Head is spinning - need help

[whitestavern]

DD just received her FA award for the coming year and it's $20K less than last year. I started working this year, so she will likely get zero FA the following year. She received a small merit award, but we really needed the FA to make the school affordable. In addition, the college has indicated in its FA letter that school will be $82,000 next year and $85,000 for DD's senior year. I really just can't wrap my head around those numbers. We are appealing the decision even though it seems futile. So, due to the last minute notice, we are in emergency mode trying to find schools that are still accepting applications for fall transfer.

We went onto the NACAC site and found a handful of schools of interest. Then she came up with a few that weren't on the list and she started calling and asking if they were accepting apps for fall transfers, and several said yes. So she has developed a "short list" of schools. Two are private schools she applied to last year who told her they would honor her merit awards, thus making them very affordable. Three are OOS publics that we could afford full pay i need be, and three are privates that could be affordable if she were to receive merit. She has above average stats at these, so it is possible, though not sure about this late date. She is scrambling to get the apps done tomorrow. However, she is also very interested in two OOS publics that aren't accepting until spring. She is very torn on whether to try to commit to something for this fall, which will be a somewhat rushed decision, or to wait until spring to apply to some or all of them. She has also considered taking a gap year and reapplying for next fall, which I do not think is a good idea. My feeling is she should try to get in somewhere for fall. Adding to all this is a high level of emotion, as she loves where she is and does not want to leave, though she completely understands and realizes it will probably have to happen. I don't really even know what I'm asking here, I guess just advice or thoughts on what you would do if you were in this situation. Thanks for any insights you can provide. I feel like I don't even have time to think about it, so maybe you all can help me out 🙂

[JanetC]

That is awful. I'm sorry that happened!

I would not hold hope for big merit from an OOS public as a spring admit - that's not all that common. If that's the holdup, I'd say don't hold back. Does she have any sort of gap year plan? Or just to bide time? That might get old.

It is a big decision. If your DD has visited some/all of these schools already and has time to visit the others, it would be nice for her to be able to continue in the fall, but it's important to follow her lead if you can.

 

[Mabelen]

Are the $82,000 and $85,000 figures the total cost of attendance of th college or your family expected contribution as estimated by FAFSA? I don’t know of any schools that cost that much, to be honest. I thought they cost up to $70,000 approximately.

Check to make sure it’s not your expected contribution. If it is, it just means that you will not receive financial aid. You will have to pay the total cost of attendance out of pocket. You need to figure out what the total cost of attendance is. Often COA  estimates include not only tuition plus fees, dorm, and meals, but also transportation, health insurance, cost of books etc. 

[Mabelen]

ETA: I checked cost of attendance for the year 2019-2020 at the University of Rochester. It quotes $75,186. It’s a lot, but that is the most you will have to pay, even if your expected family contribution shows that you could pay up to $85,000 if it cost that much.

https://enrollment.rochester.edu/financial-aid/tuition-expenses/

Edited June 30, 2019 by Mabelen

[8filltheheart]

I'm sorry this happened! I agree with you. I think she should try to find a school for the fall. It will be more like ripping off the band-aid vs. pulling it off slowly.  At this pt, I would also focus on what is guaranteed financially vs what is hoped for.  She is already facing disappointment and losing mental momentum. I would be concerned that a gap yr could make the transition worse bc it wasn't something planned or anticipated.

Fwiw, I honestly think most kids do bloom where they are planted. Hopefully she will have an easier transition than she thinks.  Gosh, I picture my Dd finding thatbout right now and it would be so hard bc adjusting the first time around was hard enough for her.  I really am so sorry your Dd is facing that.

