Financial Aid Package AFTER May 15?

[rds726]

Many schools are giving out financial aid award packages in June.
How are we supposed to make a decision between schools if the deadline is May 15th?

I don't get it? Am I misunderstanding something?

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[nata723]

Many schools are giving out financial aid award packages in June.
How are we supposed to make a decision between schools if the deadline is May 15th?

I don't get it? Am I misunderstanding something?

Do you know if there's somewhere we can see when each school is giving out its package? Or did you find out about each school individually?

 

[scowdeva]

You can contact the schools individually to see when they plan on giving out the packages...just call their financial aid office and they should give you a ballpark date. Also, they can tell you what the budget is if you no longer have that information from the interview day. Ask them if there is standard money that every student gets, as this would apply to you (many private schools give a set amount to each student). Most schools are currently in the process of doling out their scholarships right now- if you haven't received one by May 15, sorry but it's not very likely that one is coming your way. You'll have to make a decision based on the best information you can gather so that the schools have time to utilize their waitlists.

 

[Lshapley]

I had a freak out about this a couple of weeks ago after I was accepted to OHSU. They won't be sending out their packages until June. In general, I would say that if they are not offering you a scholarship before May 15th, you can expect all of your aid to be in the form of loans. There are a number of things you can do to be well-informed though:

1) Email any student contacts you have. They will generally know if scholarships become available, if most people get aid, etc.
2) Check out USNews for % of students receiving scholarship/grant aid. Also look for average graduating debt (good for comparisons, you will graduate with more debt since tuition has been steadily increasing)
3) Call the financial aid office and see if they can give you an estimate
4) Read the official school threads from previous years to see what other students received.