I am trying to appeal my financial aid at a few colleges in hopes of maybe getting more money. I have a twin sister who is also enrolling in college this fall. Colleges know that I have a twin and we will both be in college by the FAFSA/CSS profile already. Would showing my sisters COA at another university and stating that we need extra money to feasibly afford both be a decent appeal? We are both the first in our family to attend college so we’ve never been through this before
It’s a factor. They schools might consider it but probably won’t. You just have too many assets for schools to think you need a special FA consideration.
FA calculations are based on you both being in school, your EFC will include that, what it doesn’t care about is how much that twin costs. Get your twin to go to a cheap school and you are golden.
You can discuss that with the financial aid department at your college, but they will probably need to see proof of enrollment and a COA statement from the financial aid department at your sister’s college before factoring it it. But at least you will be able to find out now how the college will handle it.
You might get lucky and get a FA officer who also had twins or two in college at once, and he will have sympathy and try to help. It’s a factor, just like taking a cut in pay is, or having an accident that has OOP costs, or having temporary expenses for a flooded home. You are trying to paint a picture of why YOU need the extra money, what is different than the CSS or FAFSA shows.
Your EFC already reflects that another child is in college, so you have to show why that math doesn’t work for your family. Sister is a genius and must go to a $75k college. Sister is not a genius and must go to a $75k college because she has special learning needs. Schools want to know why your family can’t pay what the calculations say it should.
You are already paddling against the current because your family has a lot of assets. At some point, the schools are just going to say ‘Hey, this is the offer.’
Schools want to know why your family can't pay what the calculations say it should.<<<
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I suspect that the vast majority of schools (like OPs) have zero interest in your personal story. The reality is that plenty of schools will accept students on their ability to pay. OP has long threads about the whole money issue and this is another one. These students need to attend schools they can afford. This advice seems to have been given at length.
That, too. A lot of families act as if consumer debt, or gambling addiction, or multiple kids in college, or acts of god that caused damage to the home/car/etc will influence financial aid. Most schools don’t have enough aid to hand out in the first place, let alone make up for families’ personal problems.
My family had a lot of medical expenses to take care of due to some genetic disorders. Guess how much schools cared and adjusted aid? 0%
Are these CSS profile schools? What reasoning will you give for asking for more money? You parents own a home in NJ, they inherited a $650k beach house, and you expect to inherit ~$50k. You also have $50k in a 529. Colleges won’t give you money so your parents can hold onto expensive real estate.