<p>I talked to Deb Shaver, director of admission, at Smith yesterday. She said that she and her colleagues are so adept at estimating the number of students who will accept their big Zollman grant that they always end up with the number of Zollman students they aimed for (about 10) once the their yeas and nays are tallied. </p>
<p>But, even though it’s probably a waste of time to beg for a Zollman at Smith if not tapped for one in the initial round, it can’t hurt to make a phone call.</p>
<p>This thread is like a God-sent to me right now, lol.</p>
<p>I’m going through the same situation of going to ask the schools I got accepted to for more aid. </p>
<p>My financial aid stats are:
FAFSA EFC: $2,000~</p>
<p>School A:
COA: $53,000~
Aid given (including state and federal): $41,000
Loans: about $5,000
EFC: $7,000
*Not going to take a loan so EFC would be $12,000.</p>
<p>School B:
COA: $53,000~
Aid given (include state and federal): $45,000
Loans: about $8,000
EFC: $400
*Not going to take a loan so EFC would $8,400.</p>
<p>Goal
-Because of the FAFSA EFC, at my safety school (CUNY), we would only pay $2,000 instead of the $5,000+ that is regular tuition at CUNY.</p>
<p>-I want to ask the schools (through a letter) if they are willing to fill in the gap with grants (or more need-based aid) up to the $2,000 (or less) mark. That way my parent (one parent is paying for college) can still pay for school, but at the same price of what we would pay at CUNY.</p>
<p>-My parents (both mother and father) are worried about tuition rates getting higher. I’ve taken this into account, and with asking for the $2,000 EFC, hopefully by the end of my senior year at these schools, my parents would only have to pay $5,000 or less of my last year.</p>
<p>This is the math I figured out:
-If tuition rises at $1,000 per year </p>
<p>EFC:
1st year: $2,000
2nd year: $3,000
3rd year: $4,000
4th year: $5,000</p>
<p>I’ve tried to tell this plan to my parents, but they refuse to listen. Partially because they ARE scared of me even looking at a loan, but also because they try to find ways in the financial aid package to scare me into staying home for school.</p>
<p>My guidance counselor suggested that I have my parents speak to the financial aid offices, and visit the campus before I send out a letter, just to make sure that I’m solid in my choices before going any further.</p>
<p>She also suggested that calling up the school, and asking if a student doesn’t attend, that if a portion of their financial aid package can go towards me. </p>
<p>Any tips?</p>
<p>Apply for outside scholarships to cover the loans at school B? Also, if tuition rises I don’t think you EFC rises</p>
<p>Even generous student aid (and your offers are very generous!) generally includes a “self-help” portion of loans. I very much doubt that those schools are going to give you a package without the loans. Doesn’t hurt to ask, but I wouldn’t bet on it.</p>
<p>$5,000 per year in student loans is not excessive - borrowing $20,000 total is a reasonable amount of debt for an undergraduate degree.</p>
<p>School B sounds very affordable - if your parents can pay even $2,000 per year, you should be fine with max Stafford loans. COAs are commonly inflated with travel/personal expenses and you can likely get away with slightly less than the listed number.</p>
<p>My D got some nice scholarships full tuition plus at TCU, U Maine, Tulane that she is probably turning down. Just got into Harvard but didn’t even send in the aid. Wonder if it’s too late.</p>
<p>Last year my DS was accepted to Marquette with a partial scholarship. He eventually decided to attend Miami (Ohio). Several posts on the Marquette board indicated that the monies offered to students who chose not to attend were distributed among the attendees - up to a grand or two more than promised. No idea if the funds are pro rata or a judgement call. Also, don’t know if this will happen this year.</p>
<p>@ChicagoBear two years ago my S’s Scholarship & need base aid both increased 2k each after the May 1st deadline. So at least they did it for the past 2 yrs.</p>
<p>We were delighted to be offered a Tuition Exchange scholarship/benefit at our D’s first choice LAC, a huge benefit for living on an academician’s salary. She was additionally offered a named sholarship for $5K/yr, plus we were offered a $5500 unsubsidized Stafford loan. Our EFC is still $12K. When I looked at the school’s website, the named scholarship she received is listed as $20K/yr, not $5K. Don’t get me wrong – the Tuition Exchange is really valuable. But can I reasonably ask them to consider giving her the $5500 as more in the named scholarship, rather than a loan?</p>
<p>
I would send them an email or call them and ask if there was some error in processing the scholarship, since the one they named is listed as being much more money.</p>
<p>Turned down $79,000, and an honors college offer, from Adelphi University for $0 from NYU. It hurt.</p>
<p>star2272: Wow, that video about student debt is eye opening. I can’t imagine having student loans triple in interest. I suppose that’s what happens when you have huge banks running the show.</p>
<p>When I applied to Agnes Scott College in 2003, I was awarded a full tuition scholarship. I turned it down for a full scholarship somewhere else, and some other young ladies turned down the big scholarships to go to other more highly ranked places as well. My best friend took hers, and she told me that she appealed for more money and she DID get it - she originally got a half-tuition scholarship and they made it a full tuition one. She got very active in the school, and told me that it was quite common for ASC to roll over money from scholarship applicants who turned them down to make scholarship awards larger.</p>
<p>UCSD Jacob’s Scholarship + Regents Scholarship = Full Tuition Paid.</p>
<p>Not sure if I’m going there though.</p>
<p>I got a $60k scholarship from Kalamazoo, but I got a better financial aid offer at Beloit, so I won’t be accepting.</p>
<p>Son was offered total of $60K by GWU and $48K by Miami of Ohio. Will likely pass on both, in favor of either WUStl ($20K) or NU ($0).</p>
<p>Turned down down several merit aid scholarships,highest was 21k ,lowest 15k…paying full rack rate at a private school</p>
<p>When I was offered a National Merit scholarship at ASU, they said they didn’t need to know immediately because they weren’t going to offer the scholarship to someone else if I turned it down. However, I was offered an additional, special scholarship (they only gave out 4 per year) they wanted to know ASAP because they were planning to offer it to someone else if I turned it down.</p>
<p>It seems like, for the generic scholarships, they factor in people turning them down. But for more selective or specially endowed ones with a more limited budget it’s hard to predict the number of people turning them down so they might offer money to a second choice candidate if the first person says no.</p>
<p>
Wow, that’s a really encouraging story for those asking for raised awards.
I’m turning down 21st Century Scholars of 25k p.a. at Mount Holyoke, and know another girl turning down her Leadership Scholarship of ~15k there. So that much money is in excess there. Hope this helps! :)</p>
<p>I’m turning down a 20k scholarship to George Washington.</p>
<p>Do schools solicit a person with offers (like, do you get offers in the mail from colleges offering you money) or do you have to apply to them and then are offered merit aid? Thanks.</p>