<p>For those of you that were already accepted into college:</p>
<p>1) How accurate was the EFC calculator in determining how much your family ACTUALLY paid for college?</p>
<p>2)If any of the colleges provided a chart/info comparing income to financial aid package, was this chart accurate in the amount of FA the college gave?</p>
<p>(For example, Colgate university, which I want to attend, has a chart that states those with income from $80,000-100,000 received an average FA package of $29,000. I want to know how accurate this is</p>
<p>thanks so much!</p>
<p>Financial aid calculators are only as accurate as the information a person puts into them. If you are just putting in income, it may not be accurate at all. there are many differences in other people's income and assets so their situatio may not necessarily be your situation so you cannot get a definitive answer.</p>
<p>Keep in mind when it comes to calculating financial aid, a school like colgate looks at incomes and assets in both the parents and the student's name (stocks, bonds, money in the bank, other investments and home equity).
For example if you the student have a college fund with $100,000 the school you are going to have an EFC of 35,000 (what you pay out of pocket) off the bat before they even look at your parent's income and assets.</p>
<p>If your parents own their own business or work for them selves, that will be considered also. Financial aid looks at the age of the parent, the number of years toward retirement, if there are any other children who the parents are paing for college (undergrad) or high school tuition for. They also look at if there are any illnesses not covered by insurance, hospic, eldercare etc. In addition different schools weigh things differently.</p>
<p>If you are not putting all of these things into the calculator, your numbers may not be correct.</p>