S24 has made his decision! However, we haven’t received the financial aid package yet. It’s an in-state public school so we have a reasonable idea of total cost but are still waiting to find out if he’ll receive any additional aid beyond his merit scholarship and federal/state aid.
My question is this: should we wait for the financial aid offer before paying the deposit? We know the total without additional aid is within budget so that’s not an issue. So really I’m just wondering if there’s any chance that he’d get a less “attractive” offer if he commits before seeing the numbers.
Since he will be going there anyway…I’d say commit by the published deadline. No need to do so before that date. I doubt it will impact any additional aid.
I would consider reaching out to the FA office and telling them you’re not sure about making a deposit before seeing the numbers. They’re the ones you want help from anyway… might give them a sense that things are tight.
I’m going to tag @kelsmom to see what she thinks about this. Right now, the financial aid offices are dealing with the FAFSA screw ups, and are trying to get financial aid packages out to students. The delays are at the FSA level. And these financial aid folks are very busy and probably overworked right now…
This particular student will be attending this college regardless of what happens aid wise.
This is exactly our concern - I didn’t want to bother them unnecessarily, but S24 is eager to get his housing application in and start joining incoming students groups. We have until June 1 for the deposit deadline, but the housing deadline is currently end of May (I believe priority is given on a first come, first served basis).
I highly doubt a public school is going to change an offer based on a deposit.
And you likely have the merit offer already?
You can wait (if it doesn’t impact housing) if this is going to bother you but it’s likely not going to earn you a better offer.
And if you have to deposit to get in housing (as your previous note infers), then yep get it in.
There have been colleges that enhance the offers as time gets closer and there’s a thread on here I started last year - but I want to say most, if not all schools mentioned, are private.
I would do the housing deposit to get in the line. Is there a different deposit for accepted student housing? Or is the enrollment deposit what you need to do?
Regardless…since your student is going anyway, I’d say…send the deposit. It’s something off the to do list!
A public school is not going to change the financial aid offer based on the fact that the student already deposited. If you’re going anyway, there is no reason to do anything other than pay for the deposit and wait for the aid package.
Thanks for the feedback, all! The FA award arrived this afternoon and mostly confirmed what we were expecting… Except it shows “$0.00” for federal student loans and for work-study. He definitely qualifies for the $5,500 federal loans so I guess we’ll have to contact them anyway now to make sure he’s all set.
All American citizens qualify for the federal loans. He just won’t qualify for a subsidized loan. And not getting a work study award doesn’t mean he can’t work- just that he’ll find a regular job on campus.
He definitely can borrow $5,500 in unsubsidized loans, if he chooses - he just has to let them know later in the summer. But I’m wondering if his award letter is minus federal aid at this point due to all of the FAFSA issues … is there any information explaining the awards?
No explanation, but he sent an email asking for clarification and to confirm they didn’t need any additional info. It did show his PELL and State aid which is why it seemed odd that the federal loans weren’t on there. All the other offers he’s received included both subsidized and unsubsidized loans and work study amounts.
I was fortunate, when my kids went through this, that we had friends who would advise us to “always do the housing deposit”.
The school deposit you can do by the deadline.
The housing deposit is a completely different thing. There’s a difference in rooms and how fast they run out of those rooms. At my daughters school, they had a lottery system. You needed to get a high number (1-50 vs. #362) to get into the really nice buildings but if you didn’t make a housing deposit, or you waited on it, your numbers were lower(#501). Some schools can’t guarantee freshman housing if you don’t make the housing deposit by the deadline. You really have to check with whatever school you’ve applied to and accepted.
For whatever reason, loans were not packaged. Looking at the award letter, this student can borrow $3,500 sub & $2,000 unsub loans. They weren’t awarded FWS but maybe could be eligible. I’m wondering if there might be an issue with the school’s computer awarding process. I would call first thing Monday to ask about the lack of loan & FWS in the award package. Note that there is a way to book an appointment if you would like to talk to someone at more length: SUNY Oswego - Financial Aid Individual Appointments.
S24 heard back from FinAid today - apparently the offers had not been finalized when he saw it last week. It’s been updated to include the Fed loans. No work study but the location he’s hoping to work at does hire both work study as well as non, so he should be good.
Deposit is paid and we’re off and running! Thanks again for all the help!
