison at 75% off sticker price…all really great options…out of state kids would kill for her slot at tOSU. Our confusion came after a visit to Northwestern last spring and our financial situation was almost identical to 1 of their families profiled in their admissions/financial aid brochure where the Efc was estimated at $27,000…we developed our projections against this backdrop…while the emotional impact on my 17 year old has been huge (she loved BC and it was always her 1st choice by a longshot) it’s probably best BC offered zip because I’d have a huge battle on my hands if they would’ve offered something…d is still convinced she’s going to find scholarship money and I did my part last weeks buying mega million tik ;)…</p>
<p>I’m sorry to hear about the BC finaid experience. It’s always disappointing to me to hear about someone wanting to attend BC but not being able to because of financial reasons. The last few years seem to have caused some aggressive belt tightening in the finaid office.</p>
<p>I’m sure your daughter will do very well with an education from that vocational school in central Ohio.*</p>
<ul>
<li>Pay no attention to the fact that this note was written in Ann Arbor 
Go Blue.</li>
</ul>
<p>lol, my wife is actually the Buckeye (J-school) so you’ll have to take that conversation up with her…I’m a Univ of Dayton grad and it’s my fault my w & d looked at Catholic reach schools Gtown & BC…they immediately ruled Gtown out as too serious but fell in love with BC. We’re going to study our options closely next week (spring break here)…I want to more fully understand tOSU and Miami U’s Honors and Denison curriculum…Denison has been very aggressive as well and they have been impressive with their marketing (they definitely know what they’re selling). But really tOSU and Miami have been wonderful as well but I think in the end my daughter is headed for the big campus in a big city…I think Oxford and Granville are a little too remote for her.</p>