The Washington Post recent published an article that chronicles a parent's frustration with financial aid. In her article entitled When he’s accepted to college, but we can’t afford it, Tracy Major explains how she and her family must come off the high of their kid's many college acceptances to amazing colleges, many of them very selective colleges, when they realize that the financial aid packages that many of these colleges have created for their kid means that they are too expensive and unrealistic. She writes about "merit aid roulette" and how the merit aid offered by many colleges is set aside, often times, for freshmen with outstanding test scores and grades. Merit aid is not something student can count on receiving until they see it on their financial aid letter and merit aid is at the discretion of the college. This ultimately leads her family feeling disappointed that they can only afford to send their kid to a few of the colleges that he actually got into.
We've definitely seen this in the financial aid packages we review with families. Students and families will bring in their acceptance letters from one college after another, racking up Yes after Yes. These Yes's eventually turn into No's for families when, after careful review of the financial aid packages they've received from these colleges, many of acceptances are not realistic because they are nor affordable. Working with a College Advisor will help your family carefully evaluate every financial aid letter so you can make an informed decision when choosing what college your son or daughter ultimately attends. It is important to think about cost when creating a college application list; however; you will not know how much a college will actually cost for your student until the financial aid packages is awarded. For middle class families, it often comes down to what college is most affordable but you do not want your student to only look at schools that seem inexpensive. Many colleges that look expensive on paper can turn out to be affordable once the financial aid letter is reviewed. But sometimes a college that told families they give out tons of financial aid and that they offer lots of scholarships to students, turns out to not be affordable because that money did not, in reality, make it onto the student's financial aid letter. Make sure you work with an experienced College Advisor who will help you make a great list of colleges to apply to. They'll have the knowledge of having seen many financial aid packages from these colleges and can recommend colleges they know give good financial aid.
We've definitely seen this in the financial aid packages we review with families. Students and families will bring in their acceptance letters from one college after another, racking up Yes after Yes. These Yes's eventually turn into No's for families when, after careful review of the financial aid packages they've received from these colleges, many of acceptances are not realistic because they are nor affordable. Working with a College Advisor will help your family carefully evaluate every financial aid letter so you can make an informed decision when choosing what college your son or daughter ultimately attends. It is important to think about cost when creating a college application list; however; you will not know how much a college will actually cost for your student until the financial aid packages is awarded. For middle class families, it often comes down to what college is most affordable but you do not want your student to only look at schools that seem inexpensive. Many colleges that look expensive on paper can turn out to be affordable once the financial aid letter is reviewed. But sometimes a college that told families they give out tons of financial aid and that they offer lots of scholarships to students, turns out to not be affordable because that money did not, in reality, make it onto the student's financial aid letter. Make sure you work with an experienced College Advisor who will help you make a great list of colleges to apply to. They'll have the knowledge of having seen many financial aid packages from these colleges and can recommend colleges they know give good financial aid.
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