<p>How did you get a Pell Grant if your EFC is 12k...?</p>
<p>I am still trying to figure out this thing.. apparently, the CSS Profile takes into account home equity.. my parents purchased a home for $209,000 which now values (thanks to the rapidly inflating market) $350,000 ish.. I have no clue other than that..</p>
<p>I believe according to the IM (Institutional Methodology) of calculation, my family has an EFC of $12,000. Other than that, I don't have a single clue. My FAFSA EFC was 180, and that was based on estimated numbers that were corrected upon verification.</p>
<p>Oh frabjous day, calloo callay, he chortled in his joy. I was not here for your earlier posts but if these good people are so happy for you you must be a great kid. Congrats.</p>
<p>so did you send them any "supplemental information" ? (Now that search is back up, if you want a good chuckle read the "how to say I still love you" thread) I was impressed with the photos!</p>
<p>Ahh.. None of the photos, I can assure you that. No supplemental recs. Just a heartfelt letter from me.. </p>
<p>I can provide additional details via PM. :P.. For now, I'm rejoicing.. Thank you parents!!</p>
<p>Andrew, contact the head of the financial aid department and ask them to go over the numbers with you and explain how they determined the institutional EFC. You may be right that it is the value of your parent's home that is giving rise to the $12K figure. </p>
<p>If so -- I sympathize -- I own a home in California - I've just refinanced and owe $20K more on my home than I did when it was purchased 16 years ago, but on paper I've got mega-bucks in equity. The problem is, with my income, I barely qualified for the refinance - there is no way I would be able to take more money out of the house using the debt-to -income ratios that conventional lenders insist on. Nor can I move, unless I also relocate very far away - as high as my home value is, it is significantly below median for my area. </p>
<p>Your parents are probably in the same boat. I do not know whether Georgetown would take another look; I am sure that when a college weighs in home equity, they are assuming the family can take out a 2nd mortgage -- if you can show on paper why it can't be done, they may take a second look. But the first step is to get clarification as to where the numbers come from. In asking those questions you may find out that there is some other mistake or fact that has been overlooked that will affect the award figures. </p>
<p>Don't turn down Georgetown SFS over $12K/year. I'm the one on this board who is always telling kids not to borrow money, but I think that the SFS in one college that really does provide unique opportunities to students in terms of laying the foundation for a future career. What you can do now is check out to see if you can drum up some local scholarship money for your first year. Try local service organizations (Lions Club, Kiwanis, etc.) to start. Ask your high school g.c. for a list of all the local groups that give scholarships, and get on the phone and make some calls to network and find out about more. </p>
<p>And get out now and line up a summer job - if you work hard this summer you can make a big dent in that. </p>
<p>Or simply start a fundraising effort on behalf of yourself. Seriously - draft up a short letter describing your goals and why you want to go to Georgetown, and send it off to everyone locally you can think of. </p>
<p>$12K just isn't that much money --- if you could manage to earn a few thousand, pick up a couple of thousand in local scholarships, and get another couple of thousand through donations, you'll easily be more than halfway there. Think about year #1 now -- and when you are at college next year, start early to look for summer employment or <em>paid</em> internship opportunities. </p>
<p>Oh, and congratulations!</p>
<p>Wonderful News!!!! Hooray!</p>
<p>I'm surprised that you didn't get more aid. You're a Pell Grant recipient and your EFC is $12k? What's the income cutoff for the Pell Grant (anyone)? (edit: ooops, I see that others said the same thing about the Pell Grant and your EFC)</p>
<p>As Cheers said, you'll work that out! After all, you're IN at GTown SFS!</p>
<p>Congratulations!!!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! </p>
<p>Thanks calmom for the Finaid advice! I am not planning to turn down SFS over $12,000. </p>
<p>What about appealing financial aid? Not much has been said on that topic.</p>
<p>Momsdream: Thanks! My Federal EFC is around 180, simply because they don't take the home equity into account (among other things, but I think this one clinches it).</p>
<p>Also, I noticed something. In my financial aid statement from Notre Dame, I got a Federal SEO grant from Notre Dame, but not from Georgetown? Could anyone explain this?</p>
<p>SEOG is for those eligible for a Pell Grant and have a lower income than most Pell Grant receipents. So some people get Pells and some get both a Pell and SEOG. The amount of your SEOG can vary from school to school depending on how much each individual school receives from the Fed. govt. for their SEOG receipents. They get a lump amount and then they divide that up amongst those that are eligible for the SEOG. Some schools get more, some less and then some have more students eligible for the SEOG than other schools.</p>
<p>So a school can run out of that money (SEOG) or have less to give each student. I think the amount can range from $100 to $4000 per year per eligible student. It depends on each school and student's need (not sure about that part.) We had the same problem last year (and I sure will have this year) where one school offers an SEOG and another does not OR the amount varies from school to school. From our experience the state uni's gave the full amount of the SEOG and private's awarded less and some not at all. Financial aid officers explained the SEOG stuff to my son, from 2 different schools, same story.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>And again, congrats on SFS. I will have to bug you later to tell us all about it as son (rising senior, DS#2) as this as one of his top choices.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>I am planning to call the financial aid office later in the week. My parents can't afford the $12,000 so I will probably have to take up the loan..</p>
<p>SWEET!</p>
<p>more characters...</p>
<p>Tlaktan, are you planning to go to graduate school?</p>
<p>Anyway, I'd again like to say how happy I am for you!! Great news!!</p>
<p>Yes, I am planning to complete a MSFS or maybe a JD, at this point I don't know.</p>
<p>I'm hoping to get into the dual FS degree right now.. BSFS/MSFS.. they offer a program like that (from what I've read) that lasts 5 years..</p>