@Mabelen There are plenty of schools that are now above $70,000. With some schools, you can easily expect a 3-5% or more increase per yr. If the FA letter quoted $82,000, the school is anticipating a greater percentage for the 20-21 school yr. aA quick Google turned up this stat:

Quote

The total costs of attendance including tuition, fees, books & supplies costs, and living costs has increased 38.02% from year 2009 ($52,690) where current year costs are $72,721 at University of Rochester. The undergraduate tuition & fees has raised from $38,690 (2009) to $53,909 (2019)

Fwiw, a simple mental way of thinking about it is to plan a $5000 increase per yr between freshman and sr. That seems to be fairly common from what I have read over the yrs.  (So for a family like ours where the bottom line needs to stay low, we look for awards that rise with costs and are not fixed amts bc with fixed amts, it could easily rise beyond what we are willing to pay.)

Front-loading is also something to be aware of. Front-loading is when freshman awards are higher than upperclassman awards. It happens. You can get a sense for if it is happening by looking at the CDS and comparing % of students receiving financial awards.

ETA: @Mabelen I just followed your link. They only allowed $300 in transportation costs for the yr.  Unless a student lives close or never gives home, that $$ is absurdly low compared to other schools' estimates.For example, Bama shows $2000 for IS and $3000 for OOS students. https://financialaid.ua.edu/cost/ Pay close attention to how schools break down costs and their accuracy for your family. We tend to spend less on books and food, for example.

Edited June 30, 2019 by 8FillTheHeart

[whitestavern]

7 hours ago, JanetC said:

That is awful. I'm sorry that happened!

I would not hold hope for big merit from an OOS public as a spring admit - that's not all that common. If that's the holdup, I'd say don't hold back. Does she have any sort of gap year plan? Or just to bide time? That might get old.

It is a big decision. If your DD has visited some/all of these schools already and has time to visit the others, it would be nice for her to be able to continue in the fall, but it's important to follow her lead if you can.

 

 

The two OOS publics that aren't accepting until spring are affordable without merit, but my concern is she'd have to reject all acceptances for fall in order to do a wait and see on those. She has some good options (in my opinion) for fall, even though I agree that the two spring admits are also good choices. No gap year plan except to work. She feels it would give her more time to think about where she should go/what she should do. URoch has an open curriculum, which is one of the things she loved. She hasn't had time the research but is afraid she will need to start with a lot of gen ed classes at some of these other places.

Edited June 30, 2019 by whitestavern

[whitestavern]

6 hours ago, Mabelen said:

Are the $82,000 and $85,000 figures the total cost of attendance of the college or your family expected contribution as estimated by FAFSA? I don’t know of any schools that cost that much, to be honest. I thought they cost up to $70,000 approximately.

Check to make sure it’s not your expected contribution. If it is, it just means that you will not receive financial aid. You will have to pay the total cost of attendance out of pocket. You need to figure out what the total cost of attendance is. Often COA  estimates include not only tuition plus fees, dorm, and meals, but also transportation, health insurance, cost of books etc. 

 

The school was $72K her freshman year, $75K her sophomore year, and is expected to be $82K and then $85K. These are COA figures, yes, but except for travel to and from school, they are basically our out of pocket expenses. Of course dh and I feel horribly guilty as well. I thought we were pretty well educated about this, but I had no idea the yearly increases would be so much or that FA could change so drastically. Roch is a meets full need school, so I'm not sure what could change next year when we'll have a son in college, but considering how little they are giving this year I'm not hopeful we'd have gotten a lot. 

A tiny bit of background: I homeschool/was out of the workforce for ten years. Also during those ten years dh had his own consulting business. We made very very little in salary. A few years ago DH got a good job, including two years of good bonuses, but we are still in payback mode (had incurred some debt) and started putting money into retirement. And they are not a sure thing every year. So this all looks good on our tax return and gives a high EFC but doesn't reflect reality. I know this is true for many many families. 

At this point even if we could afford to pay the $75, $82, $85 (which we absolutely cannot!) I can't justify spending that much over another college. Most of her other options are close to half that. 

[whitestavern]

1 hour ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

I'm sorry this happened! I agree with you. I think she should try to find a school for the fall. It will be more like ripping off the band-aid vs. pulling it off slowly.  At this pt, I would also focus on what is guaranteed financially vs what is hoped for.  She is already facing disappointment and losing mental momentum. I would be concerned that a gap yr could make the transition worse bc it wasn't something planned or anticipated.

