$500 deposit by April 15 but no Financial Aid package?!

[VetsRule]

I’ve worked for many years to get into vet school and now that I have two seats I am waiting for my financial aid packages. I’ve been told by Tufts and Penn I may not have a financial aid package before April 15! Has anyone else been told this? Has anyone received financial aid at any vet school? Or any assurances of aid before April 15?
I have a friend who was told her offer of admission is valid when the class is not full. But as soon as the class fills (I believe Western), her offer is no longer good – even if it is before April 15. Has anyone else been told this? from any school?
We’re all about to spend $200,000 or more (those of us lucky enough to get in) on vet school and we don’t know our financial aid until after we deposit?! This feels very wrong.
I want to be a vet but at what cost? Vets earn so little and we take on huge debt. I'm distressed about the economics and more importantly, the bad timing on the part of the vet schools.

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[AngSchmange]

Wait, wait wait...schools offer financial aid? In my experience, vet schools do not offer financial aid for students. The point of the FAFSA is to prove to loan companies that you need the loans and that you are 'allowed' to have your whole tuition covered by loans as opposed to out of pocket. I have an EFC (expected family contribution) of $0, so that means that all of my tuition and living costs can be covered by the loans I choose. The FAFSA also told me that I can't use the TAP or some other grants because I'm not going to school in-state (New York). From what I thought, there isn't 'financial aid' like there is in undergrad. You pay what it costs, the difference is how much can be covered by federal or private loans.

 

[twelvetigers]

You should have a good idea about the debt you are going to undertake without having to see your financial aid. If you are attending a U.S. school, you should be able to easily get tuition covered by government loans with fixed interest rates. So, seeing the financial aid shouldn't make a huge difference, but the cost of attendance should make a difference in where you choose to attend.

If you will be spending $200,000 or more (I won't, thank goodness) then you should be very sure that this is what you want to do. There have been quite a few threads about the outrageous debt that vet students can end up with. I don't want to turn this into one of those, but I can link you to a few if you can't find them among the recent threads.

As for the April 15th dilemma, there was a thread about that as well. It stinks and some are working to keep schools from being able to overaccept so heavily for OOS spots (to where they feel the need to include that disclaimer in letters of admission).

Here's a thread for that:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=799605

ETA: I understood that you meant info about loans when you said financial aid. It's true that there are no grants for vet school (that I know of) and scholarships are usually offered with admission, so what you see is what you pay, through subsidized loans(and unsubsidized loans if needed).

 

[Artery]

Hmm...I applied for financial aid at Tufts too and on their application they said that they made the deadline for financial aid a month or so earlier than the deadline you need to decide by (and send in your deposit by) so that they can tell you your financial aid package, and you can make a more informed decision.
That's what I was told I'm going to wait a little while longer before I just say, screw it, and send in my deposit.

 

[AngSchmange]

Yea, what TT is saying is what I was trying to say hahaha. Watching Criminal Minds hehe

 

[l2vet]

Yea, what TT is saying is what I was trying to say hahaha. Watching Criminal Minds hehe

Love that show <3

Ohio State doesn't finalize your loan package until June/July. That being said, unless you've got some source of funding or are taking out private loans, which you handle completely independently of the school, your expenses will be covered by federal loans, period.

 

[AngSchmange]

Love that show <3

Ohio State doesn't finalize your loan package until June/July. That being said, unless you've got some source of funding or are taking out private loans, which you handle completely independently of the school, your expenses will be covered by federal loans, period.

Or, any scholarships/grants you may receive via websites like Fastweb. Tufts has A LOT A LOT A LOT on this website. I clicked pre-vet and Vet student when I signed up and got like, seriously, at least 10 for JUST TCSVM students. You should really look into these, there is a lot of money at stake to help you out on these websites

Actually...I'm getting a LOT of baby stuff because sadly I think one of these scholarship sites sent my email and address to a baby company. WHAT THE HECK I'm only 21 and not even considering kids yet, I honestly don't know why i keep getting baby magazines and the other day got baby formula in the mail (while I'm waiting for school books and RVC acceptance package!). Seriously annoying, so be careful too.

