<p>I was accepted for transfer to Austin, becoming my first choice from schools accepted to, but the financial aid package is nonexistent. </p>
<p>I'm getting the Pell (which doesn't count as it's automatic and not from the school), a $2750/semester subsidized loan and $3500/semester unsubsidized loan... Loans which, imo, are not financial aid as they must be paid back. Moreover, these loans do little in covering the cost.</p>
<p>Over half of the cost I will have to make up somehow as the "package" barely covers ~$9k. </p>
<p>Is this normal and, if not, is there a way to appeal for greater aid? In addition to what's being "offered" by Austin, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is also offering Federal Supplemental Grant, Federal Work Study, OSFA Non-Resident T/W, and some Perkins loans (which doesn't really count if it's a loan). An actual package totaling ~$25k. </p>
<p>The problem with going to UIUC in comparison to Austin is that I was accepted to an alternate major. </p>
<p>Is there anything I can do to get actual aid from Austin? </p>
<p>Hey, I got accepted as a transfer as well. I got a couple of grants, including the Pell Grant, one of them was even a transfer grant, so I’d talk to financial aid.</p>
<p>No, you cannot do anything, it is quite normal for OOS public universities in any state. </p>
<p>They cannot give you any state need-based financial aid since you are not an IS resident so your aid is limited by federal funds </p>
<p>You automatically get Pell and Stafford loans, some universities have SEOG, some don’t, some have Perkins loans, some don’t. SEOG, Perkins and WS are not awarded automatically, if university has them it is up to university to decide who will get what. These funds are also subject of availability, sometimes “first come, first serve” basis. Since you are a transfer student it is possible that there was nothing left for you after current UT students and freshmen were awarded since Texas has more students qualified for need aid than probably Illinois, so Urbana did nor run out of SEOG, Perkins and WS for OOS transfer students. </p>
<p>Merit scholarships are mostly reserved for freshmen, not transfer students, plus Texas universities usually award merit scholarships to OOS students if they have a spot for OOS tuition waiver. </p>
<p>As a rule students with need should not apply to OOS public universities unless they have really high stats (like NMSF) and that particular OOS university guarantees them a big merit award or even full ride.</p>
<p>P.S. It is possible to get some extra money after May 1.
Some students who were accepted and were awarded SEOG, Perkins and WS will choose another university, go elsewhere and their awards will be available for somebody else, but it would be pure gambling to expect that they would be awarded to you and not somebody else.</p>
<p>there’s plenty of CAP students and students that havent met 30 hour requirements to transfer to UT</p>
<p>so the idea that financial aid funds is completely dry is in my opinion not true</p>
<p>it is because your are out of state that is why your financial aid package is so small.
a lot of my friends at UT get a texas grant(only for texas residents) for about 1000 on top of their other stuff</p>
<p>i’m sure you get less “grant” money because you’re out of state and simply aren’t considered for it.</p>
<p>maybe your EFC is too high to be considered for stuff.</p>
<p>what is your EFC? that might answer a lot of questions</p>
<p>if your efc is not close to 0, don’t expect to have even half of your cost of attendance covered</p>
<p>Continuing students can apply for scholarships that are not available for freshmen. There is a separate application. Check you school’s webpage for deadlines and GPA requirements.</p>
<p>UT Austin COA for OOS is about 47,000.
If OP got SEOG from Urbana-Champaign you can be pretty sure his EFC is 0 or very close to 0.
He got $9,000 from UT, he needs 38,000 more per year!!! Even if he gets max SEOG 4,000 (never heard anyone got that much) and Perkins (how much can they give above Stafford, 2,000???) and WS for 10-12 hours a week to be able to get good grades, how much is it? 2,500? More?
9+4+2+2,5 = 17,5K
Where is he going to get the remaining 30K?</p>
<p>UT finance people have enough experience to realize that the possibility for this kid to attend is close to 0. They even did not try to give him anything extra.</p>
<p>I wonder where are parents, high school counselors, community college counselors and other responsible adults who are supposed to explain what is realistic and what is not?
