Chance me? Fin aid appeal

Classof2015
Wed, 27 Jun 2012 16:56:19 +0000

Here’s an update – if anyone has anything to add about what I should include in my appeal, glad to hear it.

I just spoke to my financial aid advisor. Basically she said she can’t understand how we’re able to pay our mortgage with so little income. Her exact words were: “Are you going through a short sale?”

She then explained that in their experience, people like me must have “access to other resources” to pay your bills (i.e., I must be hiding assets). I asked: did you notice that my assets dropped in half from 2010 to 2011? Isn’t it plausible that we have been living on our existing savings to meet our obligations?

She reluctantly agreed that I might be right. Lovely.

Here is what I plan to include: specific bank statements from 2010 and 2011 showing drop in assets; home equity account showing increase in debt; property tax bills and mortgage statements showing our monthly housing debt (it’s probably hard for her to believe property taxes could be $24k a year on a house worth $875K, but it’s true); and medical bills and canceled checks showing how much we pay out of pocket for cancer survivor H to make sure he’s still in remission.

Anything I should add (or exclude)? I’m a little concerned giving them too much information.