 

[awaring1]

Or, any scholarships/grants you may receive via websites like Fastweb. Tufts has A LOT A LOT A LOT on this website. I clicked pre-vet and Vet student when I signed up and got like, seriously, at least 10 for JUST TCSVM students. You should really look into these, there is a lot of money at stake to help you out on these websites

Really? I tried fastweb and they really haven't given me anything useful so far.

 

[AngSchmange]

I haven't seriously started applying to any yet, but there are some available for in-country Veterinary students (doesn't apply to me cause I'm going to the UK), and some other just random essay questions where you say 'what you want to do when you grow up' and goals. A few like that have come my way. There was an AKC one, but since I don't work with show dogs I clicked out of that. Idk, a bunch show up and I always see ones that could pertain. I mentioned it more for the fact that there have been a lot of Tufts ones for some reason that come up, and since VetsRule posted that one of her schools was Tufts I wanted to add it

 

[BlacKAT33]

what? As long as you filled out the fafsa and your master promissory note when it says you need to you should be fine. I can't remember what else I did but that is the main thing. Everyone in vet school (or any graduate degree) is guaranteed to be covered for their tuition and living expenses.
I'm confused by what you say tufts and penn said. Are you saying that you don't have enough money for the 500$ deposit and you need your financial aid to come in before April 15th so you can pay it? Or are you saying you dont want to pay the 500$ deposit before you know how much financial aid you will get?
Well, I filled out my fafsa last year in Feb and I got my financial aid earlier than almost anyone, June. There is no way your financial aid will come through before April 15th, that is wayyy fast for your first year applying. Once you are in school and everything is set up they will come in faster. I applied this Jan. for some more money and it came in less than a month.

 

[libster06]

I'm confused by what you say tufts and penn said. Are you saying that you don't have enough money for the 500$ deposit and you need your financial aid to come in before April 15th so you can pay it? Or are you saying you dont want to pay the 500$ deposit before you know how much financial aid you will get?

That's what I was confused on too. If you're worried about it for the $500, the fed aid won't cover that, as it won't be applied to you until the summer. If you want to take out a private loan through a personal bank to cover it (you'll probably have to take out a private loan anyways for living expenses), you could do that now and have the money for the April 15th deadline.

 

[Robdude]

Some schools demand 5x that amount

 

[AngSchmange]

That's what I was confused on too. If you're worried about it for the $500, the fed aid won't cover that, as it won't be applied to you until the summer. If you want to take out a private loan through a personal bank to cover it (you'll probably have to take out a private loan anyways for living expenses), you could do that now and have the money for the April 15th deadline.

Something is telling me this isn't the issue, but that the issue is going to be the final price of VetsRule's attendance to either school, since price is a big issue. Right? But what you need to compare is IS/OOS for both schools, since this is what you're going to be taking out loans to cover.

 

[libster06]

Some schools demand 5x that amount

For a place holder deposit?!?! Oh my goodness....

but my school eventually deducted the $500 from my tuition costs when it came time in August to pay our bills

 

[libster06]

Something is telling me this isn't the issue, but that the issue is going to be the final price of VetsRule's attendance to either school, since price is a big issue. Right? But what you need to compare is IS/OOS for both schools, since this is what you're going to be taking out loans to cover.

I think the issue is that the OP thinks the loans may not cover the whole tuition costs, and they are worried that by securing their place with the $500, they will be locked in and possibly screwed once their financial aid arrives. If that's the case, then you shouldn't be worried... they will give you as much as you need (assuming you're not applying as a dependent under parents who make millions... you might not be so lucky). Also, if I remember correctly FAFSA should let you know within a week or so of applying for it how much you're eligible for? I could be wrong but I though tthey did... Its important to know the actual cost of tuition at each school so if you don't need the whole offered amount you can decline however much you don't need.

 

[AngSchmange]

I think the issue is that the OP thinks the loans may not cover the whole tuition costs, and they are worried that by securing their place with the $500, they will be locked in and possibly screwed once their financial aid arrives. If that's the case, then you shouldn't be worried... they will give you as much as you need (assuming you're not applying as a dependent under parents who make millions... you might not be so lucky). Also, if I remember correctly FAFSA should let you know within a week or so of applying for it how much you're eligible for? I could be wrong but I though tthey did... Its important to know the actual cost of tuition at each school so if you don't need the whole offered amount you can decline however much you don't need.

