I just don’t believe the person who responds to emails from RPIs admissions office is high enough up to make that kind of call. I believe getting an experienced financial aid officer on the phone could lead to a different outcome. For that kind of money, they owe you that. I just wouldn’t take this “no” as the final answer.
^I agree, I would politely ask for reconsideration by a supervisor.
^I agree.
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I was under the impression that RPI can be generous with aid, but maybe not with a $40k EFC. So you paid close to full price with child 1. Now with child 2 if the EFC splits 60/60 that's about $24k. Maybe still not low enough for need based aid from RPI. They probably have your net price figured much higher than FAFSA EFC.
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It sounds like the merit Child 1 got was around $15k, and the family paid the rest because EFC was over $40k.
But now with Child 2, the family thought that they would get about $20k in aid, and that’s not happening. If this will be Child 1’s junior year, then the family will likely have to come up with at least an extra $40k…maybe more if Child 2’s school also doesn’t meet need.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I would think that the schools for child #2 would be the ones where EFC would be recalculated according to what is being spent on child #1. So child #2 might get a greater discount but child #1 would stay constant.
I can’t see any reason for your first child to get extra consideration until your second child is enrolled at a college and can demonstrate real, documented costs. Even then, if child #1 gets a discount, does that then effect the costs for child #2?
I need coffee.
That’s not how it works.
The FAFSA EFCs for all three kids will be calculated based on three being in college. But all that will help is for federally funded aid. The schools being discussed sound like Profile schools…and that being the case…the info on th Profile is what will matter.
Each school has its own formula which is used to calculate need based aid. If a school guarantees to meet full need for all…then if more siblings are in college, need based aid will likely increase.
HOWEVER…of the schools don’t meet full need…all bets are off. The need based aid the student receives might not change a dime…or will change very little…when additional siblings enroll in college.
Again…my first kid went to Boston University. He did have a generous merit award from them. However…our FAFSA EFC was >$40,000 for first kid. We were paying bout $26,000 per year out of pocket.
When kid two enrolled in college, they each had a FAFSA EFC of about $20,000. Kid number one saw a $250 increase in his merit award…no grant aid added at all.
Kid number 2 also went to a school,that did not meet full need. Costs were higher. We were paying well over $40,000 per year for her…even though her FAFSA EFC was $20,000 or so.
Hypothetically, both schools could be expected to give more aid since EFC is dropping for both students.
Child #2’s school is under no more obligation to “give more money” to help parents give School #1 more money.
If both schools meet need, then both would give more money. If neither school meets need, then neither school may give more money.
If this family wants to avoid a bunch of debt or big dip into savings, then Child #2 may need to choose a less expensive school. That’s probably not a palatable decision.
If Child #1 doesnt have any debt so far, I’d have him QUICKLY ask his school for a loan for the CURRENT school year (sophomore year), and put that money towards next year. Child #1 may have to take on add’l debt if he wants to stay at that school.
@mom2collegekids …response 26. Current EFC 26,000 it did not drop from d1 for previous year.
My spreadsheet for d1 to show annual tuition increases up to 4%
D2-. We then reviewed merit awards at 5 of the 7 schools applied to, and are awaiting 2 other notifications from University of Denver and St. Mary’s College. Only 1 of the 5 gave FA of 800.00. Based on the cost of her first choice…no way would we meet our budget without loans. Our goal was 0 loans in the beginning with a solid savings plan in place.
We quickly applied to a local in state public that D 2 could receive small merit award and an Art scholarship. The big difference is tuition is locked for 4 years. She was also told she could be considered for athletic award and told she would be recruited for April Scholarships. D2 would end up commuting from my residence for 2 of the 4 years. D2 indication she would take loan to go to private schools until I showed her the interest of the loan over a 10 year period after graduating. The instate public may not be her first choice, but it would allow 0 debt, and a car… Which neither is possible to date with the privates applied to.
Daughter 2 believes the coach and admissions were less than honest. Welcome to adulthood D2.
D1 is searching for other opportunities on campus to help fund her summer school costs, could also lead to a flexible position next school term.
But it sounds a bit like you’re 'sacrificing ’ d2 because of your first child’s choices… Especially since we’re talking summer school, which is optional.
Check with school2 and explain daughter won’t be able to attend with current package even though it’s her first choice and she wanted to be part of the team… “Any way to reassess considering her senior year results and the fact she’s second child in college thus cutting fafsa etc to $…? Would they be Liking to reassess jaded on these factors which may not have been clear or correct when you’d filled out Css, especially since you hadn’t finished taxes yet then” . (give them an excuse to say yes). And do NOT let that be handled by a student who answers the phone. Talk with director of financial aid or director of admissions or both. If that college wants her to play for them they may be more flexible than college 1.
^^ it is a little different when a sports scholarship is in the mix. The Division 3 schools don’t have athletic scholarships and can play around with merit and need based mix of funding, but at a D2 or D1 school, once that athletic scholarship comes into play the school can’t give any need based aid, and any merit based aid has to be given on the same terms it would be to any other student. A school that gives a merit scholarship of $15k to a student with a 3.5/ ACT 28 can’t just suddenly give that student a merit award of $25k unless that award is available to non-athletes too. The coach could award more athletic money IF the coach has any more money in the team limits. Some coaches don’t want to give more athletic money because they commit to giving at least that amount every year, so don’t want a freshman getting $$$$ because that athlete might not turn out to be that good, or another comes along who is very good and then the team limit has been reached. Some coaches like to reward upperclassmen with higher awards so really limit freshmen awards. Many different methods to give the money out.
My daughter’s coach is honoring 5 scholarships to kids who quit the team this year. I see red when I think of that money MY daughter could have had!
@wiseacre Sorry for the confusion. My post #26 was dealing with the OP’s issue. ND meets needs, so that’s a different situation. 