Financial Aid Packages...Advice

[eeyorethegreat]

I will have two kids in college this fall. A Junior and a Freshman. They will both be attending the same, small Maine public University. They have not yet sent in their deposits yet as I understand it is best to wait to get the financial aid package before making the deposit because if they know you are definitely coming they are less apt to give you the best financial aid package as they do not need to entice you to come. My DD (freshman) has also applied to another small state university and in the experience with my son (Junior) the financial aide packages were nearly identical.

My main question I am looking for experience on is for my son. He is transferring going into his Junior year. He was told that out of state transfers, Canadian transfers and Maine students from Maine community colleges are all eligible for scholarships as transfers. However, because my son is transferring from an in state school he is not eligible for any of those scholarships. These scholarships are based on academics and extracurricular activities. My son carries a 3.9 GPA and has been active in extracurricular, being president of one campus group, being named male runner of the year for his conference and running at the national meet. Even though he has decided that he will transfer to this school (for a number of reasons) he is rather offended that essentially all other transfers equal to him are offered aid except for students in his situation. Has anyone ever had any luck appealing a financial aid package and gotten scholarships that were at first not open to them? How do you go about this and what advice can you give me? TIA

 

[js]

I will have two kids in college this fall. A Junior and a Freshman. They will both be attending the same, small Maine public University. They have not yet sent in their deposits yet as I understand it is best to wait to get the financial aid package before making the deposit because if they know you are definitely coming they are less apt to give you the best financial aid package as they do not need to entice you to come. My DD (freshman) has also applied to another small state university and in the experience with my son (Junior) the financial aide packages were nearly identical.

My main question I am looking for experience on is for my son. He is transferring going into his Junior year. He was told that out of state transfers, Canadian transfers and Maine students from Maine community colleges are all eligible for scholarships as transfers. However, because my son is transferring from an in state school he is not eligible for any of those scholarships. These scholarships are based on academics and extracurricular activities. My son carries a 3.9 GPA and has been active in extracurricular, being president of one campus group, being named male runner of the year for his conference and running at the national meet. Even though he has decided that he will transfer to this school (for a number of reasons) he is rather offended that essentially all other transfers equal to him are offered aid except for students in his situation. Has anyone ever had any luck appealing a financial aid package and gotten scholarships that were at first not open to them? How do you go about this and what advice can you give me? TIA

You can appeal your package. But, what I would suggest you also do is go to the site collegeconfidential.com. Its like the dis but for college. There is a wealth of information there and many forums.

Good luck. I have a junior in college and one in high school. I feel your pain lol

 

[barkley]

it's possible to ask for reconsideration of a financial aid package, esp. if there's been a change in the current financial circumstances of the student/parent (since the fafsa is based on the parent/student previous year income information). I suggested this to a friend b/c their income took a significant hit downward during her dd's first year at college. I think it opened up some eligibility to need based monies and she might have gotten a bit more in discretionary funds from the university she attended.

as far as scholarships go and appealing the eligibility criteria- the public university my dd attends has strict criteria for all their scholarships (some of it based on the trusts established by donors that fund them) so they have little to no leeway in changing the rules, and if they were to do it for one student then it would open the floodgates to anyone else who was either not considered for/did not apply for those scholarships (because of the published criteria) so it's not up for discussion with their financial aid office. dd also receives a scholarship from a foundation, and I know for a fact they can in no way, shape or form change the criteria for their scholarships b/c they are all funded from individual private trusts that spell out exactly the applicant criteria (they have one significant scholarship that goes unawarded frequently b/c the trust is written up so specifically on the qualifications an applicant must have).

you can always call up the college and speak to one of the financial aide administrators.

 

[eeyorethegreat]

Interestingly, Using the NetPrice Calculator on the school site filling out the one specifically for transfer students and selecting in state transfer, the scholarship in question appears as being eligible. So it seems like there is some inconsistency in how this scholarship is "advertised." I guess we will see when we get the official aid package which way they are going to go with it.