Big gap between EFC + aid and cost

<p>I applied RD, and I just received my financial award letter. I got a Rush Rhees scholarship and some loans, but my aid plus my EFC is over $10,000 below the total cost. I was wondering how this huge of a gap will be covered...</p>

<p>Maybe you'll win the lottery. Otherwise you're looking at loans -- or a cheaper school. Sux I know.</p>

<p>Same observation here. Daughter's EFC should be about 12K, but seems letter seems to indicate that it will cost over 20K to attend UR. Merit is what we expeted, but need-based seems very low.</p>

<p>That's gonna be difficult.</p>

<p>Interesting thread...those of you who are accepted and attending plan to pay this much to go to UR?</p>

<p>It would help to know the specifics of the package. To me the REAL way to evaluate is how much they met with scholarships and grants. To me the loans and work study obviously help but I need to know what the check must be written for. MA Dad, when you say it will cost $20 to attend does that include the loans and workstudy?</p>

<p>I got my financial aid letter today. Good news is i got the Wilder Trustee Scholarship. Bad news is that the aid theyre giving me is not enough at ALL. I'd have to pay 9x my Expectected family contribution. this worries me.</p>

<p>Letter did not even mention what they calculated her EFC to be. All it said was 10K merit, 3K need grant, 1K work study, and 3.5K loan.</p>

<p>Seems like voodoo math--there is no indication how they arrived at these #'s.</p>

<p>Offer isn't even close to what the UR financial aid estimator comes up with.</p>

<p>It will be interesting to compare once offers come in from other schools.</p>

<p>9x your EFC? That surely needs some clarification. Your known EFC is determined by the FAFSA but the private schools use their own calculation. But it should not be that far off.</p>

<p>Private schools that require the PROFILE typically do not indicate what they determine your EFC to be. Most are higher than the FAFSA EFC. In any NEED package the $3500 Stafford loan is a given and next to come is usually some amount of work study. A great package will fill in with the scholarships and grants and hopefully not GAP too much in between that total and the COA. (Cost of Attendance)</p>

<p>cost: 29,000
EFC (fafsa determined) : 3700
sorry i did a fast math estimation before. after doing it on a calculator its actually more like 8x. but still, its a deviation that i cannot make up for.
I didn't know the private schools use their own calculation, but should that really change That much?</p>

<p>i think i can explain everything... there are two ways to calculate the efc: by the federal method and by the institutional method (some colleges use a combination of both). the federal method is typically used by public schools. fasfa calculates efc using the federal method. the institutional method is typically used by private schools. the css calculates efc using the institional method. the federal method is usually very lenient (they don't consider the value of your house, the income of your non-custodial parent, etc.) the institutional method is not lenient at all; it considers all income and assets (including the value of your house). the financial aid policy at the uofr primarily uses the institutional method. as a result, your financial aid award should be very different from the one calculated by fasfa. however, your financial aid award shouldn't be that much different from the amount calculated by the uofr financial aid estimator.</p>

<p>njstudent12345:</p>

<p>That's just it--I'm not comparing the offer to FAFSA (I understand that).</p>

<p>I'm comparing it ot UR's own calculator--and it's not even close!</p>

<p>If UR's offer is way out of line compared to what other comparable schools offer--they may have made an error, and I'll ask for a review.</p>

<p>My EFC is ~ $130 (thats right, one hundred thirty dollars). My UR COA is ~$8,000. Thats over 61x my EFC. We don't own a house, we make car payments, I have a twin brother who's going to college and an older brother who's a jr. at the community college. How the hell am I supposed to cover the difference?!</p>

<p>My twin just got his award letter from New College of Florida and has the same EFC but his COA is -$100+ (if he crunches right, he could get paid to go!). </p>

<p>...:sigh:....what a world. Will my situation get rectified if I fax them a copy of my parent's 1040 + 1099's or is this estimate permanent?</p>

<p>same here, got my package today</p>

<p>10,700k rochester national grant
12k rush rhees
3500 federal loan</p>

<p>EFC was about 7k..</p>

<p>There is NO way my parents can pay 22k a year. I guess it's either loans or no Rochester...:(</p>

<p>hmmm. that's interesting. i guess uofr isn't meeting full need. :(</p>

<p>I don't know if that's right b/c I got my financial aid package today and my EFC was about 2700, and my cost to attend U/R is about 5,000. And that didn't even include my scholarship I got for being a Renaissance scholar (which is a guaranteed 10,000 a year, potentially a full-tuition).</p>

<p>eddymoney, my man, I don't know what's right or wrong. All I do know is that you're in a better fiscal way than me. Everyone gets a different financial-aid package (that's another thing I do know).</p>

<p>Looks like if I get into UR I am going to take out loans. My FAFSA EFC was around $3500, I doubt I am going to be getting any merit based scholarships. Amazing...</p>

<p>I don't know if U of R's policy states that they met 100% of need or not. But the issue there is as has been stated: your EFC based on FAFSA or the EFC based on combining information from the FAFSA and the PROFILE. U of R may have met your need in their estimation. And do remember, any school can say it meets 100% need, even if that need is met with 100% LOANS. Sad but true.</p>

<p>I read an article once that said that some colleges consider your academics when granting fin aid b/c they want to encourage some students to come. Maybe that has something to do with the differeces in packages??</p>