<p>Was anyone else completely disappointed by their financial aid package? Brown gave me a third of what I got from elsewhere and most of it was in loans. There is no way I can even consider them anymore.</p>
<p>I don't have that much in loans (about 1.2K, 2.3k work study), but my parents' contribution is ridiculous. EC off of FAFSA was about 1400, but they're asking parents to pay over 20k.</p>
<p>I believe Brown will match financial aid packages from any Ivy, plus MIT and Stanford. If you got good financial aid from any comparable school, call Brown and bargain with them. Please don't give up!</p>
<p>my williams finaid package was significantly better...
i feel like if i go to brown, i will be in debt for life</p>
<p>however-i really love brown, and want to go! what should i do!?</p>
<p>musicman921 -- call Brown and tell them what you got from Williams! They might not match it exactly, but tell them that you really want to go to Brown but you didn't feel your financial aid package was adequate. Have your parents with you when you call, so they can talk to the financial aid people, too. They can be flexible. They admitted you, they want you, they want a high yield rate, and they don't want to have a bad reputation for low financial aid.</p>
<p>I'm in the same situation as you musicman. Williams gave me 30000 (almost all grants) and Brown gave me 10000(almost all loans)--a pretty massive disparity. If I asked Brown's financial aid office to match that, would I first have to promise to matriculate?</p>
<p>How do you access it?</p>
<p>Never mind. My financial package is great!</p>
<p>I got about $1200 in the form of a loan. That's it. Granted, I wasn't expecting too much, but that's still really low...</p>
<p>Yeah, for me it's impossible to go to Brown right now. They want my parents to pay 2/5 of their annual salary BEFORE tax, and if they pay for my college and their morgage, taxes, etc., they actually get negative balance. I don't know. I haven't gotten in any other ivy league schools and I don't think I will. But I still really want to go to Brown. =(
I guess I will be attending Vandy or Brandeis w/ merit. =/</p>
<p>faerie -- don't give up! Call Brown and tell them that your financial aid package is simply impossible, explain why (or have your parents do it), and tell them that you really want to go to Brown. As I said before, they want you, and they may be willing to negociate.</p>
<p>thanks! yeah, my family has special circumstances for having high income in 2005 but not this year, and other stuff, so hopefully they work it out for me =)</p>
<p>if Brown's EFC and another college's EFC is the same, but Brown has more loans than the other college, how will Brown change the finaid package...if at all?</p>
<p>EFC as in family and student contribution NOT including loans (the other college has workstudy and Brown doesn't so idk if that factors in whether Brown would change the package)</p>
<p>Yeah, I was THRILLED to be accepted at Brown, all their grads say such good things about them, but they offered me - zero.</p>
<p>Obviously, with the cost being around $45k/year I can't afford that. I got into Columbia also, so I'm guessing I won't get aid from them either.</p>
<p>Luckily UConn offered me full tuition, room and board, so it looks like I'll take them up on their offer. Overall, I'll probably end up getting a better education at UConn than Brown anyway, so it'll probably work out.</p>
<p>My package was great. The school is still expensive, but I'm very satisfied.</p>
<p>does anyone know how low a parent's income must be in order to qualify for free full tuition?</p>
<p>mine blows</p>
<p>vassar and williams both ask my parents to pay $21,600</p>
<p>brown? $30,000</p>
<p>vassar, williams needbased grant: $16,500, $15,000 respectively
brown? $9000</p>
<p>what the *****? lol</p>
<p>Brown will match any Ivy's financial aid package. I went to them last spring with Cornell's package and Brown gave me almost $30000 more in grants. Give it a try.</p>
<p>Gah...I got zero-need based grants. My EFC was ridiculous, more than half our salary. Based on gross income and purely numbers, we're pretty solid economically...but we help with funds for like my grandparents and relatives living in Vietnam.</p>
<p>I haven't gotten my official award letter through the mail yet, so I'm hoping maybe I'll have some loans. I'm still waiting on an admissions decision from Penn, so maybe I'll get a decent one there and Brown will match it...<em>crosses fingers</em></p>
<p>Personally, I don't mind taking out 45k a year in loans...I figured I could easily pay it back after I graduate if I become a doctor. Unfortunately my parents think otherwise. Lol...dangit...</p>
<p>Is it better to CALL the financial aid office or email them? And how exactly do you go about doing it? Call the office and tell them you want to discuss your financial aid package and then start talking or what?</p>
<p>"Overall, I'll probably end up getting a better education at UConn than Brown anyway, so it'll probably work out."</p>
<p>How did you get into brown?!! Guess its a good thing you're going to UConn anyway..</p>