Fwiw, I honestly think most kids do bloom where they are planted. Hopefully she will have an easier transition than she thinks.  Gosh, I picture my Dd finding thatbout right now and it would be so hard bc adjusting the first time around was hard enough for her.  I really am so sorry your Dd is facing that.

@Mabelen There are plenty of schools that are now above $70,000. With some schools, you can easily expect a 3-5% or more increase per yr. If the FA letter quoted $82,000, the school is anticipating a greater percentage for the 20-21 school yr. aA quick Google turned up this stat:

Fwiw, a simple mental way of thinking about it is to plan a $5000 increase per yr between freshman and sr. That seems to be fairly common from what I have read over the yrs.  (So for a family like ours where the bottom line needs to stay low, we look for awards that rise with costs and are not fixed amts bc with fixed amts, it could easily rise beyond what we are willing to pay.)

Front-loading is also something to be aware of. Front-loading is when freshman awards are higher than upperclassman awards. It happens. You can get a sense for if it is happening by looking at the CDS and comparing % of students receiving financial awards.

ETA: @Mabelen I just followed your link. They only allowed $300 in transportation costs for the yr.  Unless a student lives close or never gives home, that $$ is absurdly low compared to other schools' estimates.For example, Bama shows $2000 for IS and $3000 for OOS students. https://financialaid.ua.edu/cost/

 

Re frontloading: yes, we are just finding out now that URoch is kind of known for this, and that yearly increases at colleges are much higher than we expected. DD most definitely is a bloom where you are planted kind of kid. I think she will be just fine. She makes friends easily and is generally a happy kid. Still, part of me worries that we are screwing her up here by doing this. She has her four year plan all laid out with classes, etc. She's double majoring and minoring (somewhat easy to do there) and had plans to graduate early and hike the Camino de Santiago. Right now she feels like her "life plan" is shattered. I'm trying to be supportive but also rush her through this whole application process, and it's so difficult. It's the opposite of how we roll, lol. 

[Miguelsmom]

If she has to take general ed classes can't she take a semester at a community college while waiting for the spring? That's what I would do.

[8filltheheart]

4 minutes ago, Miguelsmom said:

If she has to take general ed classes can't she take a semester at a community college while waiting for the spring? That's what I would do.

Except that makes for a third transition, more classes to see if they will transfer, and more time of living in uncertainty. Assuming she only applied to schools she wanted to attend, it sounds like she already has multiple options.

[Miguelsmom]

1 minute ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

Except that makes for a third transition, more classes to see if they will transfer, and more time of living in uncertainty. Assuming she only applied to schools she wanted to attend, it sounds like she already has multiple options.

She can check if they transfer before attending. If not I'd say take the semester off to investigate what schools she really wants to attend and apply there. 

[AngieW in Texas]

My youngest ended up with a double transfer.

Adelphi was not the school they had presented themselves as. East knew by the end of fall semester that they would not be returning the next year.

Their plan was to transfer to a Canadian university and they did get in to University of Regina with enough aid to make it affordable, but that ended up not working out for medical reasons.

So they ended up being at home for a full year. They had applied to UT (close enough to commute to) but did not get accepted. They ended up going to the cc this past year instead and completed an associate's degree and applied to Southwestern for next year. That school is very expensive, but is known for fantastic merit aid. It is also close enough to commute and is known for being great for LGBT (very much unlike Adelphi which talked the talk but didn't walk it). They got accepted to Southwestern with a great scholarship that cuts the cost down to 40% of the list price and will be starting there in August. I do worry about the cost going up each year, but part of the divorce decree is that my STBXH will be paying for the entire cost of college, so that isn't actually my worry. Southwestern doesn't front load their scholarships, but they also don't increase them. I think front loading scholarships is a pretty evil thing to do, especially knowing that the cost usually goes up every year.

It hasn't been an easy journey. They will be graduating much later than they had planned, especially since they are also changing their major (but I think it's a really good change). They spent one year at Adelphi, then one year home, then one year at cc, and now will need three years to finish up at Southwestern. So it will be a 6 year journey to finish the BS by the time they are done. It is what it is.

