<p>Penn State by far is the worst for financial assistance. Though, they claim to help out, I yet wonder when they will start accessing all the students in a need to basis. Penn State has one of the best global alumni contributions society that should take some of the money and give them to the students.</p>
<p>In any event, our EFC is 3304.</p>
<p>My daughter only qualify for $ 1400 of a grant and $3500 on loans... Tuition and room and board is of $27,000.00 per year..... I have no idea how this happened. The people at the fin aid dept told me to deal with it.... that's a great attitude if you asked me.</p>
<p>She is an AOS student, however, since we have to recreate their lives there and are helping with the economyof the state, shouldn't they at least get some sore of break???</p>
<p>Pay off all consumer debt (credit cards), save some for college if it is at all possible, have the student save 70% of summer job earnings and owe nothing for cars. Live on a cash basis and you should be able to make your efc. We learned this through having three go to school. With this last one we were able to meet all of the above, our efc was spot on and the college offers (save one that was way off-odd) were very accurate and #3 will need no loans. This is a change from #1 who had to rely on merit, not need aid. It is only our families experience, but I wanted to offer it. Now, if I can just keep this car limping along for four years. :)</p>
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Now, if I can just keep this car limping along for four years.
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I hear you there!! Mine has nearly 180,000 miles on it, my husbands truck has about 250k (not that we drive that if we can avoid it with deisel the price it is) and my daughters is held together with bunjee cords and rope!! (well the trunk was held closed by a bunjee cords and you pull on a piece of string to open the hood). 3 more years before we can think of getting something newer. Just please let the Ac be an easy(read cheap) fix - driving in the summer here with no AC is unbearable!!</p>
<p>Please include my 1991 Honda in your car prayers. And include my house's roof and heating/ac also.</p>
<p>Another sad part is that I have six weeks vacation/comp time to use this year and a budget of 0 for 'fun' for me. Actually anything that isn't a necessity is considered off limits in my budget.</p>
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Pay off all consumer debt (credit cards), save some for college if it is at all possible, have the student save 70% of summer job earnings and owe nothing for cars. Live on a cash basis and you should be able to make your efc.
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We've managed to do this...of course, we spend almost nothing on clothes and for things most people take for granted (like haircuts, makeup, entertainment, cable TV.) Kids do not have cars and there is no car insurance costs for them. Our big splurge is $200 a month in communication costs (cell phones, internet, local phone service)</p>
<p>We've lived "cheaply" forever and will have to continue doing so, with 2 in college. Luckily my HS daughter enjoys camping, since that's still somewhat affordable at state parks. Our cars are old and my DH maintains them. Our house sorely needs repairs, but until absolutely necessary, we wait (last year we HAD to fix the roof). Some of our biggest expenses are medical bills so luckily, some colleges take that into consideration.</p>
<p>Funny how differently schools viewed us (mix of merit and FA). Even with OOS publics: UVA offered my son a great pkg whereas he didn't seem to exist at UNC (no merit or FA but was accepted EA with a likely letter). My daughter was offered ALL loans from James Madison U (VA) but offered a nice pkg from Towson (MD). Both kids chose private schools.</p>
<p>My daughter came home from college for the weekend last week and remarked on how cold the house was. I told her that we couldn't pay for fuel oil and give her money to eat, so we turned down the heat to try and make our last 1/4 tank of oil last until the end of heating season!</p>
<p>My thermostat has not risen above 64 all season. In the summer it will be set at about 81 and I will be spending alot of time in my basement where it is naturally cooler</p>
<p>Gas bill has stayed below $150 this season and then throw in another 50+ for electric (using CFC bulbs whenever possible). And this is a 1000sf twin-ranch (with basement)</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon: VERY disappointed in aid package. They included $8500 in loans ($4500 for me and $4000 for parents) AND gapped me by another $5000, making virtually impossible to afford. Work study "award" was the highest from any school I was admitted too. </p>
<p>I was offered double the grant money from another highly selective college. Will appeal CMU FA, because I want to go there, but don't know how much more I can get.</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you for your posts. S is a HS freshman, and I'm glad to have this information now! It inspired me to run the calculator on the College Board site to determine EFC and do some planning that will help S out when he gets to college.</p>
<p>jrzgrlmom, LOL, my son was offered nothing at Towson, and 2 people we know were also offered nothing outside of loans. Glad to hear that someone is getting a nice package from them! Were her stats in at the very top for that school?</p>
<p>Somewhere on CC I saw a post that mentioned a site where one can compare college FA awards as apples-to-apples. Does anyone remember where this is?</p>
<p>Have to chime in about Towson. Towson gave my son $8K/year in scholarships, which since we're instate covered pretty much full tuitition. So far Towson's been the only bright spot in an otherwise depressing few financial aid offers we've received. I'm grateful for Towson's generousity, too bad my son doesn't want to attend.</p>
<p>sketchy, I was referring to OOS. I had heard that Towson was generous for both instate and out of state students. I know of 3 out of state students who did not get a dime. Yes, it is a MD public, so OOS should not expect much, but I was disappointed I guess only because I heard that they were generous with OOS students. This school was too expensive for 2 of the students I know, one of which was my own son. One OOS student did pay full freight for one year and then transferred to a public U which was instate for her.</p>
<p>northeastmom, yes, my daughter probably was at the top of their stats. It was a few years ago and my memory has faded. Perhaps it was because she was applying for graphic design? I know she received merit $ at RIT through the design school - which means her portfolio had to be in the top group and she had to meet/surpass certain academic requirements as well. We didn't know anything about that beforehand so it was a bonus. We know another girl who said she got a good pkg but maybe it was because she's an athlete there...</p>
<p>I know how you feel, northeastmom. My son was also accepted to the University of Cincinnati's school of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, but was only given $5K in aid because we're not instate and UC understandably gives financial aid to instate students. </p>
<p>Being out of state, our expected cost of attendance would still be about $33K/year, which sadly may be beyond what I can afford.</p>