Wellesley: Failed Financial Aid Appeal Attempt

<p>COA for the UW is $ 24,000 & they only give merit aid to top students. Otherwise that seems like her most affordable option.
She has gotten poor advice being that she needs the school to virtually cover all expenses.
Besides what has been mentioned, she may want to take a year off and target schools that will give her enough merit to cover her EFC.</p>

<p>IF you can defer your grants for a year, that might be a good option. If they’re based on academic merit, you might be able to. </p>

<p>I have no other advice about how to fund the first year but if you do make it, consider applying for an RA position after that. At many schools, you get discounts on room and board. My d is getting a $900/semester allocation towards her meal plan (the cheapest, which she gets, is $1575) and the room allotment is actually $1000 more than the actual board charge and that money goes towards her other costs. I am waiting to find out if she’s earned any merit scholarships for next year but so far, we will have to pay about
$4K for the year if she gets nothing. She’s at a state school because I have 4 other kids to educate and she understands that.</p>

<p>Good luck to you. If you think I’m not sympathetic, my parents also refused to pay one penny for my college and I could not attend my dream school. Had I gone to that school, I’d never have met my husband or had my terrific kids.</p>

<p>There may be options, there may not be options. The RA idea is a good one, but a lot of kids apply for those spots. Getting one is not a guarantee. The student is determined to go to Wellesley and says she will be going there, no matter what. Perhaps she’ll get her mom to take out a loan. I’ve seen this happen any number of times. A very dear friend of mine is in terrible financial straits due to cosigning loans for her oldest who just HAD to go to an unaffordable school.</p>

<p>Cost cutting measures that work at other schools don’t necessarily work at Wellesley. RA’s do not get paid or get “free” housing. All students who live on campus are required to be on the (unlimited) meal plan. Moreover, moving off campus isn’t necessarily cheaper, because Wellesley’s financial aid decreases by a lot. </p>

<p>Starbucks, I love Wellesley, but I don’t think it’s worth borrowing $80,000 for it. I really believe that taking a gap year and applying to where you would be eligible for merit aid is your best option.</p>

<p>COA for the UW is $ 24,000 & they only give merit aid to top students. Otherwise that seems like her most affordable option.</p>

<p>She got generous scholarships to Wash State.</p>

<p>I don’t think she is seriously considering WSU. I did suggest that since WSU awards credit for AP classes that she take at least a few AP tests(since she has taken the classes). That could save time & money.
But maybe after she has time to mull over her options, she will find something she can live with.</p>

<p>quote cptofthehouse:
“The OP is clearly a top student to be accepted to a school like Wellesley and IMO expected that a school of this calibre was going to pay for her.”</p>

<p>quote emeraldkity:
“I don’t think she is seriously considering WSU. I did suggest that since WSU awards credit for AP classes that she take at least a few AP tests (since she has taken the classes). That could save time & money.”</p>

<hr>

<p>OP, if you’re still out there . . . It appears that you have a bit of bigger fish / small pond syndrome. On other threads you list your city and stat ranges at your school. If you really attend public school where you live it is a very small pond - even relative to some of the neighboring districts. You are a top student at your school, but it doesn’t mean that FA offices will be falling all over themselves to give you money. If you moved 15 min or so north you’d be in the middle of the pack. Your family’s income range puts you in the middle of the pack as well. </p>

<p>You have done well in your environment - excepting your seeming refusal to follow through with your AP exams - but it seems that you may have a heightened idea of where you sit in the larger scheme of things. A prudent course of action would or would have been to hedge your bets by accumulating as many AP credits as possible - WSU only requires a 3 in many subjects for credit, so it would have been relatively easy to do and may still be possible.</p>

<p>Otherwise, get over yourself. You’ve started at least 3 threads on this same subject and received the same guidance. Maybe it’s time to start listening.</p>

<p>excepting your seeming refusal to follow through with your AP exams - but it seems that you may have a heightened idea of where you sit in the larger scheme of things.</p>

<p>Oh pooh…I didn’t realize that she hadn’t/wasn’t taking her AP exams. maybe her school charges and she didn’t have the money? Or maybe she thought she wouldn’t need the results at W? (does W count APs?)</p>

