<p>When my dad lost his job last year, he was given a severance package and was forced to exercise all his stock options that year. This situation left our income on our W2 about double what it normally is. This year since January my dad has made under 5,000 dollars with an expected 45k between both my parents this year. We explained all of this in the application and were astounded to receive nothing. We have filed an appeal, but my parents are already talking about having to sell our home and tap into their retirement to send me to school. I just had a lot of faith caltech was the best financial aid out there. I dont know what my family is going to do.</p>
<p>It is likely that the problem will be corrected after the appeal. Why not just call Caltech finaid as well? This is obviously an error. When my mom moved, she rented for a year before buying a new house, so her situation was like yours: sudden increase in income, giant wad of cash in the bank. The first aid statement that year was ridiculous but it changed when I contacted finaid about the circumstances. (Yes, even though I filled out the box to explain special circumstances on the finaid form. Apparently they whiz right by that on the first pass.) Good luck!</p>