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School wants acceptance BEFORE federal aid package?


JennifersLost
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Thank God for this board. I don't know what I would do without you ladies.

 

My son got his first scholarship notification - essentially enough to cover his tuition for four years IF he was an in-state student.

 

Unfortunately, he's not an in-state student. It is less than we hoped and if it's the only aid he's getting, he can't attend this school.

 

The school wants us to decide within two weeks whether or not to accept it. It's my understanding we won't hear about Federal aid until later this month or April.

 

How do I handle this? Is it appropriate to contact the school and let them know we can't handle the cost without further aid?

 

I want to cry. For one instant, my son thought he was going to be able to afford to go college and then we did the math about the out-of-state tuition and he realized he couldn't.

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This is probably what will happen everywhere, though, right? I never thought of it before.

 

We are US citizens living in Canada, so every American school my ds applied to considers us Out of State residents. All of these scholarships are going to be designed to cover the cost for in-state residents, probably. What is the chance that any of them would cover room & board as well as in-state tuition, which is what we'd need to get the remainder of the tuition down into the realm we can afford.

 

Our FAFSA EFA is over 22000 - because we own rental properties. They are the source of our income. I don't think we'll get any federal aid, anyway.

 

I think I need to totally switch gears - I don't think this kid is going away to school and all I've done by having him apply is make going to the local community college the sucker's prize instead of a smart, good option.

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This does not seem right to me at all. Most colleges in the US have a date of May 1 as the last day you can say you'll be going to that school. While there may be advantages to replying early (such as being higher on the housing list, or getting space in a welcome program), they understand that you need to hear from all the schools, look at the money for each, and make a sensible decision. I assume this may be a misunderstanding; if not I would look seriously at the school and ask why they are not abiding by the standard May 1 deadline. Please call the school and see if it can get straightened out. You should not have to commit before knowing the price; if that's what they want, I'd cross it off my list.

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We are US citizens living in Canada, so every American school my ds applied to considers us Out of State residents. All of these scholarships are going to be designed to cover the cost for in-state residents, probably. What is the chance that any of them would cover room & board as well as in-state tuition, which is what we'd need to get the remainder of the tuition down into the realm we can afford.

 

 

 

Hold on--some of the public unis will offer "in state" rates as an enticement. Posters on these boards have reported that. You might want to phone and ask if such a thing might be possible.

 

Regarding the chance of covering room and board as well as tuition: did you look over the poll results in one of Nan's recent threads? I think you'll see additional confirmation to what has been told anecdotally, that is, colleges which cost under $25K annually seem to provide fewer complete packages than some of the pricier private colleges. What the poll does not reveal is whether the aid is financial or merit.

 

One thing your son should have in his favor is his geography. My son's college boasts about its international student population, although I do not know how financial/merit aid works for these students.

 

Good luck,

Jane

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All right,

 

I just shot them off an email asking for clarification on the acceptance date and told them straight up (in a nice way) that the scholarship needed to match the tuition in order to make this a choice we could make without waiting until the regular May 1st deadline.

 

We'll have to see what happens.

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Our FAFSA EFA is over 22000 - because we own rental properties. They are the source of our income. I don't think we'll get any federal aid, anyway.

 

 

 

With an EFC of 22K, the only federal aid he'd qualify for would be a Stafford Loan (max amount for a freshman is $5500).

 

I would definitely contact the school and ask for an extension of the acceptance deadline until May 1. Tell them that you need to see the complete financial aid package before you can decide if this school is affordable.

 

Good Luck!

Brenda

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This does not seem right to me at all. Most colleges in the US have a date of May 1 as the last day you can say you'll be going to that school. While there may be advantages to replying early (such as being higher on the housing list, or getting space in a welcome program), they understand that you need to hear from all the schools, look at the money for each, and make a sensible decision. I assume this may be a misunderstanding; if not I would look seriously at the school and ask why they are not abiding by the standard May 1 deadline. Please call the school and see if it can get straightened out. You should not have to commit before knowing the price; if that's what they want, I'd cross it off my list.

