Deferred - DASB
SAT: 1570
GPA: 3.8 uw
I’m very confused.
Decision: accepted
SAT/ACT: 35
GPA: w 4.4 uw ~3.8
State/Country: Florida
Major: political science
Did you apply for FA?: yes, 24k honors scholarship but no financial aid
Decision: accepted and offered a spot in the honors program
SAT: 1540
GPA: 4.2
State: NY
Major: engineering
FinAid: 30K off each year (mix of two different merit scholarships)
The NPC is college specific so it does more than estimate your EFC. It estimates what that college will do with that EFC. Certainly what they decide to do with that EFC is up to them but NEU does do an excellent job at aiming to meet 100% of demonstrated need. Last year they met 86%. It’s not just Ivies that meet 100% need.
@twicemama @oreomollykona I spoke with NEU Fin Aid on Friday. According to them they have not changed their NHRP policy in over 10 years (including this year). They advertised up to $30k, but as I complained many times here, I was told $30k by at least 4 different admissions people and heard nothing but the same here on CC. She told me that $15k is the baseline for NHRP kids that do not qualify for any other merit. If you have a higher profile and receive other merit then your NHRP goes up (that correlates with other better profile students and honors, etc.). They believe NHRP doesn’t have equal rigor with some of their other merit scholarships so it is tiered based on your profile, honors, etc. I told her I never once heard $15k from anyone including NEU people or parents/students of previous years.
There is an appeal process that the fin aid counselor can initiate, but it sounds like you have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than getting an appeal. She told me if I could get her names of those that told me $30k, that could help my case in that they would want to meet expectations, but I am not counting on any change. Lastly, if you have other NHRP as part of any other college offers, they will politely say to go to those colleges if you feel it is a better offer and they will not match/meet/bump, etc. And in fact, this is not even a consideration in the appeals process. Appeals are completed around April 24th.
I suspect a lot of this has to do with the amount of demand. If I don’t want to pay there are many deferrals behind me willing to pay the full $70k. Like much of this process, NHRP does not seem to be immune to the hyperbole that goes on at many schools. Ultimately NEU still does offer one of the higher amounts for NHRP, so happy to have that, but the marketing machine to get you in the door is in full effect (as it is everywhere). If we didn’t know this was big business we know it now…
@kdmt1998 In speaking with Fin Aid, outside scholarships do not effect merit first, but cannot exceed the total amount of tuition. So unmet financial aid refers to how much Fin aid you got outside of loans. So, for example, I got zero fin aid (but $5,500 in unsub loans), so I can get up to $70k in outside scholarships (but cannot exceed total tuition with merit/loans). So if I got $20k in merit, I could get up to $50k in outside scholarships before they started to reduce loans and then lastly merit. Only if your outside scholarships supersedes your loans, then would merit be reduced. I think for most it’s not an issue as they would only reduce your merit or free grants if your outside supercedes the tuition, so you’re really not penalized. The question would be, however, assuming these outside scholarships are only good for 1 year, if they did indeed reduce your merit, would the merit return the following years now that you don’t have the outside scholarships. I would assume so.
But as @TomSrOfBoston mentions, call your financial aid counselor (don’t take my word for it) to be sure that is the case given your particular circumstance. Every accepted student has an assigned counselor. They are very knowledgeable and helpful and give you ample time to discuss with them. I called on Thursday morning and got a call back Friday afternoon. You can just call Admissions and they will find your child’s fin aid counselor and transfer if available or get them your info to call back. Good luck!
@TomSrOfBoston Do you have any tips on writing a LOCI. Northeastern is my top school and I know some talking points I want to bring up from what I experienced while visiting their campus. However, I do not know how to convey this without being pushy. Is it too forward to straight out say this is where I want to go to school. Do you have any tips for writing a LOCI?
There are quite a few examples of LOCI if you do a search. You can also ask your guidance counselor to review a draft. Just sending a letter at all should be helpful. Good luck!
