<p>Congrats to all so far! This past weekend was a disaster:( D wanted to go to Portland with friends and I told her no that it was not a great idea! You all can imagine the response I got and how the rest of the weekend progressed. Needless to say, we were both in tears by Sunday!! When I ask her if applications or essays are done I get the sighs and rolling of eyes. I am trying a new tactic…just let her do this on her own time and whatever happens is whatever happens. It has worked for the past couple of days but I am sure I will blow it and ask her again where she is with the applications. She just applied to state flagship and she has one EA. The state flagship should be no problem. All of the others we will have to wait and see. It is a no win situation for us all. Maybe she will get into her EA and we will be done but somehow I doubt it. Big sighs!! Glad to hear so many others are doing well.</p>
<p>LOL, I’m with you on the big sighs TessaR! Besty of luck to your D on her EA. My son is doing an ED…would be his dream if he gets in, but in case he doesn’t (odds are against him) he’s working on all his other applications as well.</p>
<p>My S was just accepted to Carnegie Mellon! He applied as part of their EA/AP program. Now his list of schools to apply to just got a lot smaller (3-4). He thinks he can get the paperwork in place to apply to Oxford by their deadline this Friday, but I am letting him handle it on his own (not thrilled about the idea).</p>
<p>Congrats to all of you getting acceptances! Here, CA and most supplements done and submitted. Everything all teed up at guidance office, but the teacher recs are just now getting loaded in. A bit frustrating, but reach EA should be fine as well as rolling state school. D will finish up last two apps this weekend and then the scholarship stuff will get some attention before the various deadlines. Lots of stress at our house too, but more linked to fall sport and hyper competitive peers than apps themselves. Can’t wait to “sit back and wait.”</p>
<p>Whoo Hoo!!! Congratulations to your son EngrMom!! That’s excellent news!! 
Not only does he have the acceptance, but the list is now shorter. Talk about a win-win!
Cheers!!</p>
<p>Congratulations to AngrMom and Son! Great news!</p>
<p>Very exciting to hear all the good news: Auburn! Carnegie Mellon! Canadian College! MSB’s D’s audition! Etc! However we are still firmly in the ‘big sighs’ camp - if S hands in transcript request forms to the GC, that will count as a big achievement. EngrMom - very interested to hear of your son’s UCAS app to Oxford. D is a graduate, H & I have postgrad degrees - it is an amazing university.</p>
<p>Congratulations to all w/ college acceptances. Such awesome news. </p>
<p>We won’t have any news until mid December- and that is IF and only IF D gets her EA apps done. Last night she told me she thought she had finished her 2 EA apps. I looked at her, stunned and said, no- you still have to do the essays/personal statements for each, proof and then hit the “submit” button. Jeesh! </p>
<p>I’m hoping she’ll submit both by mid Oct- oh wait- it already IS mid-October!</p>
<p>Great news EngrMom. Your son is in a wonderful position so early in the game.</p>
<p>d finished the CA and all supplements save one. submitted app, will do last supplement by end of week (she promised). She seems really motivated (surprisingly). Now if the guidance office and the teacher recommendation follow through in a timely manner everything should be submitted by the end of the month! Of course since D isn’t applying ED anywhere, it could still be the end of January until we hear anything from her top two schools!</p>
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<p>Wouldn’t that be April then? All the dates are swimming together! It’s a long time to wait, either way.</p>
<p>OK Friends… Talk me down as this is just crazy…</p>
<p>Be forewarned…</p>
<p>SHOCKER pre-read…</p>
<p>We just got our FinAid stuff–
The calculated EFC is more than double what the calculator gave us…(our numbers come from the PROFILE)
This is a HYP</p>
<p>They took our income,
added back IN my husband SEP contribution,
then took only PARTIAL deductions (evidently they do not allow dollar for dollar on deductions such as FICA, income taxes etc…)
Then from that “available income” they calculated, they are asking for more than 30%!!!</p>
<p>AND even though that AGI as they calculate it-- was under the 200k cap…and they want 30%!!! from the parents…
I should mention we have no assets, our house is upside down and we have no stocks etc</p>
<p>On top of that, they want $1500 from our kiddo in summer earnings-kiddo doesn’t have summer earnings/$1500 cash,
They want $850 from kiddos acct (stock) which is worth less than 5k total, so kiddo’s acct will effectively be gone in 3 yrs…
AND they want kiddo to work on campus (on top of classes and varsity sport) for an additional $3k a year</p>
<p>So I called to ask about this and that’s what it is–</p>
<p>When I asked why we weren’t being offered the 10% cap on income like they have in their book about “affordability”–she said “your case doesn’t fit under that”…
I asked WHY–??