 

Just addressing this aspect, yes, many schools are now requiring acceptances of MERIT aid or Honors College acceptance (many times both) before the May 1st deadline. They are not rescinding the acceptance itself. One still has until May 1st to decide whether or not to attend.

 

It appears to be a sneaky way to get top kids to attend, but is not unusual. Actually, it appears to be becoming more common as other colleges jump on the bandwagon with it.

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All right,

 

I just shot them off an email asking for clarification on the acceptance date and told them straight up (in a nice way) that the scholarship needed to match the tuition in order to make this a choice we could make without waiting until the regular May 1st deadline.

 

We'll have to see what happens.

 

This sounds like the best way to try - either that or a phone call - or even a follow up phone call. I hope it works out for you. It might.

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It occurs to me that rather than penalize your son for being in Canada - he is being treated fairly since he IS "out-of-state" to each school. If my dd goes to her desired school she will also be out-of-state.

 

You can call the financial aid office and ask them what forms you need to fill out to request more aid. We have had to do that with our ds's school.

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Jennifer is it possible to contact the school and "accept" the scholarship, but acknowledge that the final decision on attending the school will not occur unless you qualify for FASFA or other merit scholarships are offered?

 

DD was in your boat. We didn't qualify for FASFA at all, made just a little bit too much for any aid, and all of her scholarships were 50-100% of tuition but did not include fees, labs, books, or room and board. At many institutions, the room and board was astronomical. $10,000.00 was an average. At one school, in order to get the Dean's scholarship, she had to live in Honor's Housing which they charged $2500.00 per year more to live in than anywhere else. Tuition was $10, 500.00 room and board in honor's housing was $12,000.00 for eight months of housing and only two meals per day.

 

The only thing I can say is call and be upfront about your situation!

 

Faith

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Just addressing this aspect, yes, many schools are now requiring acceptances of MERIT aid or Honors College acceptance (many times both) before the May 1st deadline. They are not rescinding the acceptance itself. One still has until May 1st to decide whether or not to attend.

 

It appears to be a sneaky way to get top kids to attend, but is not unusual. Actually, it appears to be becoming more common as other colleges jump on the bandwagon with it.

 

What creeekland says is absolutely the truth. All 4,000+ colleges and universities that are members of the NACAC have a common agreement to NOT pressure any incoming freshman to accept (or decline) an offer of admission into any program, scholarship, or college until the universally agreed upon deadline of May 1. However, this practice is becoming more and more common and a way in which colleges can get around the NACAC agreement. Really, they are violating it! But who is going to take them to court? Who is going to sanction them?

 

We were in a similar quandry and I posted about it the other day. Here is a response my DD received from a Dean of Admissions whose school is adhering to the guidelines:

 

."...I don't know if the (other) school that offered you admission and scholarships is a member of NACAC (the National Association for College Admission Counseling), but all NACAC schools are supposed to give students until the national common reply date of May 1 to decide about enrollment. It's on page 4, Section B 3 of this document: http://www.nacacnet.org/AboutNACAC/Policies/Documents/SPGP.pdf"

 

Hope this helps.

Edited by distancia
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The school my son is going to next year requires acceptance of the Presidential Scholarship by February 1st. This is not the same as accepting the offer of admissions. For that, he has until May 1st. He'll be able to see his full package in late March, early April. Since we know how much the Presidential is for him, and the Hope, we know everything is covered. He could get more though, as Honors program scholarships haven't been announced yet. If you don't accept it, the scholarship can go to someone below you on the list of potential scholars.

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The school my son is going to next year requires acceptance of the Presidential Scholarship by February 1st. This is not the same as accepting the offer of admissions. For that, he has until May 1st.He'll be able to see his full package in late March, early April. Since we know how much the Presidential is for him, and the Hope, we know everything is covered. He could get more though, as Honors program scholarships haven't been announced yet. If you don't accept it, the scholarship can go to someone below you on the list of potential scholars.