Yea..this is what I meant to say lol. Again...criminal minds makes me loopy. And yea, if you did your FAFSA like a month ago or even weeks ago, you'll get the results within days...I think my results were the next day. All it told me was that all of my tuition/Cost of living could be covered with loans.

 

[VetsRule]

Yeh, I have the $500/$1000 deposit. I have been out of school for a while and I don't know the level of gov't loans I will get. The gov't loans are financial aid and they're much more affordable than private loans. I am not sure I or any of us will understand the amount of interest we'll pay. So we're suppose to make $500/$1000 decision before the schools have our fin aid package ready. I think this is wrong. And being pressured to make a decision even earlier than April 15 is wrong too. The timing of these milestones, aid/loans and the deposit deadline seems unfair. Am I all wet on this, or does anyone else feel they should know their interest rates before dropping $500?

 

[EllieGirl89]

Yeh, I have the $500/$1000 deposit. I have been out of school for a while and I don't know the level of gov't loans I will get. The gov't loans are financial aid and they're much more affordable than private loans. I am not sure I or any of us will understand the amount of interest we'll pay. So we're suppose to make $500/$1000 decision before the schools have our fin aid package ready. I think this is wrong. And being pressured to make a decision even earlier than April 15 is wrong too. The timing of these milestones, aid/loans and the deposit deadline seems unfair. Am I all wet on this, or does anyone else feel they should know their interest rates before dropping $500?

You can look online and find your interest rates.

 

[twelvetigers]

Yeah, all the info for government aid is out there. It's guaranteed that we will receive the aid in enough amount to cover school, even at one that costs $60k/year. The exact combo of subsidized and unsubsidized loans may be a bit harder to predict, but it should be the same amount of the one and the rest made if the other. So, your best bet is to go wherever is cheaper for you, because that is the only variable present here - the total amount coming out. Nothing else will differ, including interest. Your credit doesn't matter either. They're standard govt loans.

 

[JumpHigherLivie]

they will give you as much as you need (assuming you're not applying as a dependent under parents who make millions... you might not be so lucky).... .

Just to clarify, unless MSU is different, as much as you need is as much as they determine you need. The school creates a budget of what they think you should be able to live on, and that's what gets covered (through FAFSA). I personally think that it's enough to live on, but there were some people in my class that definately thought differently of the budget they gave us. And financial informed them that no, just because you want to live in a fancy apartment by yourself (twice what most of us were paying to live by ourselves) does not qualify you for more aid (there are situations that do, such as extreme medical conditions that require extra expenses).

 

[BlacKAT33]

Just to clarify, unless MSU is different, as much as you need is as much as they determine you need. The school creates a budget of what they think you should be able to live on, and that's what gets covered (through FAFSA). I personally think that it's enough to live on, but there were some people in my class that definately thought differently of the budget they gave us. And financial informed them that no, just because you want to live in a fancy apartment by yourself (twice what most of us were paying to live by ourselves) does not qualify you for more aid (there are situations that do, such as extreme medical conditions that require extra expenses).

Hmm I'm living in a fancy apt in philly and I got covered for everything lol Also my tuition is more than 40k. I'm not sure how much MSU puts estimates. I think Penn definitely overestimates because they know the range for borrowing money can be really big depending on where you want to live. I even included 2 overseas trips I'll be going on this summer.

 

[libster06]

Just to clarify, unless MSU is different, as much as you need is as much as they determine you need. The school creates a budget of what they think you should be able to live on, and that's what gets covered (through FAFSA). I personally think that it's enough to live on, but there were some people in my class that definately thought differently of the budget they gave us. And financial informed them that no, just because you want to live in a fancy apartment by yourself (twice what most of us were paying to live by ourselves) does not qualify you for more aid (there are situations that do, such as extreme medical conditions that require extra expenses).

Well, at LSU my tuition is 38,5 and it was all covered by federal aid, based on my eligibility. If you are an independent making no money or very little money, the "amount you need" is the full tuition. I have not heard of federal loans going towards apartments and living expenses, and that definitely was not where my aid went- it was strictly to the school for the exact tuition cost. LSU estimates how much you need in a document they send out (a theoretical projection of living costs and books and tuition, etc.) and stuff but then YOU ultimately decide how much to take out. The rest of my costs, the money I'm "living on", gets covered by me, not the government... with a loan from a private bank. I don't see how a school could determine my cost of living and also make my loan amount decisions for me... that doesn't seem right. Maybe I am understanding this wrong?

