<p>Son is a junior Bio major at UR and has enjoyed a great experience to date. I’m interested in feedback from others on UR’s need based financial aid program. While the school loves to tout its ability to meet 100% of family need, we know every institution has its own formula for computing “need,” resulting in varying EFC levels from one school to another. Our EFC at Richmond has routinely been higher than our College Board estimate or computed FAFSA total. This year I plugged in our family financials into the new College Board Net Price Calculator for several other competitive admission type schools that my son considered during the college search process. The net results were generally more favorable elsewhere, (higher free money/grant aid than at UR). My suspicion is that the UR formula is less beneficial once the family income exceeds the $100K level. Any feedback is appreciated from those that have experience with UR need based aid. This is not meant to scare future UR students/parents, as your experience might be different. We love the school and its quality & intangibles might justify a slightly over-market EFC. This is your decision to make. Thanks.</p>
<p>If you don’t mind my asking, which other schools did your son consider and how much different were the financial aid results? Knowing what you do now, would your son have chosen one of these other schools?</p>
<p>Michii: Son applied to Boston College, Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Bucknell, Colgate & Dickinson. The Net Price Calculator online tool generally showed each school, (except Holy Cross) netting us $2K-$6K additional dollars. Holy Cross offered $2K less than UR.</p>
<p>Son wasn’t accepted at one of the above schools, but I’m sure could transfer successfully today. He wouldn’t do that given satisfaction with UR and his social circle. I might re-think UR for our daughter, however, now a high school sophomore.</p>
<p>Dear all. </p>
<p>I’m an international student and I really want to enroll for University Of Richmond. Can anyone here tell me how many scores should I have on the SAT test to be accepted by and receive a need-based financial aid package from Richmond ?</p>
<p>Thank you so much.</p>
<p>huey, it would be best to start your own thread and not hijack someone else’s.</p>
<p>Well, I take some solace that my original posting has enjoyed 300+ views over the past week. The muted feedback from the crowd either suggests that folks were overwhelmingly thrilled with their UR aid dollars, people are reticent about talking about personal financial matters on a public forum, or the timing of such a posting was perhaps better suited to springtime… when the all-important envelopes arrived in the mail.</p>
<p>Absent future activity on this topic, heres hoping that UR administration types occasionally tune-in to these postings and might re-evaluate the current plan, acknowledging a formula short-fall in the eyes of at least this reporter. Best wishes to all for a good rest of the summer!</p>
<p>I’ve been more than pleased with my financial aid over the past 3 years. My older sister and I obviously had the same EFC and UR did A LOT better in terms of aid.</p>
<p>My soon-to-be Junior daughter (and I) love the financial aid she is receiving.</p>
<p>A better way to frame the financial aid discussion going forward is to provide some context with your response. Comparison data on competing aid offers is more readily available from the parents of incoming freshman, who, just a few short months ago, weighed multiple offers. With all due respect to the recent posters who expressed a relative satisfaction with UR aid, what does it mean to be “happy” with an aid package, unless you provide a current or historical comparative context to other aid offers? One can make a consumer purchase at Store A with confidence, with the belief that the sales price is competitive & compelling. If Store B and Store C offer a similar quality product at a lower price, but are unvisited, the relative value of the Store A offer is suspect. Also, as I’d speculated on my original posting, the satisfaction of the UR aid offer will vary with the relative financial strength of family income and assets. If any future posters feel so inclined, feel free to include context on whether you fall into Bucket A (family income <#100K) or bucket B (income >$100K). Heck…this is an anonymous forum for most participants, or so I would hope!</p>
<p>Full disclosure…we fall into Bucket B, with a family gross income of around $135K. Our assets are typical of that income range, with no unusual issues, etc.</p>
<p>Lastly, in the remote chance that anyone reading this posting also applied and was awarded an aid package from Vanderbilt University, I’m curious as to the variance between UR & Vanderbilt aid awards. The online Net Price Calculator formula showed a surprising Vanderbilt total when I looked at it.</p>
<p>We just received our statement for first semester so I can give you real info. Our family income is about $120k with two full time college students. Total 1st semester cost is $27,905. Grants and scholarships cover $21,945. I’m good with that.</p>
<p>Hey, I was wondering if you are in state or out of state? Just curious.</p>
<p>We are out of state</p>
<p>PAVenturer: Was that including any merit scholarships?</p>
<p>Michii - Yes. This is how I THINK it works at UR…</p>
<p>Freshman year my daughter received a University Grant that covered EFC calculated need less student and parent plus loans.</p>
<p>Sophomore year she received three scholarships in addition to the University Grant. The grant was reduced from freshman year but scholarships also reduced Parent Plus loans and student loans so sophomore grant + scholarships > freshman grant. </p>
<p>On first semester junior statement grant is less than sophomore year. But again, Junior Grant + Scholarship > Sophomore Grant + Scholarships > Freshman Grant.</p>
<p>There seems to be scholarships that are available to returning students that were not available to new students. Oh, scholarships have been > grants past two years.</p>
<p>I hope this helps. Let me know if you need more info and I will tell you what I can!</p>
<p>PAVenturer: Thanks for responding. I was worried that most of the scholarships were the Richmond Scholars, Bonner, Presidential, etc. that seem very selective in terms of stats and ECs. I just want to be reassured that there are grants/scholarships for others who have great grades, but might fall below the Richmond Scholars and other big name scholarship requirements. I know nothing is guaranteed, but it looks like my son will apply to several schools and will have to go with the best financial aid package—probably like millions of others.</p>
<p>Most competitive admission schools either do away with merit scholarships completely, or reserve the dollars for applicants that are truly the best of the best. Such is the case at UR. Its my opinion that anyone contemplating UR admission should maintain very low expectations with respect to obtaining merit aid, unless the applicant will truly bring something unique & special to the table. My son was a 4.0 student at a great college prep high school, (all AP classes, good extracurricular activities, etc.) He was awarded $10K-$15K in merit aid at a few other schools, but UR provided no merit offer whatsoever as an inbound freshman. While the university does offer some endowed scholarships for ongoing undergraduates pursuing select majors, these too are competitive. If youre considering applying to UR, anticipate relying primarily on their need based aid program.</p>
<p>UR scholarship link: [Scholarships</a> - Financial Aid - University of Richmond](<a href=“Financial Aid - University of Richmond”>Financial Aid - University of Richmond)</p>
<p>There are scholarships available to undergrads that are not on that page. Perhaps it is because my daughter is not in a highly competitive major like business but she has been provided scholarship money without applying for it. Her grades earned the money.</p>
<p>That has not been our experience. What have been called “scholarships” have actually been grants with a different name. We had no luck whatsoever with any merit aid, and my daughter is an excellent student and has been very involved on campus. </p>
Same here. The “scholarships” we received were really just grants based on financial need. I would give Richmond a B on the financial aid front. Better than some, but not so great if you have some unusual circumstances.
Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences. My daughter was accepted ED1. We received an estimate of need-based aid with her decision letter, but she is not a semi-finalist for Richmond Scholars. Our EFC will probably be quite high, so based on the estimate of need-based aid, we’re not expecting to receive much when her actual Financial Aid package is released. When are the recipients announced for the other merit scholarships besides Richmond Scholars?