<p>I'd be interested to know from current students/parents on what % GW met in your FA Need Assessment - did they meet 100% of your "need". What % Merit Aid vs. Need-based Aid. What % Grants vs. Loans. Obiously, general ideas only - no need for specific numbers.</p>
<p>I've been told that colleges cannot require parents to get Parent PLUS loans as part of their award - is this true?</p>
<p>Starting to do the math for my "S" to see where we can actually afford!</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Personally, and from what I’ve heard from friends, GW was the most generous school by far in terms of financial aid than any other school I applied to. GW will match what EFC calculators say you should get and in many cases such as mine, exceed that amount</p>
<p>I’m interested in this question as well. Does the school meet full need but give like federal and stadford loans? Meaning financial packages me include about 10k of loans a year?</p>
<p>GW, for me at least, was quite generous with their aid package. While they did meet full need, there were the usual federal student loans (Stafford Subsidized/Unsubsidized, Work/Study, etc.). Still, GW was more than generous in grants and gave me more than I really expected.</p>
<p>My S, now graduated, received financial aid mostly in the form of loans, Stafford Subsidized, some “free” money for merit. They did meet almost all of our EFC, however, the EFC was one third of our take home pay…so we didn’t have enough for our EFC. Parents are not required to take out a PLUS loan, which by the way is a regular consumer loan.</p>
<p>@gwfreshmom and @Mayfair: so for you GW met or exceeded you EFC? and were you/your s well above the average student accepted to GW? also Was the aid you recieved merit or need based?</p>
<p>I (regrettably) submitted my FAFSA and my CSS profile about two weeks after the financial aid deadline(Feb. 1). If my EFC is a little over $9,000 and I’m a slightly above average student, what’s the likelihood of me still getting a good financial aid package? Has anyone who is already attending been in the same situation as me?</p>
<p>I have some questions that are similar; my family EFC is about $3700 how much aid would be expected loan vs. grant “free” money etc little bit above the average student applying i would suppose as well.</p>
<p>For anyone who’s already gotten their package, or knows from previous years, how does the financial aid break down? Like what percent is grants, loans, work study, etc. And if you receive merit aid, which parts of your package are changed?</p>
<p>nailo 19,
GW met our need, but with mostly loans, subsidized Stafford loans. I would say some of his aid was need based, as we did have need, some was merit based, as it specifically said scholarship. Not much was merit. My S was a strong applicant, but certainly not the highest applicant. I believe part of his acceptance was his strong leadership roles in Y’s Youth and Government progra, School leadership and he’s an Eagle Scout, with lots of leadership in Scouting. Additionally, he had excellent recommendations and had an interview.</p>
<p>Thanks I dont think I will qualify for merit aid but with an EFC of around 20,000 Im going to need a lot of aid to attend GW. Also you said that most of your aid was in loans including Stafford loans, but those are capped at 5,500 per year - or some amount close to that- the point being that they couldn’t offer me say a 20,000-30,000 Stafford loan, correct?</p>
<p>nailo 19
Yes, that is correct. My S also got work study, an alumni scholarship, a university grant, one year a pell grant (very small and only his freshman year), his last year had both a subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford Loan.</p>
<p>does your pell grant amount change every year??</p>
<p>i didn’t know that. i thought that ‘fixed tuition’ included grants and loans…</p>
<p>You can check your financial aid awards online now!!</p>
<p>I am SO happy with the amount I got, especially in grants!!</p>
<p>Congrats, that’s great - where do you see it on the website?</p>
<p>i got an email about it</p>
<p>Thanks - just found it.</p>
<p>They met 95% of my need, I am super happy about this. I do have some questions that maybe people can answer.</p>
<p>What do they call the guaranteed grants?</p>
<p>Is the University and Alumni Award guaranteed or does it change from year to year?</p>
<p>I also got a Board of Trustees Scholarship, is that renewable for all 4 years?</p>
<p>Thank you,
Zach</p>
<p>Went to the website today…wow is all I can say. DC here he comes.</p>
<p>Imadad, I totally thought the same thing when my mom woke me up saying come look at your aid</p>
<p>It was actually weird, I did not get the email…Only my mom did although it said “Dear Zachary”</p>
<p>Congratulations!</p>
<p>Zach</p>