 

[GellaBella]

I think the confusion is that people are grouping a bunch of different types of loans under the "gov't loan" category, which is correct since nowadays the govt handles most of these loans but it makes things a little confusing.

So I get the typical Federal Direct Subsidized ($8500) and Unsubsidized ($32,000) government loans. These (almost) completely cover my tuition. I then take out a Direct GradPlus loan to cover the remainder of my tuition and my living expenses. The Direct GradPlus loan has a higher interest rate but is also through the government and can be used to make up the difference between your schools tuition and the amount the school estimates you actually need to live.

I think here at Penn they say you need about $60k per year (OOS) to live. You don't have to take out an additional $20k in GradPlus loans if you don't think you need it. But in case you do, Penn has told the government that that is what a typical Penn student needs, so the loan is available to us if we want it.

As far as the OP is concerned, I agree with everyone else. Financial aid in vet school is not like financial aid in undergrad. If they were offering you a scholorship (basically the only type of free aid they give out off the bat) they would have mentioned it in your letter of acceptance. So what you need to look at is the cost of living for the area and the cost of tuition. Because that is what you will be paying. Now once you get accepted there are opportunities to get money based on academic merit and financial need and these vary with the school. I know Tufts has a bunch of scholorships like this for in-state MA residents. Penn has some as well (doesn't seem like as many) but they don't seem to be based on residency. So, yeah, if you're looking between Penn and Tufts you're unfortunately going to be paying a lot. Whether you want to go through with that is up to you.

 

[Robdude]

For a place holder deposit?!?! Oh my goodness....

but my school eventually deducted the $500 from my tuition costs when it came time in August to pay our bills

I think it's outrageous - but I know Dublin wants 2000 Euro. That works out to like 2,777 dollars using today's exchange rate. And they want it before April 15th.

 

[sumstorm]

I think it's outrageous - but I know Dublin wants 2000 Euro. That works out to like 2,777 dollars using today's exchange rate. And they want it before April 15th.

Why is it outrageous that they want a deposit? Most of the financial questions should have been at least tentatively researched before applying to the schools.

The basic information the applicant needs to know is total cost of attendance (COA) and whether the school assures that they will get that in financial aid, since our financial aid (except the HPSL and subsidized vs unsubsidized loans) in professional school isn't based on EFC (expected family contribution.)

There is another thread about the need to commit before April 15th and I agree that is inappropriate and inviolate of the agreements made between vet schools.

 

[libster06]

Why is it outrageous that they want a deposit? Most of the financial questions should have been at least tentatively researched before applying to the schools.

The basic information the applicant needs to know is total cost of attendance (COA) and whether the school assures that they will get that in financial aid, since our financial aid (except the HPSL and subsidized vs unsubsidized loans) in professional school isn't based on EFC (expected family contribution.)

There is another thread about the need to commit before April 15th and I agree that is inappropriate and inviolate of the agreements made between vet schools.

It's outrageous that they want a THREE THOUSAND DOLLAR deposit on about a 2 month notice. Most people don't really have that lying around, or the amount of working hours to save up...

 

[twelvetigers]

I feel for anyone accepted to a school like that and waitlisted at a school in the states... they could then pay the deposit knowing that they will probably get off the waitlist for the state school, but who wants to risk it? It's a lot of money. I'm not saying I wouldn't pay it, or that I wouldn't have considered it when applying, but it still stinks.

 

[Robdude]

Why is it outrageous that they want a deposit? Most of the financial questions should have been at least tentatively researched before applying to the schools.

The basic information the applicant needs to know is total cost of attendance (COA) and whether the school assures that they will get that in financial aid, since our financial aid (except the HPSL and subsidized vs unsubsidized loans) in professional school isn't based on EFC (expected family contribution.)

There is another thread about the need to commit before April 15th and I agree that is inappropriate and inviolate of the agreements made between vet schools.

I don't feel like the deposit is an effective way of securing your seat. Paying the deposit doesn't ensure a student is going to attend and the fixed nature of the cost disproportionately hurts the poor.

There are better solutions that wouldn't require a deposit and would avoid the problem of people sending the $$$ and still not attending. At least, amongst AVMA accredited schools (participation could be a requirement of AVMA accreditation).

