My son was accepted to Cornell and it’s definitely his top choice. He has been busting his tail to apply for scholarships to fund his education. Our income is around 90k and we do own a rental property. However, we were never able to save for college as mom only made a small amount, which only increased in the past 3 years and meanwhile dad became fully disabled from a brain tumor The expected parent contribution is $20k. Initially I thought that was absolutely perfect as he is expecting around 30k in scholarships. We’ve been told that the smaller ones will likely be making a check out to him, but the large one would be sent to the school. Does Cornell ever allow these to be applied to the parent portion?
I need to get ahead of this to make sure we are able to make his dream a reality.
Cornell wants to know about all the scholarships. They will start by reducing the student self-help aid. IMO, they aren’t going to reduce parent contribution using outside scholarships, they will ultimately reduce need based aid if these scholarships are large/greater than student self-help aid.
Regarding the large scholarship, is it a one year or multi-year award? IMO it is very difficult once in college for students to spend time applying for external scholarships.
I don’t know what price you need for Cornell to be affordable, but…does your kid have an affordable admit that doesn’t rely on getting outside scholarships for four years? You can also appeal if your husband not working is new since you applied for fin aid (and I’m sorry to hear this news.)
I’m also going to flag your post, so that the mods can break it off into its own thread, so as not to hijack this one.
I would definitely ask to speak to a financial aid officer and explain the circumstances and see if they can use professional judgment (that’s the term) to re-evaluate your circumstances.
You want to speak to an actual financial aid officer — not the person who answers the phone for their office, which is often a student who can answer basic questions.
And I agree with everything in the post above about outside scholarships. What you want is an increase in need-based aid, if you can successfully appeal your current award.
So sorry for your situation. I hope this works out.
The families that I have known who have rental property have not been able to afford to attend expensive private universities such as Cornell that do not have merit based financial aid. At least in my experience small business owners are usually in the same situation (I have known only one single exception whose small business was VERY successful). The way that they compute need does not always work for all families.
I would do this also. I think that it is a long shot, but is worth trying. My understanding is that financial aid is the one area where it is okay for the parent to make the contact, at least partly on the basis that the parent is likely to be the one paying and the one who understands the financial situation.
Does your son have a more affordable alternative?
I will admit that the one family who I can think of who were in a similar situation had their daughter attend community college. She did very well (not a surprise, she had been one the two strongest students in a daughter’s middle school) and got a full merit tuition scholarship to attend a nearby public university for the last two years of her bachelor’s degree. She lived at home and just needed to pay for books and her car. I happened to run into her one month before graduation at a store near here and she was doing very well.
It’s an awesome acceptance but don’t wreck your financial future for it.
Outside moneys are hard - and even if the check is to him, schools wan you to report it and yes, moneys - or opportunities to earn money - will come off.
Best of luck to your son - no matter where he ends up. If he got into Cornell, he has a bright future ahead of him wherever he enrolls.
Thank you for the feedback. The Cornell financial offer is a similar cost of attendance for a state school, so it’s really great, actually! The issue is that the state school will apply any scholarships to the full bill, unlike Cornell.
We do intend to discuss with a financial aid advisor, but if my son were to take out loans for the family contribution portion, will scholarships apply to those loans? I do realize if he does this I will have to cosign the loans.
If he needs loans that you need to co-sign for, then Cornell is not the right school for you. There’s a reason the govt limits you to $5500 the first year and $27k overall.
It’s highly likely you’d make a decision setting your student back financially for years. There’s no assurance of success just because you attend Cornell.
Ask but assuming outside moneys reduce their need aid, then it’s not worth it.
If your state school gave merit aid, that’s why.
You can keep outside money on merit aid but need aid is designed to meet need. If you need less, they give you less.
The college wants ALL outside scholarships to be reported to them. Really, there is no way around this requirement. It sounds like your son received a significant amount of need based aid from Cornell. That need based aid will be reduced by the outside scholarships he receives…because that extra money ctually reduces your financial need.
Some colleges do allow stacking of outside awards with school based ones up to the cost of attendance. Cornell policy is not to do this.
Can you afford that $20,000 a year cost without taking more loans?
Agree with others…reach out to the Cornell Financial Aid Office and discuss this with someone.
If dad’s disability and reduced income were not reflected on the financial aid forms, please mention this extenuating circumstance.