<p>CTTC-I am just disgusted that you think someone would get preferetial packaging just because they are a URM. That is despicable and does NOT belong on this thread</p>
<p>CTTC-
Did someone pay you to hijack/derail the thread? Just wondering…</p>
<p>Rocket - there is nothing to be disgusted about. URM,athelets, first generation… people with hooks do get special treatments. It is what it is. Not everyone on CC follows other’s people’s posts, there is nothing wrong in asking and it doesn’t take anything away from well deserved applicants.</p>
<p>oldfort, it wasn’t the initial asking if applicannot was a URM, it was the subsequent posts by CTTC that insinuated things.</p>
<p>It seems like this thread has really gotten off topic. We want to cheer the good financial aid packages! How about if you have a good financial aid package THAT YOU ARE HAPPY ABOUT give the college name, your EFC, the amount of scholarship/grants, the amount of loans, and how much you will have to pay out of pocket. That way it really will help future students know how their package compares.</p>
<p>Then, any other posters can just express their support. If you want to debate on if a package is good then you can start another thread. </p>
<p>Will this work?</p>
<p>^Agreed. The only way knowing a generous/ungenerous FA package can be truly helpful to other posters is to collect examples of the EFC:grant ratio. That may be more information than some are willing to share, but simply giving a vague estimate is not helpful because YOUR situation is unique to YOU.</p>
<p>I don’t think this thread, as established by the OP, is the proper place for such info collection, though.</p>
<p>Personally, I don’t consider workstudy or subsidized loans as “FA” because 1) you can usually work on-campus regardless of workstudy, and 2) you can usually take out subsidized loans even at a “no-loans” school, so the greater grant is free money. Note that I say “usually.”</p>
<p>Can we also cheer merit aid on this thread? My family is in that uncomfortable spot between getting good need-based aid and being able to comfortably pay the full COA, and the merit aid is what’s made up the difference (and then some).</p>
<p>AP: My cheer for my D was for merit aid so I say cheer with us!</p>
<p>Cool. Trying to think of a parallel to the EFC-grant formula for merit aid. Maybe posting GPA, ACT/SAT, and amount of scholarship? Perhaps something about conditions required to get/keep the scholarship for those interested for next year, too.</p>
<p>I’ll join in the cheer for merit aid. We’re also in the position of having little documented need, but would be uncomfortable paying the full COA of a private college. This is in spite of having contributed to a college account since my son was an infant. My son’s merit award will cover 46% of the COA of his first-choice private college, bringing the cost down below that of the flagship public schools here. </p>
<p>I’m completely thrilled with this outcome and very grateful for this award.</p>
<p>Way to go! Congratulations! Very happy for you!
need-based, merit-based, alot, alittle, grants, low interst loans, whatever
At this point let’s just celebrate it all as being GREAT , HAPPY, POSITIVE, NEWS
and be thankful we have some of it to share
there are hearts breaking all over about this time for others</p>
<p>I’m here to celebrate KEEPING the financial aid package! My s blew past the 3.0 required to keep his scholarships. He has also been selected as an RA next year, thus reducing his rooming costs by 50% plus he gets an additional stipend! My H and I joke that it now costs us less to send him to college than it did to feed him and his HS buddies!</p>
<p>As many have said uptread, any aid that allows a person to go to college and feel unburdened is a very good thing.</p>
<p>Vballmom - Hooray! So happy for you!</p>
<p>stillnadine - congrats on your son’s acheivement!</p>
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<p>I disagree. It is an extremely common - and wrong - practice to dismiss all of a student’s accomplishments simply because he or she is a URM. I take issue with those who insinuate that I received preferential treatment “because” I am a URM, but then again, no amount of facts will convince people that being URM isn’t some magical cure for getting in and paying for the school of choice.</p>
<p>^ That’s limited to “some people” applicannot 
</p>
<p>And, yes, I agree the posts were obnoxious, if for no other reason than this is a CELEBRATION thread, not a critique thread (although the intended gibes were repeated and clear).</p>
<p>Which way to the PARTY?!?!</p>
<p>My merit aid totaled over 60% of my first choice private school’s COA. I’m ecstatic. It’s actually reasonable to go there now!</p>
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<p>Good catch. I fully rescind. I won’t even say “some people.” It’s more like “a small but noisy percentage of people.”</p>
<p>Cheering all the good news!</p>
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<p>READ, please! I DID congratulate her… sheesh!</p>
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<p>Is this what you mean by “I did congratulate her?” My, my!</p>