<p>The gist of the appeal letter was saying how hard I worked to be able to attend Wellesley, how much it means for me to go there, what I can contribute to their school, and why I need more financial aid (single mother with four kids, father and step mother do not have any savings, father will be moving to a part time job, parents cannot and will not contribute, I will be expected to pay the entirety of the EFC). </p>
<p>This is the response I received (after waiting three weeks...):</p>
<p>"Thank you for your lovely letter. In order to review your financial aid eligibility (and to consider increasing your award), we need additional information. In your letter, you mentioned that your father will be transitioning to a part-time job and taking a pay cut. To accurately predict your father's ability to contribute, please have him complete the attached 2012 Projected Income worksheet. We may be able to use this information to see if your eligibility will increase based on his job change. Please ask your father to complete this form and return it to our office at his convenience. Additionally, a significant portion of your family contribution is based on your mother's reported income and assets. You may need to speak with her about her ability to help finance your education. Let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns."</p>
<p>I feel like they totally disregarded my passion for Wellesley and me having to pay for college myself. They responded very nicely and I love Wellesley.. but I can't help but feel frustrated that it took them three weeks to give me this response...</p>
<p>By the time they respond to my submitted worksheet, it'll be past May 1st already!! Any advice on how to handle this situation? :(</p>
<p>Ask your father to complete the workshete today and keep following up with the school. Meanwhile mentally prepare that you will be attending school you can afford or taking a gap year to apply to such schools.</p>
<p>It is not at all unusual for colleges to base appeals on what has “changed” since the financial aid paperwork has been submitted. Colleges, mostly private, assume that both parents will contribute to the student’s college regardless of the current marital situations and based on what they “see” in the financial aid paperwork. The best you can do is ensure that the $11,000 or whatever your gap is (can’t remember from past posts) can be covered. If your appeal nets you an increase in aid then that is simply icing on the cake for your parents. If you cannot swing the costs of this college then you need to accept somewhere that is affordable. Hard news, but it is what it is. Finally, finaid associates are terribly busy this time of year fielding calls from incoming freshman and trying to get sophomores, juniors and seniors packaged up. That too, is what it is. But yes, have your dad fill out the paperwork ASAP, attach a copy of any letter from his employer indicating that they are moving him to part-time as substantiation and then follow up quickly with finaid, scan and e-mail or fax or overnight mail the paperwork. They know there is a May 1 deadline.</p>
<p>While I understand your problem, I have to say that it isn’t Wellesley’s fault that your parents won’t help you. Why should they shoulder the burden your parents should be handling? There are many, many students who find they can not afford their top choice school, and must settle for a more affordable option. You are, unfortunately, just one more of those many students. Wellesley hears many stories like yours every year, I am sure. They are a college, not a charity. I hope you hear positive things from Wellesley, but I also hope you applied to a school you can afford.</p>
You are probably right. Did you really expect otherwise? Need based financial aid is based on your financial situation, and FA appeals are based on a change in that situation. If a school gave more money to students just because they have worked hard and want to go there, then they would have to give more money to everyone. </p>
<p>It sounds like you may have to choose a more affordable option.</p>
<p>Be aware that Wellesley and any number if, not all, colleges get letters like yours. Lots of them. From very passionate students who so want to go to the school. That is not how financial aid is distributed. You will get reconsideration, but you will only get additional money if the numbers work out that way. That what it comes down to, in financial aid. You’ve given this a go; have the paperwork completed and be prepared to discuss the numbers with the financial aid office. I would also make sure that an acceptance is sent toy a school you can afford in the even this does not work out.</p>
<p>Schools that award need based aid do so based on your family’s ability to pay based on THEIR calculations…not on your passion for the school or the fact that your parents cannot or will not pay.</p>
<p>You can have your dad complete the form, but it may not make enough of a difference to Wellesley to award you enough aid to attend. So…have a plan B.</p>
<p>It’s frustrating that your parents aren’t helping you continue your education.</p>
<p>However, by your own admission, Wellesley has already given you a very generous aid package. Other students also may have difficulty paying for a private school on the other side of the country, even with their parents making the commitment to help them. Most schools have limited funds. They have already covered a good portion of the $58,000 COA, except for your $16,000 EFC.
