I need help with changing my financial aid package as a transfer?

Question

Hello,

I got into George Washington Unviersity (into the Elliott School of International Affairs), and I was really excited. It is the most expensive school int he country, but I figured financial aid would help me. But, I was wrong. The total cost of attendance is about 50,000 (40,000 tuition +10000 housing). I got a 8,000 dolalr scholarship and 5 thousand in loans. The problem is my family contribution is only 29,000 on the FAFSA, which leaves about 10,000 uncovered for! My mom only makes 75,000 a year and my contribution is considered so high because my stepdad had money in the stock market before he married my mom. Legally, I am not entitled to any of the money because it was before my parents got married and they have a prenup, but the financial aid won't listen to me. Does anyone have any advice on what I could possibly tell them or how I can convince them to give me more aid. I have a 3.8 GPA and play the cello, but at a school like GWU its not really impressive...thank you

Answer 1

Let me see if I can help you understand the "finanical aid" package the school is awarding you.

Your EFC is not how much you will have to pay for your school.  This is a code the school uses to determine what kinds of aid to give you and how much. It's better to think of it as a code an not a dollar amount.  You don't use it to determine how much you will have to pay your school.  Because remember loans are you or your family paying for school.

So, by what you have provided this is your situtation:

$50,000 total cost

-13,000 total aid

(5,000 loan + 8,000 scholarship = $13,000 in total aid)

$50,000 minus $13,000 leaves $37,000 you or your parents have left to pay... not $10,000 as you indicated.  Your choice of schools has made this very expensive.

Your options:

You could ask your parents to take out PLUS loans in their name to pay for what they are allowed to borrow and pay cash for the remainding amount if they haven't done so already, but if they are unable or unwilling you may have to look at a cheaper school.  

The gage of a good school is not how much you have to pay, but how much you and your family has to borrow before you graduate.  Find a better school, one that will give you more than a scholarship of only 16% of the total cost.  That is really low for someone with a 3.8 GPA.  

Hope it helps.