<p>My son won’t be going. He got three nice letters from faculty today, 1 in the mail and two via email which he liked, but it’s just too expensive for him. He got an okay package considering…25k towards tuition, work study and a couple small loans, but it still leaves a big chunk left and he has better FA at other schools.</p>
<p>Too bad, I guess. But good for Waitlisters who are just as deserving.</p>
<p>My sister isn’t sure yet. She was selected as a physical science scholar, so I think that made Brandeis all that more appealing to her. In addition, she really likes the sound of their music major: she wants to do a performance major, and Brandeis offers it, while the other three schools she’s in at so far (Wesleyan, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Johns Hopkins), do not. So, right now, Brandeis is in the running with Wesleyan and JHU (RPI is out because they only have a music minor). She’s waiting on five more schools though, so things could change depending on what happens with them.</p>
<p>My son unwillingly has to reject because we didn’t get a penny in merit aid, and only 5k in Stafford loans; it’s really a shame. His counselor was certain that he’d get a sizable merit scholarship from Brandeis, since she saw it as one of his safeties. He had even planned out his future at Brandeis–what classes he’d take, what he’d major/minor in, programs for summer, dorms choices, visitation with nearby family…you name it…, he’s thought about it.</p>
<p>He had rushed home from school that day in February (a Special Invitation App), before I could get home, to open his letter. When I walked in the front door and arrived at his room, I saw him staring at the decision letter. He went up to me, gave me a hug, and started to cry (& didn’t stop for about at hour). It was the most painful thing I’ve seen happen to him.</p>
<p>He applied to some other excellent institutions, but Brandeis was indeed his true favorite. We are going to appeal his aid decision later on in April and see where that takes us…so much for college being affordable, right?</p>
<p>Barring a large cash influx, I believe I will have to decline.</p>
<p>“My son unwillingly has to reject because we didn’t get a penny in merit aid, and only 5k in Stafford loans; it’s really a shame. His counselor was certain that he’d get a sizable merit scholarship from Brandeis, since she saw it as one of his safeties.”</p>
<p>Sigh, me too. They cut merit aid a lot this year, and I was pretty disappointed that the price put Brandeis out of my range… so I’m going to decline.</p>
<p>y’know, this may be a “duh” statement or a “dumb” statement entirely, but I can’t help but feel an urge to attribute some of our merit aid losses to Madoff and his stealing from Carl Shapiro…I feel a little bad for the school because he was a BIG contributor/donator to the school, and he lost 9 figures to Madoff in his Ponzi scheme…I have a sinking feeling that the monies lost were sapped from merit aid and used to redistribute funds across the university. </p>
<p>My son and I have talked to probably 25 or so people in similar situations with Brandeis…and while this isn’t exactly a big number of students, the results are the same: they will decline enrollment into Brandeis.</p>
<p>If you check the history of this forum, you will see that there has been many of the same complaints in years past, pre-Madoff. There was a poster a couple of years ago who got into both Yale & Harvard, but received no merit $$ from Brandeis. I believe there is a limited amount of merit money that they use to shape their class and I’m not sure that amount has changed this admissions cycle.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=lastyear]
S just found out that he was accepted to Brandeis. The bad news is a pitiful financial aid package! He has great GPA/SAT scores, a two season athlete(recruited) plus tons of ECs, service work for hunger, and only a $2900 scholarship!
[/quote]
</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1773724-post26.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1773724-post26.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1059802096-post8.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1059802096-post8.html</a></p>
<p>I think Brandeis gives the best financial aid for international students among all American colleges. The aid Brandeis gave me is simply superb!</p>
<p>Almighty God: Stereotypically, that would actually be Macalester.</p>
<p>As for me, I got the same amount of aid from Brandeis as to other schools (Macalester and Wesleyan), but in a worse form. I got more in loans AND more in work study as opposed to grants, so i believe I shall have to decline.</p>
<p>Razalman,
I have no loans and minimum work study (only for personal expenditure) and that is just great! I’m also getting additional $8000 for research. I’ve friends who have to pay 0$ fr their education but have large loans and work-study. On, the contrary, Brandeis’s aid is only grants and meets almost all cost.
On Macalester, I thought it never gave any aid that would meet full cost of education for international students.</p>
<p>We will decline so there will be another spot for wailisters. Their package is the second worst that we got (surprisingly Rice was smaller). We got more aid from JHU and Case. Full tuition at Tulane and WashU (all merit).</p>
<p>When I was first accepted to Brandeis last year, I never thought I would be able to attend because of the lousy financial aid. However, on admitted students’ day, my dad and I met with the head of the financial aid office, and I am now happily on campus. You CAN ask for more money, and more often than not they will give it to you, as long as you provide sufficient reasoning. Don’t just give up on your dreams because of that one piece of paper!</p>