[Matryoshka]

Holy heck, you're making me glad we didn't even consider URoch.  Dd did get accepted there, and in spite of it being supposedly 'meet full need' - they decided we could afford more than twice our EFC as calculated by FAFSA.  Because we apparently shouldn't be saving anything for retirement even though we will have $0 in pension (saving for retirement is a 'choice', they said).  And we should also be taking out equity in our primary residence to pay for college, apparently.  This is literally what they told us.  I told them we chose not to live in our car eating cat food in our waning years.  And yes, I spoke to them in person, because their offer was so crazy out of line, I thought they'd made an error, and called them to ask what the heck.

And I swear URoch cost something like $20K less than what you're quoting when dd was accepted, and she's only a junior now!  So if somehow we'd decided to go for the cat food option, she would likely have been in your dd's shoes transferring after a year as well!  Because at those costs, we wouldn't even have been able to afford cat food!

Edited June 30, 2019 by Matryoshka

[Mabelen]

Wow, so sorry this is the worst case scenario! I was hoping it was “just” your family contribution and not the actual cost.  I feel for you and your family. Those expected COA raises are outrageous!

[JanetC]

6 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

Front-loading is also something to be aware of. Front-loading is when freshman awards are higher than upperclassman awards. It happens. You can get a sense for if it is happening by looking at the CDS and comparing % of students receiving financial awards

 

You can pull multiple years tuition and cost of attendance numbers out of IPEDS, rather than going through multiple years of CDS files.

I've also just discovered the student loan data system DL Dashboard (short for direct loan dashboard). Divide the full year disbursements by the number of recipients and you get an average loan amount per student. Pull enrollment out of IPEDS and you can do recipients over undergrad enrollment to see percentage of all students (not just the freshmen in the typical dataset) getting loans. High PLUS loans are a big sign that financial need is not being met.

[catz]

URoch threw an extremely high offer at my kid too.  No thanks.  I'm very sorry your daughter needs to make a change.  

[Mom0012]

OP, I am so sorry to hear this. That must be really hard. It’s maddening trying to figure all of this out.

[Mom0012]

As I have been plugging numbers into net price calculators for my dd, I have seen my dd’s FA slashed in half at some schools beginning her junior year when her brother will have graduated from college. I never would have imagined that would have made such a big difference.

[MerryAtHope]

How absolutely awful! Praying you and your daughter can come up with a good plan together.

[whitestavern]

Thank you to all for your advice/thoughts/sympathy! DD completed five applications yesterday (as the common app is now closed, she had to do school-specific apps for each school), requested hs and college transcripts, and requested LORs. We finished our appeal letter, but have to wait for the school to send us an appeal form. She's being such a trooper. Working almost full time and taking an intensive one month chem class at the local cc (final is this week).

Does anyone know if you can defer a transfer acceptance? Because of those three schools she is interested in that are not accepting transfer apps until spring, she's wondering if she can defer one or more of the fall acceptances in order to be able to apply for spring admission to the others. Not at all sure how deferrals work. Are they a commitment to attend?

[JanetC]

Quote

Does anyone know if you can defer a transfer acceptance?

 

"Every school is different" is even more true for transfers than it is for freshman admissions. You will have to ask each school. (Probably after acceptance, so it doesn't affect the decision making process.) Usually a deferral implies a commitment to attend (hold a spot for me, but not right now), but the school expects some 'melt' from the deferred students. Definitely do not defer more than one fall acceptance.

Is it possible to apply to all of the schools for spring admissions?

[whitestavern]

She could wait - there are three other schools she might've added - but I feel like it would be better to start with everyone else. We'll see how she feels when her acceptances come back. 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

On 7/1/2019 at 1:43 AM, whitestavern said:

Thank you to all for your advice/thoughts/sympathy! DD completed five applications yesterday (as the common app is now closed, she had to do school-specific apps for each school), requested hs and college transcripts, and requested LORs. We finished our appeal letter, but have to wait for the school to send us an appeal form. She's being such a trooper. Working almost full time and taking an intensive one month chem class at the local cc (final is this week).

