<p>I don’t like the ED schools that don’t meet 100% of need or only do so with big loans.</p>
<p>I want to whine about the CCS. I feel like I am being penalized for having no debt and only a little left on my mortgage. I am not having trouble with the FAFSA-at least my home and old age (retirement) money are left in peace.</p>
<p>“none of these schools have ED”------ Cornell, Columbia, University of Penn, and Brown still have ED.</p>
<p>^^I was referring to your sentence in which you included “CMHPY”. Saying “and others” does not correct the erroneous information about CMHPY, which do NOT have ED…</p>
<p>Well I have been corrected. As I said earlier, for those students with a 0 or very close to 0 EFC schools such as Cornell, Columbia, U Penn, and Brown have wonderful financial aid and should not be discounted. I can’t be sure, but I believe that they do not include loans for those with very low EFCs.</p>
<p>hornet - Most PROFILE colleges (that I know of) don’t consider retirement money in retirement accounts to be available. Contributions to those accounts are added back as income, however.</p>
<p>My son had applied to 11 schools…
IS, OOS and Private…
We recieved only 1 financial package.
SUNY Geneseo had an affordable FA package…thats is Instate for us.
I can only imagine the privates…
Why are these letters taking so long…
I spoke with Gettysburg yesterday and they it is quite possible to not know till April 15…
Are you kidding me…I wanted to make a decison by then…
I refuse to visit a school I dont know if I can even afford. Its like looking at a car without knowing the price…</p>
<p>I only applied to schools that I could afford. I looked at merit, within my stats, at privates and figured the difference between cost and our expected EFC, when given merit scholarship and or grants. For my instates I knew there would be little if any merit scholarship, but I knew they were within our price range. I looked at all my schools before I applied, except for one. Applying to an expensive school (and getting excited about it) without an idea of end cost, to me, is like looking at houses without a pre approval or down payment.</p>
<p>So one of my schools that gave me a bad FA package is asking me for verification. Should I send in my tax returns even tho I most likely will not accept the package? Is there even a remote chance that they will change the package based on the verification?</p>
<p>want to get some baseline before whining.</p>
<p>I know on CC all loans are “bad”. But realistically, if only subsidized loans (Stafford and Perkins) are used to meet the need and it is capped at ~5K /y. It is not that bad, isn’t it?</p>
<p>DadII, I don’t think anyone would say that subsidized loans capped at $5,000 per year are “bad”. </p>
<p>The “bad” loans that people are talking about is when need is met by:
Family EFC
plus maximum federal student loans
plus work study
plus ADDITIONAL loans</p>
<p>It is those additional loans that people are really whining about.</p>
<p>Okay, here’s my whine:</p>
<p>Why does WUStL have to offer me a significantly better package than Stanford? The plight of the embarrassment of the riches.</p>
<p>Wow Applicannnot - that is a surprise. In fact, it highlights exactly why FA is so confusing. Stanford has a reputation of being one of the very best in terms of FA and WUSTL has the reputation of not always meeting need. Or perhaps I should say that WUSTL offers tend to generate more whines than Stanford offers do here on CC!</p>
<p>Which shows why it is necessary to apply to multiple schools. </p>
<p>If Stanford ends up being your first choice, it is worth trying to negotiate.</p>
<p>Applicannot, did WUSTL give you merit aid? You’re obviously a desirable student to them if you are also admitted at Stanford. That’s the purpose of merit aid, to get students like you to matriculate. I’d be very surprised of they gave you better need-based aid than Stanford.</p>
<p>electronblue,</p>
<p>Merit aid is somewhat null because both schools meet 100% of need without loans and my EFC is 0. The difference is that Stanford, as of the financial aid estimate, required $1000 toward the CoA whereas WashU us offering me $3900 a year in a refund check - with no work study.</p>
<p>And that $4,900 swing, for a student with a low EFC, makes all the difference in the world. IIRC, Dad II was able to get Stanford to sweeten the FA package when his D had other offers; once you visit both campuses and have some feelings one way or the other about where you’d prefer to attend, it may be worth it to contact Stanford.</p>
<p>Congrats – you are one heck of a catch!!! :)</p>
<p>CountingDown - </p>
<p>I think I will try to get Stanford to swing it, but I don’t even know where to start! I certainly didn’t think I’d ever have to negotiate such a sweet offer. Do you have any ideas how I should approach this?</p>
<p>applicannot. First of all, big congratulation. Both Stanford and Wash U are wonderful schools. </p>
<p>I do like to get some clarification from you about this refund check. Does that mean Wash U pays you everythings - from books, to foods, etc, plus $3900 cash?</p>
<p>Stanford, on the other hand, would also pay everything but ask you to contribute $1000?</p>
<p>Because each school estimates the none school part of expenses differently. Stanford’s COA may include $5000 personal expenses. They will pay $4000 and you pay $1000. If you could live by that $4000, you don’t actually has to pay Stanford any thing. </p>
<p>You also need to consider other possible expenses. For example, Stanford at Hawaii program. If you are on FA, you don’t have to pay one penny, not even the airfare. </p>
<p>Also, have you confirmed with Wash U if this offer will be the same for years 2- 4? </p>
<p>BTW, if you are Stanford EA, I think the FA package is only an estimate. Please do talk to them about your needs.</p>
<p>PS. applicannot , yours wins the best whinning of them all.</p>
<p>Maybe we should invite Dad II into this conversation…oh, good! He has joined in! Glad to see you here, Dad II!!</p>
<p>I’d contact the FA person at Stanford (is there one assigned to you? At some schools there are) and lay it out. You don’t have $$ to get a laptop, or for travel, and you have gotten a great offer from Highly Ranked U. They may want to see details. Explain the situtation your mom has had with her job, how your earnings have been going to basic family expenses, etc.</p>
<p>I’d look at the FA threads – swimcatsmom, sybbie and kelsmom are a wealth of info. Did Stanford include Staffords in your package? Some subsizided loans would not be a bank-buster after graduation and if all you have are Staffords for $3k/yr., that’s not bad at all.</p>
<p>Check carefully with WashU and Stanford about what the packaging of your award will look like in future years. Will they expect you to pick up student loans in years 2-4? Have a significant summer earnings expectation? Check on the school threads and ask how subsequent years’ packages look for returning students. You’ve got to look at the $$ for all four years in terms of affordability.</p>
<p>I have a very dear friend whose daughter has applied to colleges. She goes to a private prep school on scholarship that provides excellent college counseling. Still, even with a small group of kids assigned to each counselor, counselors well schooled in the process, a school that does work closely with the kids, and with everyone knowing the family’s financial situation, there is a disconnect in the process.</p>
<p>It seems that few people understand that there are really not many schools that guarantee meeting full need. When you get that list, you then have to see what THEY, not you, not FAFSA define as need. Then you have to see how they decide to meet that need. Offering a student tens upon thousands of dollars in loans each year is not meeting their need, in my opinion. It’s just delaying the bill, and with interest. </p>
<p>So getting money out of colleges is really playing the lottery. It’s even more dicey when you have financial need because those schools that are most generous with aid are the ones that are the most selective. </p>
<p>It’s scary what the costs are. My son got what looked like a great scholarship package from one school. But when you subtract it from the COA, it’s still very expensive.</p>