Accuracy of EFC Estimators / CSS Business Supplement

Paying for College
1

<p>I'd greatly appreciate any responses to these two questions. </p>

<p>I'm starting college next year; I was accepted EA to Georgetown am waiting on regular from Princeton. I also applied to GW but I don't see myself going there given my EA at Gtown. If I get into Princeton, I don't know where I'd go between it and G-town, but I am very interested to see Fin Aid packages. </p>

<p>(1) I've completed almost every EFC estimator I've been able to find and usually I get basically the same numbers. I've obviously submitted all of my FAFSA forms and CSS Profiles a while back. Using the exact figures from those, the CollegeBoard's estimator gives me the following: </p>

<p>Federal Methodology EFC : $3238
Institutional Methodology EFC : $6998</p>

<p>I am an only child and my family had a total income of ~$40k for the last year. No real savings. The only other money is about $45,000 in checking accounts. No second real estates, etc. Since everyone seems to say that they don't count house equity, I hope that's true. The difference between our home's value and what we owe on it is about $120k, but we don't have a loan out or anything. Does primary home value even impact these considerations? </p>

<p>How accurate are these estimators? Seeing as Georgetown promises to meet 100% of aid, I still don't know what to expect. My family really cannot afford more than $8k out of pocket total / yr. Is this reasonable? Can I expect to get close to $33 - 35k in grants from Gtown plus some loans? A few thousand / year in loans is not too big of a concern. I really hope that I don't get a package back that suggests $30k a year in loans or something. </p>

<p>(2) Georgetown required a business supplement in addition to the CSS profile. My father owns his own business. We filed the form, which was very, very thorough. Does anyone have experience with these? His company had gross sales of approximately $1 million. But that really says nothing - his salary, our income, etc. are no where near that given the business expenses and salaries of other employees, taxes, etc. In the end not much is left for the owner in this case. In fact, as was reflected in the documents, the company had more debt than income last year. </p>

<p>If I get into Princeton, which is in itself a big ?, I'm aware they give 100% of their aid in grant form. That's nice but again, that 100% is based on what my need is, which right now is the thing concerning me the most. </p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

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<p>The estimators are normally pretty accurate IF you put in good information.</p>

<p>Home equity will be counted for the CSS Profile which is used by the schools you listed.</p>

<p>I hope your father didn't overvalue his business. The number one problem with business owners is overvaluing thier business. This can swing an EFC thousands of dollars.</p>

<p>You'll probably see some awards shortly. You'll know then what it looks like.</p>

<p>What's your backup plan? FAFSA schools will have lower EFC's than the Profile schools you listed.</p>

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<p>I don't think overvaluing is the concern here - once again, the debts incurred were greater than any profits. </p>

<p>Those are the three schools that I've applied to. True, I might get more money elsewhere, but I have worked hard to be able to go to these types of institutions, and as much as money is an issue, I'm going to have to choose my education over it. I don't want to argue with anyone over whether or not it's 'worth it' at this stage - I've already heard plenty of that, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion on the matter.</p>

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<p>I'm tired of arguing with you students as well. I could come up with some kind of "well, when you're older" whiny saying; but that would make me sound much older than I am.</p>

<p>Debts are a matter of assets and liabilities. Profits are a matter of income and expenses. Although the two are very important in determing the value of a business, just because your debt is higher than your profit doesn't mean much of anything alone.</p>