For them to cover more of your EFC would mean taking away funds from someone else, wouldn’t it?</p>
<p>OP…you can also take out a $5500 Stafford loan for your frehsman year. </p>
<p>How much of that $58,364 is costs billed by the university (room/board/tuition/fees). Most schools include personal expenses, books and travel in the COA. YOU have control over those costs to some extent and can keep them to a minimum. </p>
<p>This is a VERY generous package from Wellesley.</p>
<p>Additionally, a significant portion of your family contribution is based on your mother’s reported income and assets. You may need to speak with her about her ability to help finance your education. Let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns."</p>
<p>I wonder how much they expected your mom to pay? If I remember correctly, she earns about $40k, is a single mom, and has a few younger kids that she solely supports. It doesn’t seem like they should expect much from her.</p>
<p>Did you ever appeal to Wash State about getting more merit money? How much has Wash State given you so far?</p>
<p>I received about $11,000 a year in scholarships from WSU. However, not all the scholarships are renewable all four years so I projected WSU costing about $55,000 for all four years.</p>
<p>My Wellesley FA package is as follows: $37000 grant, $2100 work study, $2625 loans. There is about $16,700 left over for me to pay.</p>
<p>The reference to “income and assets” makes me think the school feels they have estimated your family’s contribution fairly based on the information they’ve received. They may think, to put it colloquially, that you are “barking up the wrong tree.” (That’s how I would interpret “you may need to speak with her about her ability to help finance your education.”)</p>
<p>I agree with others who say that the Wellesley package seems reasonable to generous. Your passion for Wellesley may have helped get you admitted, but the school is reasonably expecting some of the cost of your education to be borne by your parents. Consider this: They are offering you a grant of $37K. That’s more than twice what they are expecting your family to contribute. My advice would be to sit down with your parents to talk about ways to close this gap. </p>
<p>I do not mean to be harsh, as I can tell you are in a predicament. But looking at this realistically, Wellesley is unlikely to close the entire gap even if they adjust the package somewhat based on new information from your father (and even if they are able to complete a review in time for the May 1 deadline).</p>
<p>You have a 16k EFC. In reality how much is the shortfall?</p>
<p>If you borrow ~2800 (bringing your stafford loan max to 5500), then you have a short fall of 13.2k</p>
<p>How much are you contributing?
How much is your mother paying?
How much is your dad and step mother paying?</p>
<p>in your initial request for an appeal you wrote:</p>
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</p>
<p>to which the school responded to you </p>
<p>
[quote=Wellesley
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</p>
<p>a significant portion of your family contribution is based on your mother’s reported income and assets. You may need to speak with her about her ability to help finance your education.
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</p>
<p>This is a perfectly reasonable and more than fair request.</p>
<p>However, you</p>
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</p>
<p>Wellesley was straight up with you. At the end of the day, the your parents are first in line when it comes to paying for your education. If they say no, what they are essentially saying is let someone else’s parent (which is the source of most institutional aid) to pay for their child’s education. </p>
<p>In this vein, other people’s parents through Wellesley’s institutional aid have given generously toward your education (as some one has already mentioned, at double the amount your parents are being asked to pay).</p>
<p>Need based aid is based on what the school believes that your parents can afford to pay based on their income/assets and not what your parents “want” to pay. Since your parents don’t want to pay anything, you are at a stalemate.</p>
<p>The best you can do is have your dad get his documentation together today, fax it over and send the originals overnight mail (make sure that you are sending it to a specific person). Even if they reduce what your dad has to pay, if your dad still refuses to pay and your mom won’t pay it is still not going to help your cause.</p>
<p>Her dad is essentially disowning her once she turns 18 in July (and kicking her out of the house). Her dad has barely been in her life, she’s only lived with him this year. He’s not going to be a source of college money no matter what.</p>
<p>I keep wondering about this mom/income/assets issue. Does she own a home that has equity? You mention that she has debt and credit issues. That doesn’t sound like someone with a big savings acct, but she may have home equity. Perhaps she over-estimated her home worth/equity? </p>
<p>I think I remember that you said that your mom is a loan officer. Is it possible that she borrowed against her home and has that money sitting in an acct?</p>
<p>Or maybe your mom made a mistake of her CSS. You might need to ask her to let you look at it for review.</p>
<p>If the parents won’t pay and are deemed to be in the income/asset bracket to be able to pay, then that is a family decision not to send the student away to a private school. It is a luxury to go to a private school, and a luxury to be able to room and board at college. If the parents do not want to pay for this luxury, they are well within their rights and privileges to make that decision, just as many parents decline to pay for private boarding school at the high school level. </p>
<p>Op, Start looking at your safety options where you don’t need parental contributions because those seem to me to be your options.</p>