A few more PFS questions...

<p>True, but it depends on the school's philosophy and FA policies. Another school we applied to gave us NOTHING, so far anyway.</p>

<p>True...but it depends on the applicant. You could have a very low EFC and be admitted without any FA simply because the school had already utilized its budget. If the applicant can fill a spot in the class, then they will received the necessary fa.</p>

<p>I know this is an older thread, but have a FA concern that I haven't seen addressed anywhere. Hoping someone has some insight... Our family contribution for BS is about $18K. Our circumstances are a bit unique, though. We are U.S. citizens living overseas, and my H's company will pay over $30K per year for BS in the U.S. I filled this in on question 27. For parent's contribution, I left a zero. This seems like a grey area for me. It's not that we don't want to pay anything, it's that the amount contributed by H's company is a salary benefit. So I feel that it is in part OUR contribution... this is part of our compensation for living so far from home. But now I wonder if putting a zero by parent's contribution is a problem. How will the FA officers view this? Did I make a mistake? And I can pay more if needed (and will). We are in the process of selling our house in the U.S. and would be willing to use those proceeds towards BS. (If it ever sells! Ha ha. The market is horrible!)</p>

<p>@mimsy--
If the $30K will show up on your W-2 or you'll receive a 1099 for it, then it is actually income to YOU that you are spending on your child's education.</p>

<p>I would call the FA office at each of the schools you applied to and discuss this--PRONTO! A zero looks bad if you have some means. I know they say not to leave it blank, so I think they may read it as if you are not willing to contribute, when in fact your contribution is $30K!</p>

<p>Thanks, baseballmom.</p>

<p>Have you all turned in the 2008 tax return? I think one school has a very early deadline for 2008 tax return.</p>

<p>We have not turned in our completed return, but have submitted our 2008 W-2's and 1099's.</p>

<p>Has any of you received calls/emails from any school asking to turn in 2008 tax return and W2's?</p>

<p>no but we already turned them in...</p>

<p>We haven't received anything from the schools asking for the forms. I mailed the W2's in January and the tax forms last Tuesday. Now the waiting truly begins as we are completely done!</p>

<p>watertester-</p>

<p>I did receive a call from one of the reach schools just last week, asking for our 2008 W2's. I had mailed them in mid-January and had a tracking number on the package. I waited on the phone while they found them and confirmed that they had indeed been received... just not filed with the rest of the application. They then told me that we were all set... that's all they needed. There was no mention of the completed 2008 taxes or anything else.</p>

<p>just finished the tax return and will send it tomorrow. Already sent the w-2s and 2007 return. My son is a returning student though, so there is no anxiety this year!</p>

<p>Does anyone know how much FA they will get if their child is accepted? As the admission and FA processes are two separate one with many schools, is it possible that you have found our your family contribution or their support level IF you are accepted? Would they give you that information if you ask for it?</p>

<p>I don't believe they work up packages for people until they are accepted.</p>

<p>On the other hand, some schools have policies which they make clear that they try to fund up to the "demonstrated financial need" which is defined as Cost of Attendance minus Expected Family Contribution. </p>

<p>I don't think any school would tell someone: here's what you would have gotten if we accepted you.</p>

<p>I guess it doesn't make a difference to know a few days ahead of time of M10 anyway. But do different schools calculate the expected family contribution the same way, if not how different can they be?</p>

<p>Most schools I know of use the <a href="https://sss.ets.org/%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://sss.ets.org/&lt;/a> to figure the estimated family contribution. They may then have their own policies for adjusting the EFC number that SSS spits out: one school might add an imputed income for non-working spouses, one may make an adjustment based on assets. It's all up to the individual school.</p>

<p>How much of a possible difference are we talking about - one school from another? a couple of thousand, or 10/20 thousands?</p>

<p>I'm sure the difference could be huge. Our packages differed quite a bit: one school would have cost more twice what another offered. Our experience is limited to three data points, so I don't want to generalize too much.</p>

<p>Thanks Grejuni. What do you think is the reason for being so. Did the schools also consider your child's qualifications/potential for contribution to the school community on top of financial need? It doesn't sound like it's purely because they used different ways to estimate EFC.</p>

<p>I think the difference is that St Andrew's policy is to "meet demonstrated financial need" whereas the other two schools distribute aid "according to demonstrated financial need." In other words, they aren't saying that they won't leave a gap, just that it will distributed according to a formula.</p>

<p>I don't know how my daughter was considered by the admissions folks, so I wouldn't want to say whether she was considered hot property or not.</p>