<p>I don't know what others have told you, but many colleges match offers from other colleges. If you get a great one at Williams, you could talk to Georgetown about it. Just a thought...</p>
<p>I am actually waiting for other Financial Aid packages -- to compare!</p>
<p>I'd say if you were sure about going into government, it doesn't get better than SFS. Got rejected myself, but I don't think it's what I want to do in the end, so I'm cool with it.</p>
<p>What other schools did you get into (besides case western and notre dame)? How is the financial aid?</p>
<p>If you can get some outside scholarships atleast above 2000 you're in good shape. You can work over the summer to help your family out too. maybe i missed it, but is your family cool with paying 12k a year?</p>
<p>It cannot possibly hurt to appeal your financial aid award -- the worse thing they can do is say no -- so you have everything to gain and nothing to lose. </p>
<p>The reason I suggested you call up the director of financial aid and ask what considerations went into the $12,000 is that you will have a much better chance of appeal if you know something about the thinking behind the award. But politely fishing for information, asking them to clear up your confusion rather than arguing, you will find out what avenues are most important for you to pursue. No sense worrying about the home equity if that's not the problem. </p>
<p>For example.... are either of your parents self employed? I know from a friend that Georgetown will add some money back into the schedule C if it seems like the difference between gross revenues and reported earnings are too large -- so for example a person in business for themselves having a very bad year might take in $45,000 but have to spend $35,000 for expenses and overhead, leaving $10K net on the 1040 and the FAFSA. My friend (whose numbers were probably far different) said that Georgetown insisted that writeoffs could be no more than a certain percentage (less than half) of gross -- so in my example it would be possible that the person would have $10K in actual net income but be treated as having $25K by the college. This whole stuff is anedoctal and third hand, so I wouldn't rely on it --- it's just an example of something other than home ownership that could go into the calculation.</p>
<p>Anyway, my suggestion is talk to them, ask how they came up with $12,000 - let them know that it is difficult for you but do NOT argue or debate things on the initial conversation. Instead, take careful notes, then look at all of what was said to see if there are some clear factual misunderstandings that might be addressed in your appeal. The first step to a good appeal is to marshal all the facts carefully. The second important step is to be as objective as possible, focusing on facts to build your case.</p>
<p>Uh, my parents ** are ** self-employed, but I know both of them took major losses this year. I don't know the specifics myself.</p>
<p>Gah, I'm a bit nervous. I don't like talking about finances (and I'm going into politics? Heh.) I wish my GC could call on my behalf but I know it can't happen because it's ** my ** finances and that information is confidential..</p>
<p>I guess I'll call in the morning then? Do I just call financial aid and speak to the first person that answers the phone or call the financial aid director?</p>
<p>OK, the self-employment thing really could be at the heart of it. I am self-employed doing freelance/consultation work, and the colleges also insisted on my giving a valuation of my business as an "asset", and in fact imputed the earnings reported for a year on my schedule C as being the value of the business, in essence counting the income twice. No amount of persuasion could convince them that since my business is simply <em>me</em> (I have no office, no employees, etc.) - that it is not something that could be sold or borrowed against, hence not an "asset". Plus colleges may go over the Schedule C or a partnership return line by line, and add back in certain expenses to the calculation. </p>
<p>I don't know enough about Georgetown to know who to call, but my inclination is to start at the top - use the web site to find out who is the director of financial aid and call and ask for that person by name. You may very well be referred to an assistant -- and of course you should talk to whoever you can reach -- but you really want to talk with someone knowledgeable -- otherwise you might just get misinformation. The first person who answer the phone at the Fin Aid office is also likely to be the lowest ranked and least knowledgeable person there. </p>
<p>However, you might ask whoever answers the phone whether there are specific staff members in the office assigned to specific students -- that is, you might find out that there are a dozen people there making the decisions, but one specifically assigned to students from your geographic region -- or whose last names fall within a certain range of the alphabet -- or just by random assignment. Obviously it will be best to talk with someone who actually worked on preparing your award, as opposed to someone who has never seen your file and is just guessing at what is going on. Because of the self-employment situation, it is likely that your file got a closer look by someone .... they do tend to scrutinize those more closely. </p>
<p>I know it is hard to talk about money -- but this is your life. If you plan to go into law and politics, this is one of those "get over it" things. I mean, I was a very shy teenager but became a lawyer, so I know it is really tough - but you gotta do it. If you just send off a letter saying you "appeal" the decision, your chances of getting more money are far, far less than if you first take the time to understand where the financial aid people are coming from, and then frame an argument around that. </p>
<p>It IS also a good idea to try to use other financial aid offers to leverage more aid from Georgetown.</p>
<p>I am assuming that you have run the figures for your parents' income through financial aid calculators like the ones at finaid.org -- and that you know what the FAFSA set as EFC. If not, those are two things you should be doing -- they will also help tremendously in sorting this all out. </p>
<p>Also, if your parents had major set backs at work due to illness or unforeseen events, you may be able to write a letter explaining the special circumstances that apply to you. The decision so far has been based on numbers on a piece of paper -- so if there is something bad that happened to your parents or family that the college doesn't know about -- now is the time to let them know.</p>