 

I agree that accepting the scholarship is not the same as accepting an offer of admissions. Nonetheless, requiring a (freshman) student to accept--or reject--a scholarship offer prior to the unilaterally agreed-upon May 1 deadline violates page 4 Sec B3 of the NACAC Agreement http://www.nacacnet.org/AboutNACAC/Policies/Documents/SPGP.pdf

 

As creekland says, this practice of assigning premature deadlines is becoming commonplace, and disregard for the NACAC Agreement is everywhere.

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I think this issue just highlights some trouble that colleges are having with the May 1st deadline. For many universities, that is actually too late to do some of the necessary planning for freshman classes. Our local commuter uni had HUGE troubles this past year because of that deadline. They had a record number of admissions, accepted a record number, but had kids holding out on accepting admissions and scholarships right up until May 1st. They needed to hire more faculty, but with only three months looming, many professors looking for work had already accepted positions elsewhere. They were unable to hire the number had to delay entry of 1/4 of those that accepted admission until the second semester while they hashed out major issues with overflowing freshman classes, too many students per faculty advisor, not enough parking, maxing out some classrooms for fire codes, etc. It was a mess.

 

So, I am wondering if some of this has to do with a colleges needing to know the size of their freshman classes and who is accepting what scholarships earlier (especially since scholarship recipients usually get first pick at registration so if everyone waits until May 1st, May and June registrations at the big schools are a nightmare) so they can notify the alternate recipient, etc.

 

Faith

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This is probably what will happen everywhere, though, right? I never thought of it before.

 

We are US citizens living in Canada, so every American school my ds applied to considers us Out of State residents. All of these scholarships are going to be designed to cover the cost for in-state residents, probably. What is the chance that any of them would cover room & board as well as in-state tuition, which is what we'd need to get the remainder of the tuition down into the realm we can afford.

 

Our FAFSA EFA is over 22000 - because we own rental properties. They are the source of our income. I don't think we'll get any federal aid, anyway.

 

I think I need to totally switch gears - I don't think this kid is going away to school and all I've done by having him apply is make going to the local community college the sucker's prize instead of a smart, good option.

 

Jennifer, did he possibly, perhaps nail the PSAT? Arizona schools cover out of state tuition and part of room and board for a national merit student.

 

Barb

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I am not sure about your citizenship status. If you are Canadian citizens then this won't apply. If you are U.S. citizens living in Canada, then it might be something to check into.

 

I have a son who is attending an out of state university. The school encourages all out of state students to get residency their first year there so that they pay in state tuition rates for the rest of their time at the school Every university or state will have different residency requirements, but my ds will be meeting them so he can pay in state tuition starting next fall. In fact, the university requires students from out of state who are receiving merit scholarships to get residency in order to keep the scholarships. The university can only give out of state students merit scholarships for one year unless they get residency.

 

Would that be an option for your ds?

 

What does the school require of a student who wants to get residency in the state? That would be a way to lower the costs of attending because he wouldn't need to pay out of state tuition for his entire time there.

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Thank you all so much for all of these suggestions!

 

Here's what has happened so far:

 

I emailed the admissions office - directed the note to the head of admissions - and explained that we couldn't accept the scholarship (we have to pay the $200 acceptance of admission fee to claim it) until we knew the whole financial aid picture.

 

The director of admissions gave the note back to the same admissions guy who has been a pain this whole time. He's the one who told me he'd never accept my son based on our application (because he's a homeschooler and didn't have an 'official' transcript). (My son got into the honors program AND got this scholarship - one of their biggest scholarships).

 

He's also the one who told us we should take the American GED even though (upon my questioning), he admitted it wasn't school policy. He told me, "Even if he doesn't need it for our school, later in life he's going to need a "real" high school diploma, not a homeschool one." I sent a note about this to the Director of Admissions. Again it was pushed back to this same guy who finally clarified in writing that my son didn't need the GED.

