<p>So I paid a lot more this semester out of pocket for schooling that I did my freshman year (Im a sophomore), but I just assumed that it was because I wasnt living in the dorms. </p>
<p>Anyway, I checked my financial aid award summary today, and merry christmas, I found out that none of my financial aid was sent to my CARS. I checked the missing documents link, and it said that I didnt send in my verification of family members in college form (my brother is in college). I thought that I did, but regardless, I'm out $7000 of aid for the fall semester because the school didnt get it.</p>
<p>Is it too late for me to get my aid for the fall?</p>
<p>Scared as I am to admit it, I have the feeling that I am; after all, the semester is over and the financial aid office doesnt open until January.</p>
<p>Any help or advice you could give is much appreciated. The prospect of leaving $7000 on the table is terrifying.</p>
<p>Um, for something like this, you shouldn't be asking students on here; you need to be calling the school and asking about that. I think you might be able to salvage it, but they also might ask why the hell you didn't figure out the problem months ago.</p>
<p>Yeah...I really hope others have made it out of this with their aid. I think I read something a while back though that you forfeit your award after a certain point (certainly once a semester's over I'd assume).</p>
<p>They are very good about adjustments, I am not sure how they would handle your case, but I would look at the site online, find the counselor for your name, email her something like:</p>
<p>Dear XYZ:</p>
<p>My fall finaid has still not been applied to CARS, according to Bearfacts I am missing the verification of family member in college. I submitted that via fax/mail/etc (however you did it) on MM/DD/YY. Attached is a copy in case the other one has not been matched to my file.</p>
<p>Could you let me know when I can expect to see the fall funds processed?</p>
<p>Regards,</p>
<p>Student ABC</p>
<p>Don't whine, don't blame, just assume that you did submit it, but it is a big office and things don't get matched up the first time every time. If you have a copy of an email or a computer fax for proof that would be good, your scan of the item with a time stamp would be helpful.</p>
<p>I would think if a processing error occured they will fix it- my D has a couple of merit awards that are handled through finaid, one showed up in Oct, one in Nov and one this week! No one cared that she had expenses to pay along the way, therefore I have to assume they don't really think all too much about whether you got your aid in time.</p>
<p>The question is whether any funds were reutilised elsewhere when you let the entire term elapse without questioning it. That I do not have an answer for.</p>
<p>They are people working in a big office, they make mistakes, they have thousands of files, they do not always understand the situation clearly. Give them the info they need, with as little complaint and whining as possible and help them do their job for you. I have found them to generally be most responsive- though not usually answering emails the same day, they answer them accurately and act on them!</p>