Does anyone know if you can defer a transfer acceptance? Because of those three schools she is interested in that are not accepting transfer apps until spring, she's wondering if she can defer one or more of the fall acceptances in order to be able to apply for spring admission to the others. Not at all sure how deferrals work. Are they a commitment to attend?

These might help you with an appeal.

https://professionals.collegeboard.org/higher-ed/financial-aid/im/tips

[Mom0012]

2 hours ago, Sebastian (a lady) said:

These might help you with an appeal.

https://professionals.collegeboard.org/higher-ed/financial-aid/im/tips

Wow, this is really helpful info to have. Hope it helps the OP.

[whitestavern]

14 hours ago, Sebastian (a lady) said:

These might help you with an appeal.

https://professionals.collegeboard.org/higher-ed/financial-aid/im/tips

Thanks Sebastian, unfortunately none of them really describe our situation. We basically had very very little income for ten years prior to college. I haven't worked since the kids were born, and because I don't have a bchelor's degree, I've been unable to find anything paying near what I was being paid prior to leaving the workforce, when degrees didn't matter. I had worked my way up the ladder and had a great job. My husband opened his own business and we took out a home equity line of credit to cover some of his "salary" in the beginning. What can I say, we were young and stupid. Great years, every one, where I was homeschooling and he was home. But not so great when it's time to pay for college. As I said earlier, we're in payback mode, finally paid off some debt, getting money into retirement, paying off the home equity loan (we have almost no equity in our house because it's worth less now than when we purchased it.) We also have a son in parochial school, which also greatly reduced their FA, so our output is crazy high, even though dh's salary is good now. But we can't in good conscience pay almost full fare for Roch.
 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

4 hours ago, whitestavern said:

Thanks Sebastian, unfortunately none of them really describe our situation. We basically had very very little income for ten years prior to college. I haven't worked since the kids were born, and because I don't have a bchelor's degree, I've been unable to find anything paying near what I was being paid prior to leaving the workforce, when degrees didn't matter. I had worked my way up the ladder and had a great job. My husband opened his own business and we took out a home equity line of credit to cover some of his "salary" in the beginning. What can I say, we were young and stupid. Great years, every one, where I was homeschooling and he was home. But not so great when it's time to pay for college. As I said earlier, we're in payback mode, finally paid off some debt, getting money into retirement, paying off the home equity loan (we have almost no equity in our house because it's worth less now than when we purchased it.) We also have a son in parochial school, which also greatly reduced their FA, so our output is crazy high, even though dh's salary is good now. But we can't in good conscience pay almost full fare for Roch.
 

I do understand. 

What can be useful in appeals is to provide information that shows lower income and greater expenses than the forms captured.  That would include things like changes in income from the tax year used in the financial submission or new expenses (such as the increased private school expenses).

Though it's no guarantee of increased aid. Other posters have had less than great experiences with Rochester. 

Has your kid inquired about departmental scholarships? Or department jobs that might make up for the lost aid?

That is pretty awful to have the cost change mid way through. I know it does happen, but it never feels good.

[BlsdMama]

It's incredibly late in the game to get her FA letter.  Ugh.  She's a freshman now, correct?

Before turning in that appeal letter, I'd suggest you think long and hard.  Even if they relent and throw another $10k to you, you're in the same boat (potentially) next year.  At that point, she could still transfer.  By the time she is a junior and transfers, the potential to lose credits is worrisome, no?

I think I'd consider less expensive alternatives.  That price tag literally made my jaw drop.

[G5052]

Oh my, hearing this made me so sad. Especially because she's happy.

We could have easily gotten into such a bind with my oldest because of a significant income drop, but not enough of a drop to bring in need-based aid. I've discussed loans with my two, and neither wants to borrow unless absolutely necessary. They both did the guaranteed admission path from the community college to a nationally-ranked four-year.