My first choice, indeed…:(</p>
<p>Urbana-Champaign OOS COA is about 42,000 by the way, OP got only 25,000, he is 17K short per year and he can get only private loans to cover it.
This is INSANE!</p>
<p>EFC is 0. Being born in TX and living in Lubbock and Fort Hood I was hoping for a little more help to return from CA, lol. </p>
<p>UIUC I was really impressed by the package for a public school. Though it’s for my second/third choice major Chemical Engineering and not CS. UIUC was on my radar for their CS program and the number of companies I’m interested in who recruit there. UT Austin though I feel is comparable but the cost is so high with the package. </p>
<p>I also was accepted to Rose-Hulman for my major CS and am left with $11,000 to make up for their $55,000 COA. Most recently, I’ve been accepted to UC San Diego, which will be my most affordable option, and TX A&M. </p>
<p>Though from current offers I would prefer UT Austin and still waiting for other schools that I may not hear from until after the acceptance deadline for Austin of May 9. So not sure what to do. </p>
<p>But I am curious as to the true COA. Beside the tuition and mandated fees, what other cost besides rent is there? As I plan to live off campus.</p>
<p>COA is just a number for some average expenses that include
Tuition (IS or OOS that can be very different for public universities, the same for private ones) and fees
Books & Supplies (software, laptop, paper, all kind of computer stuff you might need)
Room & Board (on campus it includes housing with all the utilities, internet and some meal plan)
Transportation
Personal Expenses</p>
<p>Since it is average it can go up or down depending on circumstances.</p>
<p>For example, if you live OOS or somewhere on the other coast your transportation expenses (travel home and back) would be much higher than average. If you live very close to the university your transportation expenses would be almost non-existent. Transportation expenses usually don’t include parking fees for keeping a car on campus (something about $800 at UT) or gas expenses if you drive around the city.</p>
<p>Expenses that can go down are books (you can buy them used, kindle or rent them instead of buying), housing (living off campus is usually cheaper unless university is located in a very upscale and expensive neighborhood; for finaid purposes it doesn’t matter if you live in a dorm or rent an apartment) and personal expenses (no eating out, no movies and other entertainment, shopping in dollar stores and thrift stores etc some pretty frugal life).
One of really important parts of personal expenses is medical insurance. If you are not included in your parents’ insurance you have to find out if you must buy one on campus or not. If you must buy one it will be not cheap for EFC 0. Some universities don’t require insurance and just provide student health services with big discounts.
Also, depending on the university some fees can be waived for EFC 0.</p>
<p>ah…that sucks man. you have me worrying about my financial aid package that I have yet find out about.</p>
<p>I figure I’ve been at a CC for two years now and have accrued only 945 in loans(b-on time loan which…I may be able to get out of paying it back).
I think I can afford to start taking out loans now…?
I wish I could just keep working part time but it affects my study time and causes me to stay up too many late nights. </p>
<p>My efc last year was 0</p>
<p>this new one I just did ended up being like 00345 or something along those lines </p>
<p>if you’re really deadset on going to UT i’d just call and explain your situation and ask about recieving more financial aid…worst that can happen is they can’t give you anything more than what you already got offered</p>
<p>I was thinking I want to email UT Austin’s FAO requesting additional aid and including a JPEG/PDF of my letter from UIUC. Figure the worse that can happen is they say no, but is there a particular protocol? </p>
<p>But what even is the cost of UT Austin?!!? My other packages outlined my aid, COA, and the difference. UTA just lists the aid but without any mentioned cost. With the deadline to accept a week away, May 9, I don’t even know what the tuition is. Is it possible to extend the date I must accept?</p>
<p>But please don’t miss deadline with your affordable options. Is it May 1?</p>
<p>And I would suggest you to go to “Financial Aid & Scholarships” and discuss your college options there. You can get a lot of very useful information.</p>
<p>May 1 is deadline for UIUC, which would be my top choice of all current offers but am hesitant as I was accepted for alternate major (Chemical Engineering instead of Computer Science). Austin is second from current offers but with the poor FA package, and the fact I don’t even know how much that school is going to cost, I’m unsure.</p>
<p>Everything else is June 1, except for A&M which is July 1.</p>