I'm not trying to get political or anything; but, I can honestly say that if I didn't have 7-8k lying around, I would not be able to attend vet school. Granted, I applied to ten schools, interviewed at four, was accepted at two, and wait-listed at one. Between the VMCAS fees, the individual school fees, the transcript fees, the cost of attending interviews (gas, parking, airfare, rental car, hotel, missed work) and the deposit, I'm very close to 8k. For people with wealthy/middle class parents or non-traditional students, maybe it's not a concern. But, it seems like a huge financial burden for otherwise excellent candidates.

 

[sumstorm]

. For people with wealthy/middle class parents or non-traditional students, maybe it's not a concern. But, it seems like a huge financial burden for otherwise excellent candidates.

part of the reason I am is a non-trad was that I couldn't even afford to apply to vet schools a decade ago. I do understand, but there are costs to having a candidate ditch a position as well, and I personally don't want to pay for those costs out of my steeply climbing tuition. I do agree it is difficult, but I'm not sure there are great ways for covering the costs if a student pulls a no-show the first day of classes. We had several students leave during orientation; that is expensive for a school to recover from, and puts an enormous strain on any students called off the waitlist.

 

[Robdude]

part of the reason I am is a non-trad was that I couldn't even afford to apply to vet schools a decade ago. I do understand, but there are costs to having a candidate ditch a position as well, and I personally don't want to pay for those costs out of my steeply climbing tuition. I do agree it is difficult, but I'm not sure there are great ways for covering the costs if a student pulls a no-show the first day of classes. We had several students leave during orientation; that is expensive for a school to recover from, and puts an enormous strain on any students called off the waitlist.

I just think you can have a system that prevents no-shows and doesn't require students to pay deposits.

 

[nyanko]

We don't have a deposit at UC Davis, and we didn't have any no-shows.

 

[Armymutt25A]

I feel for anyone accepted to a school like that and waitlisted at a school in the states... they could then pay the deposit knowing that they will probably get off the waitlist for the state school, but who wants to risk it? It's a lot of money. I'm not saying I wouldn't pay it, or that I wouldn't have considered it when applying, but it still stinks.

Then again, why would you apply to a school if you didn't want to go there? Most people apply to foreign schools as a backup. If you're in that situation, then you might as well go through with your plan, unless you are a gambler. Just have to remember to put that you were accepted to a program on next year's app, if you didn't get called off the wait list.

 

[AngSchmange]

Then again, why would you apply to a school if you didn't want to go there? Most people apply to foreign schools as a backup. If you're in that situation, then you might as well go through with your plan, unless you are a gambler. Just have to remember to put that you were accepted to a program on next year's app, if you didn't get called off the wait list.

I actually applied to a bunch of US schools as a back-up for my top choice, RVC, in London. Once I did a little more research, I fell in love with Western, but I was pretty sure that if I got in I would choose RVC anyways. I may have turned it down for Cornell, my in-state, but I knew I barely had any chance to get in haha.

 

[sumstorm]

We don't have a deposit at UC Davis, and we didn't have any no-shows.

We didn't have any true no-shows, but we did have 4 medical deferments occur during orientation last year, then someone quit two weeks in, followed by two more departures at 2 months in. I'm pretty sure none of those got the deposit back, though the one a couple weeks in got a partial tuition refund. However, all of that does mean our class is 8 folks short this year....which means 8 tuitions short... which I'm sure isn't helping in arguments against a 11-14% tuition increase. I'm use to deposits for rentals, earnest money for houses, etc, so I guess it just doens't bother me that much. Here if you don't have the money for a deposit, you probably won't have the money to relocate/books/etc and we don't get our financial aid until a week or two into the first semseter.

I'm not disagreeing that it sucks when you can't afford it (was a major contributor to my delaying for a decade) but I don't feel like it is completly unreasonable. My undersanding is part of the reason is a cash flow issue for the schools as well, but I don't know how true that is (just what a prof said.)

 

[nyanko]

Of course, there was the fact that we had to purchase one of two specific laptop models prior to the first day of orientation (and we didn't get our aid until then either). The money doesn't go directly to the school for those, but it does mean that people will probably show up because they will have invested between $1200-$1800 anyway.

And WOW, that seems like a fairly high number of students to lose! Is that typical at NCSU?