By Jason Buitrago, Assistant Director of Financial Aid
Scenario: You’ve been admitted to the U of R and you’ve applied for need-based financial aid. Roughly 7-10 business days after receiving your admissions notification, you receive an e-mail prompting you to sign in to FAOnline, the University’s student financial aid portal. You dutifully sign in, and there you have it: your Rochester financial aid award. Now what?
Here are some tips I’ve discovered to be useful while you navigate the sea of financial aid during the awarding season:
Read through FAOnline
Read? Shocking, I know. FAOnline offers students loads of information related to financial aid. Take a look at the Awards tab. The awards are split per semester. Navigate through the other tabs. Read the “Financial Aid Information for Undergraduates 1112.pdf.” This offers insight on the awards you have been offered (i.e., scholarships versus grants versus work study versus loans), along with FAQs. Oftentimes, reading the materials may help craft questions you may have for your counselor down the road.
Crunch the numbers
Once you’re done reading the materials, go back and revisit the awards and perform the following simple math equation: Total Cost of Attendance – Total 2011-12 Awards = Your Rochester Expected Family Contribution (EFC).
This number, your EFC, is a result of your financial aid application going through a series of formulas, with many variables. Talk your EFC over with your parents. Internalize. Construct budgets. Figure out what financial sacrifices might need to be made. Formulate questions specific to you and to your family’s situation.
Communicate with us
Once you’ve completed your reading and number-crunching, contact us. Call or send an e-mail to your financial aid counselor, set up an appointment, stop on by and tell us your thoughts. Are you ecstatic? Are you surprised? Do you have any concerns? Wondering how to finance your EFC? Do you have any special financial circumstances? Tell us. Although the application helps us gauge your family’s financial strength, tell us about special expenses or circumstances; they may be applicable to the need-based calculation. Financial aid is unique to each student; your counselor will be able to cater to your specific situation and provide guidance on how to best proceed.
During the communication process, remember a few key tidbits:
- Student applicants should be engaged in the process just as much as, if not more than, their parents.
- Don’t use the words “negotiation” or “entitlement”—they’re like nails on a chalkboard for aid counselors.
- And most importantly (albeit slightly selfish), be nice to your financial aid counselor. If you enroll, you’ll likely be working with this person for the next four years of your undergraduate career. Fostering a positive, healthy relationship with us from the onset is a pretty smart idea. Trust me. We’ll make sure to do the same.
There’s a lot at stake this time of year for countless students across the nation. Don’t lose sight of how proud you should be of your accomplishments thus far. Ultimately, by May 1, you’ll select the college best-suited for you and continue down your path of further success. That’s exactly why I enjoy my role in financial aid: I get to assist students in constructing that path. Best of luck!