[katilac]

An article about this very topic, hot off the UR presses: 

http://www.campustimes.org/2016/09/11/students-urs-financial-aid-theories-dont-always-match-reality/

Biggest WTF quotation:  Last year, student need was assessed by figuring that 70 percent of a family’s available funds would go toward the cost of attending UR, with the remaining 30 percent going toward putting a sibling through college.

Because apparently everyone has a favorite child, lol! I'm sorry, son, but 70% of the family's available funds are going to your sister. 

[Matryoshka]

3 minutes ago, katilac said:

An article about this very topic, hot off the UR presses: 

http://www.campustimes.org/2016/09/11/students-urs-financial-aid-theories-dont-always-match-reality/

Biggest WTF quotation:  Last year, student need was assessed by figuring that 70 percent of a family’s available funds would go toward the cost of attending UR, with the remaining 30 percent going toward putting a sibling through college.

Because apparently everyone has a favorite child, lol! I'm sorry, son, but 70% of the family's available funds are going to your sister. 

Oh, yeah.  That's pretty much spot-on.  I pointed out when I called that my dd had a twin sister, and there's no way we could afford double what they were asking - surely they are assuming like costs for college for each twin? - so it must be a mistake.  And that's not counting the fact that we had a third child to pay for just two years behind.  But no, all the money should go to URoch.  Food, shelter, and other kids are 'choices' that are not worthy, in their opinion...

[Mom0012]

And the other thing that totally stinks about these financial aid calculations is that if you aren’t too far from being able to afford it and want to try to work a little extra to make up the difference or grandparent wants to help, forget it. Every dime given by a grandparent will just  reduce the aid by almost the entire amount given. Increasing your income also decreases the financial aid. So there really is no path for middle-class students at these schools. You’ve either got to be rich or poor.  Or be one of the very few who receives substantial merit aid. 

Edited July 5, 2019 by Mom0012

[Matryoshka]

14 minutes ago, Mom0012 said:

And the other thing that totally stinks about these financial aid calculations is that if you aren’t too far from being able to afford it and want to try to work a little extra to make up the difference or grandparent wants to help, forget it. Every dime given by a grandparent will just  reduce the aid by almost the entire amount given. Increasing your income also decreases the financial aid. So there really is no path for middle-class students at these schools. You’ve either got to be rich or poor.  Or be one of the very few who receives merit aid. 

On merit aid...Dd was offered something like $20K in merit aid at URoch. But that left over $40K to self-pay.  And remember, two kids in college at once, with another close on their heels. Hahahahaha.

Merit aid is only good if it lowers the cost enough to afford. And good heavens, it sounds like the price tag at that school has ballooned another $20K in just three years?  :faint: 

[8filltheheart]

33 minutes ago, Mom0012 said:

And the other thing that totally stinks about these financial aid calculations is that if you aren’t too far from being able to afford it and want to try to work a little extra to make up the difference or grandparent wants to help, forget it. Every dime given by a grandparent will just  reduce the aid by almost the entire amount given. Increasing your income also decreases the financial aid. So there really is no path for middle-class students at these schools. You’ve either got to be rich or poor.  Or be one of the very few who receives substantial merit aid. 

Or just call it all bogus BS and go in the other direction.  Pursue real merit and attend college at a very low cost.  We have managed to pay for all of our older 5 kids to attend college for less than a yr's tuition at many schools.  Real merit does exist.  THey just need to be willing to accept that rankings and prestige don't define their college experience or future.

[Mom0012]

4 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

Or just call it all bogus BS and go in the other direction.  Pursue real merit and attend college at a very low cost.  We have managed to pay for all of our older 5 kids to attend college for less than a yr's tuition at many schools.  Real merit does exist.  THey just need to be willing to accept that rankings and prestige don't define their college experience or future.

True. Good reminder.

ETA: TMI

Edited July 6, 2019 by Mom0012

[Mom0012]

16 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

On merit aid...Dd was offered something like $20K in merit aid at URoch. But that left over $40K to self-pay.  And remember, two kids in college at once, with another close on their heels. Hahahahaha.

