<p>I got my "official" financial aid letter today. The Caltech scholarship dropped $13k from the estimate I got in Dec/Nov. Why???</p>
<p>No, my parents did not win the lottery or become the CEO of M$.</p>
<p>Hmm, call the Financial Aid Office.</p>
<p>Anyone else get one of these? </p>
<p>B/c we had some changes to our fin situation, so my MIT aid ended up 2K higher. Since I've always heard that Caltech gives better aid, I was very surprised. I'm hoping that my new letter based off of the new data will give better aid. </p>
<p>When should I expect this letter?</p>
<p>Yea, my MIT aid was what my caltech estimate was. So 13k higher than my caltech aid. I also believed that caltech gave better aid.</p>
<p>Is all of this b/c of Harvard releasing that new policy, and then several schools following suit?
The financial aid world is topsy turvy. </p>
<p>Note: I realized that my previous post was misleading. I don't remember how much each school actually gave me. I just know that I'd pay ~2K more for Caltech.</p>
<p>Wow I have a difference experience- I got better finaid at MIT than Caltech, and the difference is significant enough that it can't be ignored... I was on the fence deciding between the two, and the whole finaid situation has pushed me towards MIT a bit...</p>
<p>I would definitely call the financial aid office, and mention that the lack of aid was pushing you towards another school - they have a stated policy that no one should not go to Caltech for financial reasons, and no one likes losing cross-admits. No guarantees, but the fin aid isn't set in stone.</p>
<p>So...I can't believe this has to be said since you are all ostensibly very bright people...</p>
<p>Call the financial aid office and try to bargain.</p>
<p>Seriously, are you people too proud? Maybe you don't need that extra $$$ bad enough if you're not willing to speak up ;) If you're going to let something retarded like funding make the decision for you, without even trying to correct that issue...well, whose loss is it?</p>
<p>CalTech has been the most stingy school my son got admitted to as far as financial aid, which is weird because they post those numbers about average debt on gradduation. His debt for one year would be three times that average for four years. Guess he is not alone.</p>
<p>snowcapk is correct. Rude, but correct! Call them and tell them what you have been offered. Make it clear you would like Caltech, if only....</p>
<p>I can attest to the fact that bargaining with Caltech Financial Aid office can be effective, especially if you have a competing offer from say MIT.</p>
<p>Yea, I did call. Apparently they didn't count my parent's retirement savings as assets the first time in the estimate and there's no error with the official one. So now my MIT aid is 13k more than my caltech aid. Not a hard decision anymore....maybe i'll bargain with them later. But will it really increas by 13k?</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help.</p>
<p>I've been wondering: </p>
<p>Is it considered rude/tactless/bad-taste if I bargain with Caltech even if I'm not sure its my top choice? </p>
<p>In other words, even if Caltech does match (or even better by just a little) my MIT offer, I might still choose MIT. I'm just honestly not sure yet, but I'd like to know Caltech's "real" financial offer while trying to make this difficult choice. </p>
<p>It just seems that the other ppl who bargain usually KNOW they want to go to the school making them pay more, and they'd go FOR SURE, if only that school would match another's financial offer. </p>
<p>Opinions on this matter?</p>
<p>^^ Two cases for bargaining:</p>
<p>1) you bargain, and end up going there. in this case, it wasn't rude, because you went there.</p>
<p>2) you bargain and you end up not going there. in this case, you will never speak to them again, and I don't think they'll remember your case, given the number of people they speak to each day.</p>
<p>either way, I don't see a bad outcome!</p>
<p>also, I am an EA admit in MA and have not received an official letter yet. is it time to worry/call?</p>
<p>Cuca, I don't think it would be rude or tactless to bargain before knowing the offer. But then I'm a little bit rude and tactless.</p>
<p>What I would do is visit the schools and then bargain, just to conserve air if it's not needed.</p>
<p>Cuca: Instead of saying "I got an offer of X from Other U, but I would really prefer caltech, if the cost was the same" say "I would really like to make my decision on which school is better for me, scholastically, without worrying that Other U is more affordable."</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone who plans to take on finaid. It is worth the effort. Get your parents, or competent counselors to help.</p>
<p>Yeah - it might add to your bargaining power to say I WILL come here if you match MIT's offer, but even if you aren't willing to say that, there's still no harm in bargaining - when thousands of dollars are at stake, it seems silly to lose the opportunity because you were afraid to bargain. It's not like you need to have these people over to dinner afterwards.</p>
<p>One of my friend has been accepted to CalTech, MIT, and Yale. Both MIT and Yale provide better finAd than CalTech. It is a real surprise, because CalTech had a good reputation in generouse finad.</p>
<p>Please tell us all about it. </p>
<p>It's important to a lot of families to get a reality check on where the best financial aid is.</p>
<p>I am in the same situation as OP. My EFC was 10k+ higher at Caltech than FAFSA and other schools.
How does the appeal process work? And how do you bargain?</p>