Sorry if this has already been addressed in this thread, but is the financial aid award that we’re given upon admission a final offer? Not that I want to appeal; I was actually given an excellent aid package. I just can’t help feeling that it might be too good to be true.
@tbrixton I am glad you got some info from FA directly. I guess to their credit, the info posted online (until very recently) has always said up to $30k. (As per the link I provided the other day, the web now just says a competitive scholarship will be given.) Sorry their admissions reps you spoke with were not up to speed. It does seem that past practice has always been to provide $30k. When my older D started NEU in 2012, nmsf at least and I assume nhrp actuallly got full tuition… so their policy may have actually changed within the last ten years as it most def has for nmsf. Has you D gotten other nhrp scholarships from other schools too? I wish you and her the best in making a decision… it is an exciting and stressful time… hopefully she finds the right fit for her!
@california2001 congrats! Can you clarify if that is $56k per year or total over four years? Wondering if Connections scholarship is a new thing? Haven’t heard that mentioned before…
@twicemama Thanks, She received the Dean’s Scholarship at Fordham via NHRP. Before applying, Fordham sent us some info about full tuition as a possibility but see below for details on that. Not sure why it is tied to financial need as NHRP is not need-based… She was accepted to Richmond and will hear in about 2 weeks. Richmond gives $750-$2,000 with a chance at a 1/3 scholarship. But all merit was already given out in original letter so sounds like just the first part is in play. BU is the only other school she applied to that offers NHRP. They offer up to $20,000. Won’t here from BU until mid-March I believe. There are many other schools with good opportunities for large numbers including full tuition, unfortunately my daughter wasn’t interested in those in terms of school, location, etc.
Fordham told me: All National Hispanic Scholars are considered for the full-tuition scholarship, though we are only able to award this to students in the top 3% of our applicant pool. This award was particularly competitive this cycle, as we received over 21,500 applications. Your daughter is receiving one of our other largest merit awards, the Dean’s Scholarship. It is an annual award of at least $15,000; the exact amount ranges between $15,000-$30,000, depending on your family’s financial need (as demonstrated by the FAFSA and CSS Profile). The exact amount of the Dean’s will be listed on your financial aid package, which will be available around February 1 and will also include any other scholarships or grants she’s been awarded.
@california01 In the LOCI indicate that NU is your top choice but also explain why. e.g. experiential learning/coop, international study opportunities etc.
@coffeeconverter It should be, yes. I’ve never heard of an offer being reduced after being given, but you can always confirm with the FA office. Financial aid offers are also covered by the Northeastern Promise for future years:
https://studentfinance.northeastern.edu/applying-for-aid/undergraduate/the-northeastern-promise/
Deferred 
Better than rejection, but…
How hard is it to switch majors? When should I do it? I got accepted for Biology and English, but I want to switch to Computer Science and Business. Can anyone help me out? I’m worried it’ll affect my admission. Thanks.
Decision: deferred
SAT/ACT: 1330
GPA: 3.77 uw 4.23 w
State/Country: Connecticut
Major: finance
Did you apply for FA?:yes
Decision: Accepted
SAT/ACT: 1480
GPA: 3.88 uw 4.69 w
State/Country: NJ
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Did you apply for FA?: Yes
All honors/10 AP classes, tons of extras, awards,varsity sport, leadership and community service.
$16,000 a yr merit award
@tbrixton. Good luck with all this. From what you shared, the Fordham nhrp full tuition scholarship isn’t need based but just very limited in who they give it to (and must be very top of applicant pool overall.) the Deans scholarship does sound need-based with a min of $15k. Sounds like maybe NEU is going that way too… and seems BU is also up to $20k… over the years it seems there has been a shift away from nmsf (and nhrp) merit since that is only test based on one test in particular. There is more of shift away from weighting test scores as much in admissions…but sounds like your D has some good options for schools all around.
Decision: Accepted
ACT: 36
GPA: 4.0/4.0
State/Country: MA
Major: Mathematics and Computer Science