<p>So, I got admitted to BC during EA but submitted required documentations for FA late so I wasn’t able to view my financial award. However, today I noticed that my award is now available, and when I checked, this is what I got: $3,500 in Fed. Direct Loan and $2,400 in Fed. Work Study. $5,900 total.</p>
<p>And that’s it. No grant at all.</p>
<p>I know my dad is a doctor and he’s office is worth about 1 million. However, he also has debts that total up to 1 million, canceling out his assets. He earns around $75,000 a year. Since my family members are living in South Korea, if that amount remains unchanged, my dad would then have to support my family in Korea plus pay +$49,000 for my college education. </p>
<p>Now, I could see that my financial award status is Conditional because I submitted required documentations late and they haven’t reviewed all the documents yet. They say they will update the status once they review everything. My question is, however, that if I have the slightest chance to bump up my financial award to at least +$25,000. If not, is there any way I can appeal? </p>
<p>Please, any kind of advise will be sincerely appreciated. I’m very desperate right not…</p>
<p>haha that’s all i got too. my parents made $170k this year (before taxes) and i think that’s enough to put the nail on the coffin in terms of @#%^& financial aid. we just bought our first house two years ago in orange county of all places, and we took out a 400k+ loan to pay for it. we have to pay around $50k a year for our mortgage, and after taxes are deducted from my parents’ income, we really can’t pay what the FAFSA says we can pay. i guess they figure in our home equity, but do they really expect my family to risk that to pay for my education? that’s the reason why a lot of people lost/are losing their homes in the current recession…</p>
<p>i got more than double from NYU stern, which i believe to be a better option for me to begin with.</p>
<p>i knew that the aid was gonna suck but i didn’t expect it to be that bad.</p>
<p>i think we all have some sort of special circumstance that we want to use, but i don’t think an appeal is going to get me anywhere. i don’t know about you though since i’m not familiar with this kind of situation.</p>
<p>i live in california and i got into UCLA/berkeley, and despite the financial crisis in the system, it’s still waaaaay cheaper than BC and, in my opinion, better.</p>
<p>sorry for ranting on your board i hope you find a way to pay for it all or at least have some kind of backup in case you’re unable to attend for financial reasons.</p>
<p>I have to say that BC gives horrible FA, no matter who tells you differently. I was eligible for 15k in aid but instead received a strange concoction of 3k in loans and work study.</p>
<p>Do more research next time you apply to colleges, BC offers hardly any financial aid. Everyone’s going through financial difficulties, my cousin’s parents make about 40k a year and have a 350k mortgage to pay. Did my cousin apply to BC? No. Because he knew he wouldn’t be able to afford it.</p>
<p>I have posted this in other threads, but I urge you to talk to the financial aid office and explain your situation. Having dependent relatives in another country along with debts equaling assets is a compelling case for more financial aid.</p>
<p>Not sure where folks are obtaining their information, but they should start with facts (instead of a sense of entitlement).</p>
<ol>
<li><p>BC does not offer merit aid (outside of the ~dozen Presidential scholarships). Thus, BC can and will be more expensive than 'Nova and other Catholic colleges (or even NYU) which offers merit money to high stat applicants. (Notably, NYU offers extremely poor financial aid to those at the bottom of its applicant pool; not only does NYU not meet full need for anyone, but it replaces grant money with all loans in the bottom deciles.)</p></li>
<li><p>Fafsa is meaningless to any Profile school, including BC. Your fafsa EFC is just used to determined eligibility for federal aid.</p></li>
<li><p>BC only provides need-based aid; emphasis on the word ‘need’. (And yes, like all Profile colleges, including HYPSM, they get to define the term.) </p></li>
<li><p>BC is not as rich as HYPSM, which offer the best need-based aid, and would fall into the “great” category. HYSPM will cap home equity. BC and Georgetown aren’t wealthy enough to do so.</p></li>
<li><p>BC meets “need” without private loans, unlike similarly-ranked Wake Forest (which packages private loans into its package).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Comparing BC to HYPSM is worse than comparing apples and oranges. Comparing need-based only aid at BC vs. merit money elsewhere is rather inexplicable, particularly for the college-educated (critical thinking skills anyone?). Put it all together, and BC’s financial aid package is not “horrible”; for those with little income and few assets, BC offers a lot of grant money. For many of its applicants who are homeowners with NET equity, however…</p>
<p>annie: I also live in California, and it is the same ~net cost for me to send my D to BC than to a UC at instate rates. (I also had a child that attended an Ivy, so I know what great finaid looks like; it was cheaper than a UC at instate rates.)</p>
<p>Calvin: too bad your cousin did not apply. A large mortgage is an offset to homeownership. The key factor is net equity.</p>
<p>Ok, the crazy thing is BC provided the worst aid for me out of all my schools, even schools with supposedly lower endowments and less % of need met (excluding my public instate of course). I would love to attend, especially after being admitted to CSOM honors but I just can’t afford it.</p>
<p>My FA was also terrible for BC. My parents together make around $75,000 a year and I just got a combined $5,000 with work study and loans. I think I will call the FA office on Monday because I’m praying there is some kind of mistake or I won’t be able to go to BC! It’s not like I was expecting a full ride, but I was expecting at least something…</p>
i hope you find a way to pay for it all or at least have some kind of backup in case you’re unable to attend for financial reasons.</p>