 

Here's this guy's latest response:

 

We do not make exceptions to the Merit deadline and we haven’t for a few years. Once upon a time we did allow more time for students to decide and we were left too many times with space available in the Honors program and seats available for Merit students – in a sense we were played – and that affected both programs. Seats and money we could have used for other deserving students could then not be filled or used.

 

If (my son) sends in his non-refundable $200 tuition deposit/Merit Contract that saves him a seat in the Honors Program and assures his Merit Scholarship, providing he does so before March 18th. In effect it is a $200 investment for about $32,000 of scholarship.

 

 

The lines "in a sense we were played" and "In effect it is a $200 investment for about $32,000 of scholarship" hit me the wrong way.

 

We are being played - this school is trying to force our hand before we even hear from another school OR find out our aid package. What if we base our decision on vague promises of Federal aid and it doesn't pan out?

 

And $200 may not be much to this guy, but it's actually a big deal to me. Yes, that's lame and yes, I could get by without it, but.....

 

 

This college is pretty much out of the running for us now. I gave a strong hint about needing more coverage of the tuition and they're not biting. I will give a call to financial aid and find out if my son qualifies for any federal aid. If not, we're done with this school.

 

Thanks again, ladies!

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The very first school my ds was accepted at really pushed for a $300 deposit to hold his place in class - we were told that the early he sent in the deposit, the better odds he'd get a good dorm and have priority over later-paying freshman in registering for classes. BUT - it was a REFUNDABLE deposit - if ds did not attend, all we had to do was request return of the money. He didn't, we did, and got the money back. Didn't like the pressure they used to get the deposit in the first place, refundable as it was :glare:

 

The school he ended up attending (this are both LACs I am writing about) had very, VERY attractive top merit scholarships....at freshman orientation we learned that it was the LARGEST freshman class EVER - an extra 100+ kids who were accepted decided to attend beyond what the school usually expected (I guess there is some formula schools use - "we accept x number and of those x will actually send in a deposit by May 1.) So there is some competition for work study hours, etc. - lucky for him, ds scored decent hours in the library while most other freshmen are in food service/maintenance, etc. or still looking for a position!!! His being in Honors and now Dean's list ...plus with his AP credits a sophomore now - gets him some priority in registering, too.

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JFS in IL, brings up a valid point about the work study jobs. Had I delayed long in making my decision, eons of time ago - THE MISTS - I would have had to work in the cafeteria with far less flexible hours, instead of in the music hall which was of amenable to my music major. I also had priority registration for making my decision well in advance of the deadline.

 

So, there is a lot that goes into it. Lots of pressure unfortunately.

 

Faith

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I think that once you make a decision about this school it's worth sending a final letter to the headmof admissions about why you chose a different school. It does't sound like this admissions gut is bringing honor to the uni.

 

On a different front is it possible that the FAFSA is double counting your rental income? Just wondering if that is possible that it went into both income and some category for othr assets. But I haven't gotten to the FAFSA stage of life yet so that's just a guess.

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I just sent an email to the financial aid people there asking for a ballpark figure, at least, on any other aid he might get, but I've pretty much written this school off.

 

My son has three other schools he's been accepted to but not gotten aid information from yet, so there's still some hope.

 

Meanwhile, he's looking into ways to turn our downstairs kitchen into a "licensed" business kitchen so he can start a baked goods delivery service if he stays local (and goes to the CC in town). He loves baking.

 

This young man won't be held back no matter what life throws at him. We had a terrific discussion last night in which he told me it doesn't matter what the grandparents think about our decisions, he doesn't care if people think his school/life journey is different than normal, and that since he's almost 18, he's responsible for his own happiness - it's not my job anymore.

 

Sometimes teenagers blow me away.

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This young man won't be held back no matter what life throws at him. We had a terrific discussion last night in which he told me it doesn't matter what the grandparents think about our decisions, he doesn't care if people think his school/life journey is different than normal, and that since he's almost 18, he's responsible for his own happiness - it's not my job anymore.

 

Sometimes teenagers blow me away.

 

He sounds like a great young man. Kudos to him and to you!

 

Regards,

Kareni

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