Hey there! When I was indicated how much money my family would be willing to pay for my education annually on the CSS profile, I put in a specific amount. Does anyone know if colleges (Harvard, Yale, etc.) will be making their decisions on how much money to give me (forgive the phrasing) based on my prediction of how much we will be willing to pay, or based on the overall factual breakdown of my family’s financial standing? Thanks in advance!
In our experience that made no difference. The FA package was based completely on our EFC.
Yoir financial aid package at Harvard, Yale, etc. will not be based on your FAFSA EFC. These are Profile schools. Your need based financial aid will be based on the financial data on your Profile…income and asset info.
But I’m an international applicant 
I never completed that
You need to check the requirements for financial aid applications…if the Profile is required for international students…you should have completed it.
I checked it, it’s not. And that wasn’t really my question, either
Unless I’m reading it wrong, Harvard requires the Profile. From the Harvard website…
Yale uses the International Student Financial Aid Application Form
http://www.yale.edu/sfas/finaid/pdf-forms/1516/1516IntlFinAidApp.pdf
In your OP, you said you completed the Profile.
You would not complete a FAFSA…which gives a FAFSA EFC…because you are an international student.
The question about what your family says they can pay is not used in the financial aid calculation for need based aid.
No I did submit the profile, the others were discussing a FAFSA EFC
My D was admitted to three schools that use the CSS profile. We put a very specific amount that we would pay for her education. It made no difference in the award she received, they used our entire financial profile to determine the award.
@Mark1965 So did the amount the college recalculated as you contribution increase or decrease?
Citybus…the SCHOOL calculates the financial need and the aid…and that determines the family contribution.
I am well aware of the process. I was just curious if the schools calculation worked in your favor and you have to pay less than what you put on the CSS profile.
Our EFC was well above what we put on the CSS. We expected this, this is why D also applied to financial safeties where COA is what we are willing to pay.