William & Mary Out-of-State Transfer Aid

Paying for College
1

<p>Hello everyone.</p>

<p>Let me start off by saying that my EFC is 0, and that I was accepted to the College of William and Mary as an out of state transfer for the Fall of 2011. W&M claims to generally meet 80% need for out of state transfers, but this has definitely not been the case.</p>

<p>Both of my parents combined made about $25,000 last year. The AGI was about $5,000. This year, as well as last year, the business that my father owns (that has fewer than 10 employees) has reported anual losses. My father believes that this year will be the same case, although most likely worse (though, of course, we pray for the best).</p>

<p>Based on only the FAFSA, tax return, business tax return, and W2s --- W&M gave me the $5,550 PELL grant, $6,500 in federal direct loans, and a $10,000 grant. This is roughly 50% need met.</p>

<p>I understand that out of state transfers don't usually get very much, but I know that other out of state transfers with similar situations received more than $20,000 in grants.</p>

<p>I will be submitting a special circumstances form that shows sizable losses for the Quarter 1 of 2011, and then project the yearly income.</p>

<p>I mean... is this even worth it? I obviously have proven that I have need, and my Dad's becoming irritated having to request a number of archived documents from the accountant, etc. And in the interactions I've had with the aid office make me feel like they could care less about my situation. I feel like I'm just having to beat a dead horse and more or less beg for another $10,000 grant. My parents don't understand the point of this either. I mean, the business is showing a -$650,000 debt as well.</p>

<p>I thought I'd get some decent aid from Brandeis or Vanderbilt, but I haven't gotten into either of those schools. I'm going to hope for the best with American's aid package, I did get into their Honors program and got a $12,000 scholarship.</p>

<p>Can someone please advise? I'd love to go to W&M, and it's my dream school... but I feel like I'm getting screwed on a daily basis from the aid office. There's even "BEWARE" threads on the W&M forum as far as aid is concerned for OOS students.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

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<p>W&M claims to generally meet 80% need for out of state transfers, but this has definitely not been the case.</p>

<p>1) Where is this claim?</p>

<p>2) I’m never really sure what these numbers mean. After all, some people have little need, so meeting most of it is rather easy. So, if a person has $10k in need, and he’s given a 7500 student loan and 1500 in work study, does that mean that 90% of THAT person’s need is met? If so, it’s interesting because the student hasn’t been given one cent of “free money.” </p>

<p>3) I mean, the business is showing a -$650,000 debt as well.
The school may have a hard time believing that your family is living on $5k per year. They may be thinking that your family is padding the business deductions with “family expenses”…like cell phones, car expenses, gasoline, etc. </p>

<p>4) but I know that other out of state transfers with similar situations received more than $20,000 in grants.
Was any of that money scholarship money? Were those students’ stats higher? Have you seen their aid packages to see exactly what was in them?</p>

<p>5) Is this a CSS Profile school?</p>

3

<p>1.) <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/12556496-post2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/12556496-post2.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>2.) Say a person has a 0 EFC, and the schools COA is $45,000. Then the need would be $45,000. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.</p>

<p>3.) This is a good point, although the business is that much in debt because of a building project that cost $600k+, all of which is in loans/debt.</p>

<p>4.) W&M doesn’t give scholarships to transfers. They consider only need, not stats. And no, my stats were better anyway. I was given detailed break downs of two aid packages.</p>

<p>5.) No, entirely FAFSA.</p>

4

<p>1) The 80% is an average.
2) Both of you are correct.
3) If the debt is due to a building then there is equity backing the debt up. Equity which can be used as collateral for a loan.</p>

5

<p>Thank you. I need to fill out this form:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.wm.edu/admission/financialaid/documents/SpecialCircumstances1112.pdf[/url]”>http://www.wm.edu/admission/financialaid/documents/SpecialCircumstances1112.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I’ll be signing off on the “loss or reduction of income” and bring up the loss on the Q1 2011.</p>

<p>Any other ideas? On the Company K-1 that I sent them, it only showed a $20k loss, though there was about $300k in income that year.</p>

<p>Is there anything else that I can do?</p>

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<ol>
<li> *Generally, W&M can only meet 80% of an out-of-state student’s need (due mostly to the fact that we have some grants that can go to Virginians only as they are state grants). This is not to say there aren’t exceptions to this rule but they are not as common as we’d like. Financial aid information should be released this week via email so you should be able to view your award soon and you can always contact the Financial Aid Office once awards are released if you have any questions. *</li>
</ol>

<p>I would not trust the above, since the college rep may not be that aware of FA for OOS transfer students. This college rep may deal mostly with incoming frosh recruitment. Either way…that 80% sounds like an average…which means some have 100% of need met (maybe because they have little need) and some will have a lot less.</p>

<p>2.) Say a person has a 0 EFC, and the schools COA is $45,000. Then the need would be $45,000. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.</p>

<p>That wasn’t my concern. I know that if someone has a 0 EFC and the school costs $45k, then the need is $45k. My point is that I often wonder about these claims regarding “percent” of need met…because some people have very little need, so it can be very easy to meet 80% of their need…and I’m not sure how accurate these claims are for OOS transfer students. And, for most other publics…the % need met won’t be accurate at all for those who are OOS.</p>

<p>W&M doesn’t give scholarships to transfers. They consider only need, not stats. And no, my stats were better anyway. I was given detailed break downs of two aid packages.</p>

<p>Did these people have 0 EFCs? What exactly is in their FA packages? </p>

<p>You need to ask W&M if they are strictly going by your FAFSA EFC or something else.</p>