She said…I will have to have someone else call you back, it won’t be today.</p>
<p>OMG…Not only are they not allowing dollar for dollar what we pay into FICA, taxes and medical (we had over $30k in other medical expenses last year), they want ALL of the SEP contribution included in income!! And that SEP was on the business side of the tax returns not the personal…and its a business deduction! She told me “No institution allows dollar for dollar on the deductions”.</p>
<p>The “institutional method” is a mess…
and evidently those nice little charts showing what your student’s expected award will be in relation to your income and no more than 10%… MAY not apply?? and they can’t tell you why??</p>
<p>Believe me, we have no assets, and a year of this school costs more than my DH has in an IRA!
How can we not fit into a capped EFC even with our income under the published threshold!!</p>
<p>Sigh…
This is just terrible, just terrible.</p>
<p>blueiguana-she is applying EA, so she should hear by February.</p>
<p>Congrats EngMom, Carnegie Mellon !!</p>
<p>EngMom: congrats! I wanted our son to apply to CMU but couldn’t gather any interest. Seems like an awesome place.</p>
<p>Good news here is: IB Language Arts teacher just returned the five essays for the extreme reach school and only changed one word. She said the essays completely sounded like his voice, made her laugh and she loved them. We may hit “submit” tonight on the last application. More than two weeks before the EA deadline!</p>
<p>We finished the FA essays for our state flagship (where he is already accepted) last night and submitted that. Loved being able to check boxes for Boys State, NM Semifinalist, Legacy, Eagle Scout and NHS–all of which apparently have the potential for more merit-aid.</p>
<p>Checked the match school site last night and the school has sent everything in. </p>
<p>We could be DONE, DONE, DONE tonight!..And then on to a stack of local scholarship apps!</p>
<p>fogfog–your experience is somewhat shocking, but at the same time, sadly, goes along with other stories I have read.</p>
<p>The fact that it is almost impossible to get a true picture of the cost of an education is one reason that so many students now feel that they must apply to more than 10 or so. </p>
<p>I wonder how you were able to receive this information (albeit disappointing information) so early?</p>
<p>@holliesue - ahh, I didn’t realize that EA was a Feb decision…I thought it was Dec like ED. Obviously we don’t have a EA school on our list. Too many dates, like I said!</p>
<p>@fogfog - I am so, so sorry for your frustration! We haven’t run the EFC numbers yet. I have tasked H with this. He had to do it last year when he started grad school (great timing bub!). I’m quite sure we will be stuck in the ‘no help, but we can’t realistically afford that much’, so our son has been told instate tuition or merit aid. I really hope someone gets back to you with some firm answers very quickly. This has to be very upsetting for you. :(</p>
<p>fogfog–your experience is somewhat shocking, but at the same time, sadly, goes along with other stories I have read.</p>
<p>The fact that it is almost impossible to get a true picture of the cost of an education is one reason that so many students now feel that they must apply to more than 10 or so. </p>
<p>I wonder how you were able to receive this information (albeit disappointing information) so early?</p>
<p>OlderWiserMom - Send over your shoes. We all want to know how you feel today. To be done before Oct 15 and have a sure YES in your pocket.</p>
<p>fogfog - Tomorrow’s another day. They can’t get water from a dry well. How can a school expect 30% of ‘adjusted’ AGI when you have negative assets? Your fixed expenses probably eat well into the other 70%, let alone any discretionary spending. I have to believe you will get a more reasonable person to speak to tomorrow.</p>
<p>EngrMom - I wanted my S to apply to CMU also, but he said his list was full. Oh well maybe grad school. Congrats to your DS.</p>
<p>Tessa - a hanky and hugs coming your way.</p>
<p>GreatKidsMom - Cannot imagine adding death of a classmate and new GC to the mix. Any chance of discussing process with a different GC, having a meeting with your GC to discuss procedures or talking to recent grad re: last year’s process?</p>
<p>Missypie - Did you fix your Common app problem?</p>
<p>I got a pm from a parent who tells me this particular school is quite opaque about their fin aid…so evidently our story is not unusual…
One parent said they are a tx acct and could not believe the convoluted methodology…
adding back in deductions, depreciation etc…definitley NOT regular certified accounting practices…</p>
<p>Makes me glad our student is NOT studying Finance at this school! Oh gosh,what to do???
I would be happy if they at least walk me through their calculations right now line by line…so I know what they are doing…
I dont know if they will do it–I may ask for their worksheets–/print out</p>