Merit aid is only good if it lowers the cost enough to afford. And good heavens, it sounds like the price tag at that school has ballooned another $20K in just three years?  :faint: 

Yes. It actually wasn’t even on my radar that there were a lot of schools that cost as much as $60,000 until last fall. To see they are now projecting to increase to $80,000 or $85,000 in a couple of years just boggles the mind. The idea of paying $25,000 a year at one point boggled my mind. But the bar keeps moving and if they are going to “front-load” the aid while promising to keep it the same barring changes in income, that is just criminal.

i only have two children and actually am fortunate enough that we have been able to save for college and could pay a decent chunk. I can afford (just barely) our NPC numbers because our income dropped so much last year, which seems like a good thing. But actually complicates everything if I can’t actually trust those numbers. I’m finding the whole process extremely frustrating.

I guess the good thing about this thread is that I have saved myself from making a trip to Rochester. I feel horribly for you and your dd Whitestavern, but thank you for sharing your situation. You may have saved us a similar heartache.

[Mom0012]

I have to wonder why these schools bother saying they meet full need if they don’t. Don’t they have enough full pay student? I’m thinking if they can raise the tuition from $60,000 to $85,000 over a couple of years, they must.

[whitestavern]

On 7/5/2019 at 8:42 AM, BlsdMama said:

It's incredibly late in the game to get her FA letter.  Ugh.  She's a freshman now, correct?

Before turning in that appeal letter, I'd suggest you think long and hard.  Even if they relent and throw another $10k to you, you're in the same boat (potentially) next year.  At that point, she could still transfer.  By the time she is a junior and transfers, the potential to lose credits is worrisome, no?

I think I'd consider less expensive alternatives.  That price tag literally made my jaw drop.

 

Half of the frustration is that they let us know so late in the game, really limiting her choices of colleges to transfer to. I believe dd has friends who still have yet to hear on FA. Roch emailed yesterday, giving her another $10K, but in the same breath said it would likely go down again next year. That's helpful (sarcasm). We did wonder if she could live off campus in order to save some money, but I'm assuming that will decrease the aid, right? I don't think there's any way to make it work.

She has five applications in. Two of the schools on the list she applied to last year, received excellent merit, and they've indicated they will provide the same this year, though she still needs to go through the application and acceptance process. One is affordable without any merit. So she has three solid choices and two maybes if given some merit. Of course her first choice is one of the needs merit schools.

[whitestavern]

19 hours ago, Mom0012 said:

And the other thing that totally stinks about these financial aid calculations is that if you aren’t too far from being able to afford it and want to try to work a little extra to make up the difference or grandparent wants to help, forget it. Every dime given by a grandparent will just  reduce the aid by almost the entire amount given. Increasing your income also decreases the financial aid. So there really is no path for middle-class students at these schools. You’ve either got to be rich or poor.  Or be one of the very few who receives substantial merit aid. 

 

Exactly, I went back to work part time (had been working from home but not making enough) and that was part of their reasoning as to why our award went down.

[whitestavern]

Thought I'd pop back in here to update. Rochester came back with an additional $10K, but in the same breath told us we would not be getting it next year, so she is officially transferring. She has been accepted to two schools so far, one with $29,000 in merit and one with $17,000 in merit that make them both affordable, but they're not her top choice. So we wait and see. Oh, and one of her close friends just got her package this week and they cut her aid in half.

[MerryAtHope]

1 hour ago, whitestavern said:

Thought I'd pop back in here to update. Rochester came back with an additional $10K, but in the same breath told us we would not be getting it next year, so she is officially transferring. She has been accepted to two schools so far, one with $29,000 in merit and one with $17,000 in merit that make them both affordable, but they're not her top choice. So we wait and see. Oh, and one of her close friends just got her package this week and they cut her aid in half.

Thanks for the update! I guess that's a loud and clear message...

[JanetC]

@whitestavern Thinking of you! How's the school hunt going? I hope your DD ends up with some good choices!

