Official Waiting Room

soze
Tue, 23 Mar 2010 08:56:14 +0000

dancer1502:
They didn’t reject you because you are qualified to attend and they practice need-blind admissions.

I don’t get this bit about equity in your grandmother’s house. If your parents don’t own the house you are living in, then its equity should not play a part in calculating your assets. It sounds like somebody messed up filling out your financial aid forms. That’s not Brandeis’ fault.

P.S.: I’m not saying your family should do this (in fact, I don’t think they should), BUT… many, many people sell their homes (or worse) to put kids through college. My dad in fact spend three years flying bombing missions during WWII to finance his education and then sold a house that his parents left him to finance his brother’s education.

P.P.S.: Also, tapping into home equity does not require selling your house. You can borrow against equity in a home. Taking an extreme example, if someone was living in a house with two-million dollars in equity but had no cash in the bank, would you expect Brandeis to provide need-based aid for them? (Again, I’m not suggesting you do this, but many people do.)

I understand you are bitter, but financial aid is not an entitlement.