<p>She needs to either go to Wash State or take a gap year and apply where her stats will get her huge merit. Her plan to pay for W is too risky and requires her to contribute too much.</p>

<p>Schools around here don’t cover AP exams unless you are free lunch - then you may get a scholarship. I think it’s the latter, mom2. As emeraldkitty pointed out, it doesn’t look like she was seriously considering WSU even as a back-up plan. $87 for a test is much cheaper than taking the class anyplace and can save you an extra semester or “buy” you more time to decide on a major or add a 2nd.</p>

<p>She may have been taking them, I don’t know. A previous post on another thread made it sound as if she was not following through with the ones this spring.</p>

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<p>So true. I’m not contributing this for the OP so much as for other readers of this thread. My D will be getting about three semesters’ worth of advance credit from her university for her mass of AP credits. We had to pay for all those tests, starting in sophomore year of HS, and it was a significant expense. However, it has turned out to be a great investment, and makes D eligible for a four-year combined BS/MS program. Financially, AP credit can be a great bargain for the middle class family.</p>

<p>$87 per test isn’t bad, but it may as well be $870 if the student either doesn’t have the money or thinks she’ll be attending a school that doesn’t really use the credits. </p>

<p>This is a kid whose dad is kicking her out on her B-day in July. He’s not going to give her the money for AP tests or likely any of the graduation expenses that the OP has coming up. Senior year is expensive. Her income has likely been going towards those costs and saving for W.</p>

<p>Re AP credits: Students who skip or miss the AP exams for one reason or another should check the CLEP exam policies at the colleges/universities they are interested in. There are CLEP exams for many of the same subjects, they cost about the same as the AP exams, and they are available year round.</p>

<p>She’ll have to come up with the money to go to Wellesley. If Dad won’t sign or pay, it’ll mean browbeating mom to co sign private loans or applying for PLUS with the promise of paying her back. Not a good thing for Mom to do with other kids at home and limited financial resources.</p>

<p>From the Wellesley web site:
Scores of 5 on most AP exams will earn one unit of Wellesley credit. A score of 4 or 5 on the MATH BC exam will earn 2 units of credit, and a score of 4 or 5 on the MATH AB exam will earn one unit of credit. Scores of 5, 6, or 7 on higher leve IB exams also earn one unit of Wellesley credit (IB Economics earns 2 units of credit). You can have up to four units of credit counted toward your degree from AP or similar credits (or from courses taken at college before coming to Wellesley that are not part of your high school program). Credits from these scores will not count toward Wellesley’s distribution requirements. However, a score of 5 on an exam in a language other than English will satisfy Wellesley’s foreign language requirement, and a score a 5 of the Statistics exam will satisfy the QR overlay requirement (although you still must independently satisfy the basic skills requirement by passing our QR assessment during Orientation). </p>

<p>She should be taking AP exams regardless according to the above information.</p>

<p>The mom has bad credit, so at most the OP will get is an additional $4k in loans.</p>

<p>Dad is not going to do anything for this child. Dad hasn’t been in the child’s life and only let the kid live there this year. It’s obvious that he’s treating this child like one would treat a distant relative who is living with you for a year…provide a roof, a bed, and some food and that’s it. </p>

<p>With the merit scholarships, the student loans, and the extra $4k in loans after mom is denied Plus, the student should be able to afford WSU.</p>

<p>I don’t understand the student’s aversion to WSU…it’s a good school.</p>

<p>Unfortunately the OP has left the building.</p>

<p>She’s at school - we’re in WA - different time zone</p>

<p>She hasn’t checked in to CC since her last post (that’s provided her computer remains signed in to her username). </p>

<p>I think she’s stuck her fingers in her ears and is singing lalala so that she doesn’t “hear” anything more…</p>

<p>My close friend with a beleagured marriage, younger kids at home was badgered into cosigning a lot of loans for her beautiful, brilliant daughter. Though I implored her not to do it, she did. Now the girl is out of school, has been for several years, and the payback time has wreaked havoc on both of them. That’s what it took for her to stand fast for her other daughter who also had a great opportunity for college but was gapped need wise. All of those kids could commute to a local university tuition free, but but their noses up to it, and convinced their mom that it was an “investment” to borrow for a “name” school. Doesn’t work that way.</p>

<p>Curious about where things stand now for the OP</p>