Wellesley: Failed Financial Aid Appeal Attempt

<p>Do you know how far the Wellesley campus is from jobs that will likely pay 11k over the 9-10 months of school? And, sorry, but factor in that the payment for first term is usually due in August-Sept, with the second due roughly December-January. </p>

<p>It’s possible Mom could qualify with Tuition Mgt Systems or another group that has arrangements with the schools. TMS advances payments to the college and the loan taker (Mom) pays them 1/10 per month, for 10 months. For your 11k gap, that means $1100/month- could you earn that?</p>

<p>*The $25,000 is worth the difference in experience and education. * If you are truly a driven kid, you must do a little “cost-benefit analysis.” The sacrifices you would make to pay for Wellesley might seriously disrupt the very college experience it offers. I wouldn’t be so fast to put down WSU.</p>

<p>Can someone fill me in on why the parents “cannot and will not contribute”?</p>

<p>According to the Wellesley Website, payment for first semester is due Aug. 1. Payment for second sem. is due Dec. 1. or Jan. 1. Can’t recall. OP, remember that Wellesley has already built a $2100 work study amount into the financial pic. So, then, you need to make well above that. Not so easy to do and keep up with courses. Even if you found a job in town for $10 an hour, working more than 20 hours a week would really be stressful, if you could get the hours to begin with. After taxes, that’s still not going to bring you close to $1000 per month. On the flip side, lets say you do take $80,000 in loans for the 4 years. Do you know what your payment on that will be? What is your intended major? You will have almost 3 times the recommended amount of student debt. Wise decision making?</p>

<p>^^I also wonder who filled out the Fafsa- divorced and never-married parents are, as I understand it, treated the same. The parent with whom the kid lived most of the past 12 months (or who provided most of the support) is supposed to take that lead, no? </p>

<p>Just going by the Direct Loan disclosure, which sits too close for comfort, $80k debt, at the point you enter repayment, would require a $966 payment monthly.</p>

<p>Well only factoring in the amount I have to pay to the school (tuition, room and board, fees), the cost will be around $55,000. </p>

<p>$55000-$37000 (grant)-$2625 (Plitt Kirgan loan which has no interest until after graduation and grace period)-$2100 (work study that Wellesley told me I could turn into Plitt Kirgan loan)= $13,275</p>

<p>$13275-$5500 (federal loan)= $7775</p>

<p>That divided by 2 (for each semester)= $3887.50</p>

<p>Divided by 5 (for # of months in each semester)= $777.50</p>

<p>All that is not including the amount of outside scholarships I have gotten or may get in the future. I called Wellesley about their policy about that and they said I could first use that towards my “student contribution” portion of my EFC if I choose.</p>

<p>I also figured that I would turn my work study into Plitt Kirgan loans (5% interest rate after 9 month grace period and graduation) so that I could get a job off campus that will probably pay more and then use that money to contribute towards the remaining EFC and paying off my federal loans.</p>

<p>Additionally, I plan to work full time this summer and make about $3000.</p>

<p>I believe working in the dining halls at WC pays $9/ hour and isn’t work study. Baby sitting and tutoring pays well, but I’ve run into the problem that families tend to want students to have cars. </p>

<p>Be aware that it is challenging to manage a full Wellesley course load and work 20 hours a week. I know students who have done this… and working that much has affected their grades. </p>

<p>A few students at WC have taken off time to work, or graduated early. Others may take courses at a local school for a term. </p>

<p>I’m a current Wellesley student; feel free to PM me.</p>

<p>So how do you plan on coming up with nearly $800 per month ON TOP of the work study?</p>

<p>Lot of good advice here, and none of it includes the OP attending Wellesley next fall. Although the grant amount is incredible, so is Wellesley’s COA. $58K/year! Maybe with used books, cheaper travel, etc., the OP could cut that down to $53-55K. Still insane.</p>

<p>Getting close to the deadline. The OP’s non-contributing parents’ thing is unfortunate, but it is what it is. Suing them is foolish. Make the right move and gap it for one year or attend a much cheaper institution if available at this late date.</p>

<p>I told you. I’m not doing work study. I’m turning it into Plitt Kirgan loans and using the money I earn to pay for my EFC.</p>

<p>@jnm123, the cost is now down to about $14,000 if you only count direct costs to the school. Wellesley is giving me the best price out of all the private schools I applied to. Additionally, my state school (University of Washington) costs about $25,000 (including room and board). WSU would cost $55,000 over 4 years vs $80,000 at Wellesley.</p>

