<p>My daughter is caught between several award letter situations right now. We are being verified, and a large rollover has skewed the FAFSA data retrieval process. I have provided letters & W2s to two top-choice schools…and they tell us this is being treated like a review … even though the 29k rollover was noted as such on our 1040, I guess that doesn’t make it through to colleges, and thus, it looks like income…</p>
<p>Does anyone have experience with this? Denison, for instance, has told is that "the new information " will be reviewed in the first round of reviews on April 15 and we may or may not get more aid (our AGI is 48k). has us worried. same with the College of Wooster (though they were much more relaxed in telling us how to handle it).</p>
<p>Also, we have another school saying they do not release news of Bonner Scholars recipients til June! if we can’t afford the school otherwise, this would make it doable if we knew by the end of April. I just don’t get it.</p>
<p>Can anyone share info on either of these topics?</p>
<p>This is an issue with data retrieval, unfortunately. If you use the DRT but have a rollover, the DRT does not know about the rollover. You have to contact the school to find out what they want (paper copy of tax form showing the rollover, document showing the rollover, etc). They will adjust the FAFSA to reflect the rollover (you can’t, because you can’t alter the DRT info). I can’t say whether or not the aid will be adjusted (but I would hope so, given the situation).</p>
<p>The Bonner Scholars thing is awfully late … any awards made after the May 1 response date sure seems unfair for those who need to know whether or not they can afford the school.</p>
<p>Um…you “could” double deposit, but that is clearly in violation of the rules regarding college selection by May 1.</p>
<p>And if you double deposit (which I do not advise), you would LOSE your second deposit in all likelihood…because it would be AFTER May 1 when you need to make the matriculation decision in normal situations.</p>
<p>I would call ALL the colleges and ask for extensions of acceptance decisions until you have the financials.</p>
<p>You should make your decision with the FA available by May 1. No one can guarantee what would happen afterward. You may also get new scholarship in sophomore year, but obviously you cannot wait till then to make decision. I would suggest you to talk to the FA office of that school with scholarship pending to see if they can come up with something. Nevertheless, I would not take the risk to miss the May1 deadline.</p>
<p>If the other colleges won’t extend your deadline, I wouldn’t hesitate to double deposit (assuming you can afford to lose one deposit). You have to do what’s best for your kid. I see no moral or ethical issues here–you have a legitimate reason to do this (as opposed to those who double deposit because they can’t make a decision). The Bonner scholarship school has made its own problem by having such poor scheduling, so they will have to live with any negative consequences. And if their scholarship does come through, the other school will be in no worse position that it would be if a student withdrew because a waitlist position materialized–in fact, I think this situation is quite analogous to the classic scenario of accepting school A while remaining on School B’s waitlist. Do what you have to do. You won’t be the first or the last.</p>
<p>The ill-advised admissions counselor emailed my daughter back this morning to tell her she messed up, and my daughter should be notified by the end of April (for Bonners app). So, I could double deposit (because though this school is in the top three, it wouldn’t otherwise be as affordable without the Bonners)…but the double deposit bugs me also (and not just because I’m poor :-))</p>
<p>Though I have to say that I don’t make the rules, I just play by 'em. It makes me mad that all good housing is gone by May 1, and students feel pressured to decide before then ( I know there is much banter on this topic on CC).</p>
<p>We are at the mercy or reviews, revaluations, and late scholarship review committees … so beggars can’t be <early> choosers. Right now, I’m reading other stories and starting to feel grateful she applied to so many schools. She has “narrowed it down” to around 5-6, and a really generous award letter will make the difference.</early></p>
<p>As always, I appreciate all perspective received here :-)</p>
<p>Many schools still use housing or other thing to force students to make early decisions. Some school would ask for housing deposit as early as November although the student do not need to commit to attendance. It is good that you will hear back by the end of April. It does not matter what outcome it is, the wait is horrible. ;)</p>