This sucks

<p>anyone else as disappointed as me with their aid package</p>

<p>Yes. I am very disappointed. Are you in state or out of state?</p>

<p>is there any chance you guys could share some general figures.
I’ve been accepted as an out of state junior for mechanical engineering and would love to attend but finance is the only issue. their financial aid offices have also told me that I won’t get a award letter until early-late may. any information is appreciated. thanks</p>

<p>I am also out of state and will be a freshman. I received: $4800 Federal Pell Grant, $4000 Scarlet and Gray Grant, Subsidized loan $3500, Unsub Loan $2000, Stadium Program Savings $2464 (which I can’t even use because I will be in scholars housing), and Parent PLUS Loan $24204. I had a very low EFC and CANNOT BELIEVE how much they expect my parents to take out in loans… Hopefully this helps you.</p>

<p>Yes the “aid system” at OSU does have issues based on what we are seeing. Our daughter - 34 ACT, 4.64 WGPA, 4.0 UGPA, #1 class rank, National Honor Society, Student Council, 5 on AP test, accepted to Honors, varsity athletics, and on and on. That resume earned her $3500 for the Maximus. We are expected to cover the remainder with loans. Nice!</p>

<p>Personally, I applied for the Morrill Scholars scholarship as a freshman so it basically covers my attendance as an out of state student. My dad talked to financial aid and said all i have to pay for is 4000 loan. So i would suggest hunt down as many scholarships as possible ranging from $500 to whatever, just keep your hopes up and fill out scholarships because it is a hefty price tag to attend OSU. Hard works pays off.</p>

<p>wow some of this information really is disappointing. But, i will say that as an incoming freshman i applied to a lot of the same colleges i once again applied to as a transfer student. and so far its all been great signs. practically every school i’ve reapplied to has doubled their financial aid through transfer scholarships that are annually renewable. My EFC has not changed drastically since. As far as i know though, OSU does not offer specific “transfer scholarships.” Ill definitely updated this post once I actually find out.</p>

<p>whoknowswhy,</p>

<p>I feel your pain. A few years ago my oldest son had almost the same exact numbers as you daughter and was offerred the same amount as she received. The good news is that he ended up getting a full ride at Ohio University and just recently got a 172 on his first time taking the LSAT and now has the opportunity to go to just about any law school he wants without any ungrad debt.</p>

<p>Daymack, </p>

<p>What a small world. OU is also on the table for us. Simply based on the test scores she automatically has full tuition covered there. Waiting to hear the final aid package from OU this week we have been told. </p>

<p>If you don’t mind me asking, was the full ride via University scholarships or other external awards?</p>

<p>Congratulations to your son!</p>

<p>whoknowswhy,</p>

<p>I guess I should have said full tuition to OU. He also received outside scholarships to cover a portion of room and board. I had made a commitment to him on a certain $ amount which covered the rest. </p>

<p>I was surprised as you probably are that a child with such a great resume would merit only $3,500. It was a childhood dream of my son to go to OSU but in the end he made the decision that he didn’t want to come out of his undergrad with debt. He is a junior now and couldn’t be happier about his decision to go to OU. As a parent I was somewhat apprehensive about OU’s party reputation, which is overblown, and I also couldn’t be happier about his decision.</p>

<p>We just received the financial aid package from OSU for my youngest son and once again I am underwhelmed. It looks like none of my children will be going to OSU.</p>

<p>My D received the Morrill ( full tuition ) along with an 1800 merit. Very nice. But, had it not been for the Morrill, OSU wouldn’t be under consideration. My D financial package from Kenyon leaves us with appx $15,000to pay. She will take out 5500 in Loans and we will pay the 10k for her.</p>

<p>At OSU she would take out the 5500 in loans and we would pay the appx $5,000 for her.</p>

<p>We are trying to decide. My D has fallen in love with Kenyon.</p>

<p>Classy19. Is that the scholarship that you had to write an essay about diversity? My D did not get a red cent. She is waiting to hear from the agriculture department regarding a scholarship through them, but I think she will end up at UK, even though it is out-of-state.</p>

<p>For merit-based scholarships, OSU is very disappointing. Both OU and Miami offering full tuition and OSU $3,500. The Honors Tutorial College at OU makes it a very attractive option. As an OSU grad and OH taxpayer, OSU was a big let down…not to mention getting bounced around to several e-mail accounts to get basic questions answered (or worse, still unanswered).</p>

<p>It’s all a matter of perspective.
Although in absolute terms the “automatic” merit scholarship is rather low, OSU is still an excellent value for in-state students. You can hardly get better college for the amount of money that OSU costs, even without scholarships. Also, OSU does give many Morrill scholarships, and has implemented a new Excellence scholarship program this year which rewards top fifty freshmen with completely free education and a stipend.
If you get the highest automatic scholarship at Miami ($6500), you still pay $17,000 per year. With $3500 scholarship at OSU annual cost is about the same. And I don’t think OU is not in the same league as OSU or MU.</p>

<p>You mean “Eminence Scholarship” not Excellence. I personally received the Morrill Excellence for full tution, Stadium Scholarship and grants.</p>

<p>mspearl, my D is finishing her sophomore year at OSU as a Morrill Scholar. She also wanted to go to Kenyon, but it had a $37,000 price tag for us since we didn’t qualify for Financial Aid. One thing to consider is that the merit does not change depending on changing finances. You may owe $15k to Kenyon this year; will they guarantee that all 4 years? It’s easy to fall in love with Kenyon, but your D may not be able to see 4 years into the future what having $20k in debt feels like. D is happy she chose OSU; she is doing research for a professor and presenting at a major conference in San Francisco in November as a junior undergrad. Just wanted to give you our experience.</p>

<p>susan, my daughter’s merit award at Kenyon is 12k per year and it is guaranteed as long as she maintains a 3.0. Her grant based on our need is over 20k. Kenyon is obviously more expensive than OSU and that is a big concern for us. I think my D would be happy either place but Kenyon is definitely her choice.</p>

<p>This is a hard decision for sure. :/</p>

<p>mspearl,
Is your daughter going to grad school? Does she have siblings? These are factors in the finances. We visited Kenyon and were told many students study abroad which could be an added expense. Also if she were to have an internship or something of that nature she could at some point need a car to get to a larger locale (Columbus). </p>

<p>Kenyon is quite lovely and personal. I can see the charm especially if you are an English major. However I think, for my kids, by the time they are juniors they would feel like they were in high school again as it is so small and the town is tiny. It was amusing that the students visited Mt. Vernon for a fun time, having grown up 30 minutes away! Our tour guide even stated that kids loved study abroad because it got them off campus as an upperclassman. </p>

<p>Another point is that on a small campus if there is a professor in your major you don’t like it would be difficult to avoid him/her. </p>

<p>My son is at OSU, daughter number one trying to decide between OSU and Miami. Costs are the same but I think she would eventually make a case for a car at Miami which I would not be thrilled about.</p>

<p>anyone else appeal their decision cause I did</p>

<p>my daughter got the eminence scholarship which covers full cost of attendence plus $3000 or research…She also got the Harrison’s at Miami and chose OSU instead. My older daughter got Morrill’s excellence and maximus and is currently a sophomore at OSU.</p>