deborahg said:
We used John Nettleton at College Financial Network. http://www.collegefinancialnetwork.com/Home_Page.html Website is a little hokey but he was knowledgeable and helpful.
campbell29 said:
Many colleges have a fairly clear formula for how much they give in merit aid. Some even publicize it. The best example I have seen that you can use for reference is on the Ole Miss website that clearly delineated which SAT scores and GPA you needed to get X dollars.
I have found a couple things so far. We have gotten quite a few very nice merit packages. Although we did complete the FAFSA and CSS, none of the offers have mentioned that the need was "aid based", which I assume means I would not have to complete the FAFSA again, and that the school would award the money each year based on grades, not income.
There also seems to be a pretty equivalent awarding of merit aid. Private schools are awarding as much as it would cost to attend an out of state public university, and the state schools are discounting their tuition so that it is mid- way between their published out of state tuition and what your cost would be at Rutgers. For example, Rutgers is about 28k, Delaware says its 42k out of state, but give you a merit grant of 8k.
I have no idea what a "need based" award would be described as, but I assume it could fluctuate yearly based on income. I think there is also an important difference in subsidized vs non subsidized loans, but I don't know how schools administer them.
As far as it "being to late", anecdotally I have heard that after awards are sent out, there is certainly wiggle room to write an appeal letter, and often those appeals might net you a few extra dollars if your child is committed to attending. And yes, outside scholarships offset the schools offer, so it's rarely worth it to have your child spend hours researching and applying for these, as they are deducted from what the schools give you.
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