<p>My mother may be able to contribute a little bit but there is no doubt I will be attending Wellesley.</p>

<p>Ok then how do you plan on coming up with $8k?</p>

<p>Look–on the face of it, $14K/year net pay for a Wellesley education is a darn good value in relation to what they charge full-payers. IF you have the $14K, that is, or can personally sign for a loan for that amount, aside from the Stafford. If you don’t have it, it might as well be 100K.</p>

<p>Just trying to help here. As stated upthread, it might not be the best move to jump into a full courseload, work-study, AND then have the added pressure of scrambling with another job. $777.50/month (less your mother’s contribution) is like a rent payment.</p>

<p>I admire your drive, OP, and it appears you cannot be dissuaded from this course of action. Good luck to you!</p>

<p>is your mom going to pay for your airfare to W?</p>

<p>Starbucks…how are you figuring that WSU would cost you $55k over 4 years?</p>

<p>Also keep in mind that Wellesley expects students to contribute more each year ([Wellesley</a> College - Admission & Financial Aid - Demonstrated Need and Award Calculation](<a href=“http://web.wellesley.edu/web/Dept/SFS/UnderstandingFinaid/needaward.psml]Wellesley”>http://web.wellesley.edu/web/Dept/SFS/UnderstandingFinaid/needaward.psml)).</p>

<p>If non-work-study jobs are available on campus, you might take a look into them and find out from other students if students pay SS & medicare taxes on those earnings – at D’s college, her on-campus (non-work-study) jobs are not assessed for those taxes, bumping up her pay effectively since her gross then equals her net. (She doesn’t earn enough to have to pay income taxes.)</p>

<p>Remember too…work study income is NOT actually counted on your financial aid applications for NEXT school year (you do list it, but it is then deducted), while earnings from other jobs ARE counted. If you earn $8000 or more in a job that is NOT work study…your family contribution WILL increase for the subsequent year do to YOUR additional income.</p>

<p>OP, Don’t forget in your calculations that you also need money for your personal needs, laundry, etc. You can probably keep that to about $50 a month if you are very careful, but that’s still a bit more you need. And, if your parents really won’t help, I would figure out now where you can stay when the campus closes for holidays and breaks so you don’t have to spend money on getting home. Sometimes colleges with large amounts of foreign students will allow others with extenuating circumstances to also stay when the campus is closed, but you need to check that out.</p>

<p>*Remember too…work study income is NOT actually counted on your financial aid applications for NEXT school year (you do list it, but it is then deducted), while earnings from other jobs ARE counted. If you earn $8000 or more in a job that is NOT work study…your family contribution WILL increase for the subsequent year do to YOUR additional income.
*</p>

<p>Thumper is right! If you’re going to work Starbucks jobs, then you need to limit that income to about $5-6k so that it doesn’t affect EFC in the future. If you need more, then do work-study.</p>

<p>Her off-campus earnings (any savings, ie, assets) will be assessed at 20% for the following year’s finaid, no? Also, the loan conversion against “student contribution” – at my kids’ schools, student contrib is separate from family contribution and sits around 2k. Maybe, in OP’s case, she’s adding it all together. Who knows? She stated flat out at the top that her nut was 16,700, then 13,300. She’s not including flying to school, books, transp to a job, sharing a weekend pizza with all those other smart and fun gals- just what W costs in T/RB. </p>

<p>It’s not a 10 month division, btw. It took me a minute to learn that school starts 8/27 and commencement is 5/31: 9 months. So, the monthly amount to earn is more like $864, minimum. Dorms close for several weeks in December. And, that first payment is due in August.</p>

<p>OP, you don’t need to convince anyone on this thread. We admire your will and most of us know W is a great school. Many of us have seen many other threads where kids have an excruciating decision to make. But, the very sage advice here is what we have told our own kids: there are many aspects to consider, many details not apparent with “simple math.”</p>

<p>If you have a talent that will assure you a job and a decent income level, by all means, let us know.</p>

<p>Her SAVINGS will be assessed that way. If she earns $5k over the summer at Starbucks and $2k for Work study, and spends it ALL before filing FAFSA the next year, I don’t think EFC is affected at all.</p>

<p>I, too, am concerned that the OP wants W so much that she’s not being realistic.</p>

<p>I’m concerned that next spring we’re going to see posts from her that W won’t let her register for the next year because she has a balance that she can’t cover.</p>