[whitestavern]

@JanetC thanks for checking in! She's narrowed it down to UPitt, Susquehanna, and St. Lawrence, though she hasn't received official acceptance from SLU. She was accepted last year and they said merit would be comparable, so we believe it will be an option. She's not super excited about any of them 😞 She liked Pitt but it's huge, and she's on a waiting list for housing. At this late date, we literally don't have time to go down and try to find an apartment, plus it's an unfamiliar city. I think she should live on campus so she is in the thick of it and it will be easier to find friends. But we did put down a deposit there to hold a place. Also, Pitt's comparable classes are only 3 credits vs Roch's 4, so she will lose 9 credits. Susquehanna will accept all of them, which put them back on her list. Not sure about SLU yet. She's a little concerned about the rich, privileged students/party rep, but she was very involved in the Outing Club at Roch, so I think getting involved with that would give her an like-minded friend group. Pitt has an outdoor club, but it's not really the same type of setting as SLU. I'm not sure how she'll make a decision or if she even will - she may just decide to apply elsewhere for spring admission.

[JanetC]

Pitt is a great school: You can always check for apartments within walking distance and/or people scrambling for last minute roommates. Good luck with the SLU transfer credits and making a final choice. 

[whitestavern]

Visited SLU yesterday, and dd has removed it from consideration. It seemed very small - likely exacerbated by the fact that there were no students on campus. Another turnoff was that she'd be considered a "First Year" and would be required to do the first year seminar (which she did freshman year at University of Rochester). The location and perceived strength of the program were pluses, but she just couldn't see herself there. We're revisiting Susquehanna on Friday. I questioned whether she felt the need to do that due to its small size, but she does want to. It's the lowest priced option by far, and they would take all her credits from Rochester, so she wants to give it a fair evaluation.

[Janeway]

Looks like they are known for front loading... https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2015/06/16/10-colleges-where-upperclassmen-get-less-financial-help

[whitestavern]

Well a decision has been made! At the end it was between UPitt and Susquehanna. She feels that Pitt is too big, too far, and too urban (lacking in green space.) They only accepted 23 of her 32 credits, while Susquehanna accepted all of them, and her major at Susquehanna is a better match. I hope and pray she likes it, that there's enough for her to do on/around campus, that she makes some good friends, and that the quality of the academics and professors are high. There's no way she's going to want to go through all of this again! This last month and a half has been so crummy, I think for her, summer vacation begins today.

[fourisenough]

What a rough ride! As someone close to me (who doesn’t believe in fate or a higher power) always says in situations like this: humans are incredibly adaptable and our ability to find the good and make the best of unforeseen ‘plot twists’ in life is really the greatest measure of our success. I wonder if down the road, she might look back on this mess and the resulting transfer as the best thing that could have happened to her? Anyway, enjoy the rest of summer and best wishes for a calm and productive school year!

[JanetC]

Wishing her the best success in her new college! Happy rest-of-summer to you both!

[whitestavern]

Oh geez, it's me again, lol. I had this strong feeling today that d should give serious consideration to Wheaton, which is another school that she applied to transfer to. We had a horrid visit a few years ago (literally our worst college tour ever), so she never applied as a freshman, but today I was overcome with this feeling to research it. I did, and honestly it looks really great! It's definitely smaller than she wanted, but otherwise it has a lot going for it. I think what could hold her back is that horrible tour we had. The tour guide was the biggest airhead ever and just kept talking in this sing song voice about how she looooved Wheaton because it was "just like her high school!" She was like an extra in the Valley Girl movie (dating myself?) It's kind of become an ongoing joke, it was that bad. So, do I talk to d about this? I would not try to convince her to go, only ask her to do a little research. Does anyone have here have any input on the school? It's the Wheaton that's in MA not IL.

ETA, she was accepted with a large scholarship

Edited August 8, 2019 by whitestavern
more details

[RootAnn]

You said a decision had been made. I wouldn't want to muddy the waters by suggesting another school at this point- that makes it seem as though you are doubting her wisdom in picking the school she's decided on.

I'd just support her as she turns the corner & embarks on a different educational journey than the one she's been on. I wouldn't suggest another direction just as she's decided which way to set off.