<p>I'm so frustrated. My D was offered crumbs by Ursinus. She wasn't deemed worthy enough to be invited to Scholarship Day so she was left at the mercy of financial aid.</p>
<p>A relatively small 10K grant with 5500 in loans. The inverse of my EFC requires 23K, assuming it costs 50K to attend Ursinus for just one year. How does 15.5K add up to 23K? Where's the other 8K supposed to come from? My D was a quick Priority App admit, which means Ursinus was not that difficult to be admitted to.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Muhlenberg offered a 15K grant and 5500 in loans; and Dickinson, a harder school to get into (which should mean my D was less attractive to them than she was to Ursinus) has offered 19K in grant money and another six divided between loans and work study. Now that's what I call financial aid. Even better, Oberlin, a MUCH harder school to get into, a Top 20 LAC, has offered a four year scholarship! It's not a full ride, but it's guaranteed with no minimum GPA required for four years, and is for more money per year than the Ursinus one year grant. I don't understand this at all. On the various forums on CC, it's been consistent that students are often forced to choose between the "safety" and a full-ride or at least great financial aid and a much more prestigious school with zero aid, because the competition for scholarships, etc, gets tougher the higher ranked school you try. With my D it seems to be the opposite: if she barely gets in to a top school they throw money at her; if she gets in easily at a less selective school they offer her less money. </p>
<p>My D actually liked Ursinsus and wanted to attend. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be very interested in her. Can anyone explain Ursinus' reasoning, or why my D's fortunes with fin aid seem to be working in reverse of most students? If this pattern holds up, perhaps Harvard would offer a full ride! Of course, she would never get in to Harvard, but I think you follow what i'm saying. I'm puzzled.</p>
<p>We had one college turn up a surprisingly low merit amount, compared to all others. It was Goucher. I think it was because my D did not interview, or show much interest otherwise. This happened in December, so we made certain we showed others a lot of interest. Can’t be sure this is what happened, but it is my suspicion. Never bothered to ask for more merit, because she really was not that interested.</p>
<p>Plainsman, your experience does not make logical sense - but random things happen in this excercise. Your D has some fantastic choices…at places that are ranked higher, and might be more fun! UC is pretty selective, but has a low yield. Fantastic job with the other choices, and congrats to your D. You’ve got to be proud.</p>
<p>If your D is interested, maybe you could appeal. Otherwise, it’s not worth another thought.</p>
<p>They always talk about getting rid of the merit based system in lieu of strictly need based money, if you are not rural/inner city/minority that migth detract from your need based award…something along those lines is all I can think of. Looks like it is Ursinus’s loss anyway. UC is in high demand, perhaps thier recent ranking have produced a more competitive applicant pool? Got me. Good luck though.</p>
<p>I suggest you talk with the FA office. Our school counselor is full of stories of former graduates who were very successful with an “ask and you shall receive” approach.</p>
<p>In fact there was an article in the Wall Street Journal or perhaps local paper about how (relatively) open the FA officers were about giving more. In the article the family was asked to show the admissions office the other letters of aid (from competing colleges). Just be sure to mention that UC is her top choice (or close to it).</p>
<p>hi plainsman, fyi at our school it’s the guidance counselor that has called on behalf of the students and from what I understand from other parents who used this approach it has been a succesful approach for getting some extra financial aid from various schools. The counselor had done as mentioned above, that is provided feedback from what other schools had given the students and also stated that the particular college was the students number one choice …I guess it’s on a peer to peer basis or something…</p>
<p>anyway goodluck! I do hope it works out for you and your daughter1</p>
<p>The whole scholarship/grant thing is more impossible to figure out than the admissions process. S got a $15K grant from Ursinus, which is more than any of his merit offers, but he’d already mentally eliminated them due to cost. Now they’re back in the mix, but I’m concerned about the grant money coming in each year. I was assured by the FA office that, as long as we apply each year and our income doesn’t dramatically increase, it will be there, even though we don’t qualify for FA. </p>
<p>I suppose it’s tuition discounting, indicating that the school wants the student, and each school will have different reasons for trying to fill their class. In this case, I think they want a male from the west coast with good test scores and average grades!</p>
<p>If your S got a 15K grant then you do qualify for FA. If you didn’t qualify, you would’ve been offered only loans.</p>
<p>My D received a 10K grant and $5500 in loans. Even with an EFC of 27K, the money from Ursinus doesn’t come close to filling the gap between my EFC and the cost to attend Ursinus for one year. Muhlenberg, a comparable school, offered loans and 15K grant. Dickinson, a college that is a little bit more selective than Muhlenberg and Ursinus, offered 19K grant, 3500 in loans and 2200 in work study. Now that’s more like it. Then Oberlin, a much more selective school, offered grant money, loans, work study AND a 48K Oberlin merit scholarship! 12K a year for four years. </p>
<p>It just seems to me the schools that were more of a match for her should’ve offered more money than the school that was clearly a reach, a school she was lucky to get into. </p>
<p>The less competitive you are in the “admit pool” the less likely you are to receive merit awards. The more competitive, the more likely. My D’s experience has turned that logic upside down.</p>
<p>Again, I think it’s all in who the college wants to attract. We don’t qualify for FA (our EFC is well over the COA), but I think saw something in my son (could it be that we could afford the school?) and wanted to sweeten the pot.</p>
<p>Plainsman, it sounds like UC isn’t the financially right college for your D, but she has other great choices.</p>