wcfrosty, did your son also receive a Presidential scholarship? Any grants from UVM?
@JeanneAP Presidential, yes; grants, no.
We went to the admitted students day on 2/15. A couple of days ago, my daughter received a handwritten card from a current nursing student offering to answer any questions she has to help make a decision. She emailed him some questions right away. I have to say that UVM has been the absolute best in terms of individual attention and seems like a supportive environment. The main things holding her back are the distance from NJ and not knowing anyone, so the extra contact is helpful.
@wcfrosty congrats! It is my understanding that only the top 20% of students in the Business school received this additional scholarship! Yay!
Has everyone gotten their FA award yet? I was very pleasantly surprised to see that my D had gotten an additional grant–this is our first year with two in college at the same time–I know it’s just a one-time award, and at best will be offered again next year, but most likely not after that–but it helps keep UVM in contention.
@wcfrosty, my D was also surprised with an additional amount of merit aid directly from her school (Arts & Sciences) as well as an invitation to apply to the Liberal Arts Scholars Program (LASP). We need to find out more about the latter from some current students.
@klinska My D also received her award with a grant on top of the merit scholarship. Overall, we are satisfied with the award, which matches similar packages from UDel, UNH and Binghamton. When you say that it may only be for one year, is that because your older child will graduate and your EFC will jump? Next year, our oldest will be a senior, but we have #3 starting when #1 finishes, so we are hoping the UVM grant for #2 continues all 4 years. UVM has emerged as my daughter’s top choice for nursing, but we will visit one more time in April for a final look.
@jdcollegedad my older D (also at UVM!) will graduate in 2021, so they will overlap for two years. I may be assuming something I shouldn’t assume, but I hope we would see this additional grant for the two years they overlap. We also got a partially subsidized student loan (which we got from all schools where D19 was accepted) that was new for us this year (after two years of just getting the unsubsidized loan in return for filing the FAFSA). I will be interested to see what sort of FA my D17 gets from UVM this year (but we won’t see that until June).
First off, congrats on all of this.
My DD had a slightly different experience. I’m still a bit surprised at the disparity between some of the offers. For example, Binghamton - after merit - would be 20K per year less than UVM, which offered no merit at all! Umass, Clark and Delaware also offered solid merit as well. Most of the schools come in around the same ballpark for us, with the exception being UVM, which offered nothing and is asking for full sticker price. I almost would have preferred they just said no.
@klinska I would expect that UVM would maintain the grant for your D19 as long as the EFC is the same and adjust after your D17 graduates. On the other hand, they probably will not increase the aid to your D17, except maybe offering a subsidized Federal loan. They don’t need to spend their financial aid budget to retain a student. Hopefully, they will surprise you to the positive. My older son will be a senior next year at a small LAC that meets 90% of need. I am also hoping for an increase in aid, but am not expecting it.
@HankCT I can absolutely relate to your situation. When my older son was applying to colleges, he had his heart set on becoming a naval officer through an ROTC scholarship at Holy Cross (his “dream” school). The ROTC scholarship did not materialize, but he was accepted to HC at full price. We removed it from his list, and he ended up at another top 50 LAC at 1/3 the cost. During the first year when he was still trying to find his place socially in college, he would bring up how he wanted to be at HC. Early in his second year, he fell in with a group of like-minded students, and it has been smooth sailing for the next two years. While it was tough, he learned about financial realities and doing the best with the hand he was dealt.
If UVM is not in your budget, then be firm with your D and move on to her best alternatives. Depending on how invested she was in the college, there may be an adjustment period.
@jdcollegedad The irony is that it was not high on her list, but it was high on ours. I’m sure I am more broken up about it than she is, but then again, as adults who had friends who went to all of these schools, both my wife and I both had very favorable views of what UVM had to offer. But alas, I can’t imagine them going from zero to 15-20K of merit on an appeal just because the other letters we show them do.
@HankCT I wouldn’t be surprised if they offered some merit based on what their NPC calculator spit out with your D’s stats and after other applicants decline. If not, throw it off your list and move on to better values! Quinnipiac was the outlier for us on cost. We filed an appeal, they declined to change the award, and we moved them to the “not interested, but not letting them know” list.