<p>I am debating between Boston University and Berkeley. BU costs more but is a private school and my dad had a heart attack earlier this week and my mom wants me to appeal for more financial aid because of the medical bills… If I don’t want to commit to either college yet, will I still be able to appeal?</p>
<p>I hope that your father is doing well and is on the mend.</p>
<p>In answer to your question, no you do not have to submit the SIR before you can appeal. </p>
<p>Some of the things that you will have to consider/document is that while you may have medical expenses, the school will not consider medical expenses where your family has been reimbursed by insurance, </p>
<p>Is your father the sole person working in your home. During the time where he is out of work, will it be totally unpaid or will he be accruing sick/disability time from his employer?</p>
<p>Has your situation changed to the extent that your father will now be permanently disabled and no longer to work?</p>
<p>Since you have med school in your future, I would recommend that you take attend UCSB where you stated that you can attend for free. You need to accumulate the least amount of debt as an undergrad because:</p>
<p>Your parents income and assets will still be a factor in your getting any need based financial aid in medical school.</p>
<p>You will end up with massive debt for med school</p>
<p>I also hope your dad recovers fully and quickly, but I’m afraid that BU is unlikely to make significant adjustments in your F.A. package until your family’s new financial circumstances are very well understood. Even then, they’re not likely to meet full need, and you’re very likely to end up not being able to afford the school. Your parents are probably in a very poor position to be taking on any additional debt given the unknowns of the medical situation, and you can only take out the Stafford debt limits which are far short of BU’s likely out-of-pocket costs for you. (And, given that you live across the country from BU, I’d guess that their COA may actually be understated in your case.)</p>
<p>You have some great UC options, and I’d really, seriously look at which one might be most financially feasible for your family even under the condition that your dad is not able to fully return to work. Kids get into medical school from a huge array of schools. Really. Going to BU or Berkeley does not increase your chances of getting into medical school. Great grades, Great MCAT scores, and lots of medically-related experiences are the key for med school admissions, and you can do all those things at Santa Barbara. Truly.</p>
<p>Well, darn, I don’t think much will change then…</p>
<p>Is it really that important to minimize debt? My mom told me that UCSD (not UCSB) would be 100% affordable even with both my sister and I going to college but Berkeley is only 3k/year more… I really want to move away, so if I got a paid internship or found a job, that would cover it, wouldn’t it? Or would that make my financial aid package during sophomore year less?</p>
<p>Depending on how much money you may, your the student contribution to your EFC could go up making you eligible for less need based FA</p>