<p>once I fill out the FAFSA and my expected family income is determined, will I get the same need-based package at every college that accepts me?</p>
<p>It is highly unlikely that you will get the same financial aid package at each of the schools you apply to. Some give more grants, others give more loans. Some require more of you from summer earnings. Even the EFCs the schools go by may differ, depending upon the financial aid philosophy of the schools. Many schools ask for a tax return, many ask for the Profile form or have their own institutional form which provide the schools more detailed information about assets and income. One reason students who have need do not apply Early Decision is to compare financial aid offers from schools.</p>
<p>I agree with momofthree, is you are looking for need based aid, the fafsa is only one component (which determines if you are eligible for federal aid, pell subsidized loans). As she stated, many schools will ask for your css profile which looks at equity in your home and other assets. </p>
<p>Remember the fafsa only requires information from one parent (most people have their parents with the lower income fill out the fafsa so that they can get a lower efc). However, many schools will want the financial information from both * your parents whether they are married, separated or divorced. so depending on your *full financial picture** your EFC can change greatly.</p>
<p>In our situation, daughter was accepted at 7 school and no 2 schools offered the same package it was about a $10,000 range between the "best" and the "worst" package.</p>
<p>thank you for your responses momofthree and sybbie... </p>
<p>sybbie- about that 10,000 range between best and worst package, do you mind me asking which school gave you that "best" and which school gave you that "worst"?</p>
<p>Sybbie- This is an interesting comment: "Remember the fafsa only requires information from one parent". Has there been a rule change I don't know about or do we now just assume that there are no children left growing up in two parent households?</p>
<p>Actually the FAFSA includes income from both parents UNLESS the parents are divorced. Then it only includes the income of the parent with whom the student resides.</p>
<p>Actually the FAFSA includes income from both parents UNLESS the parents are divorced. Then it only includes the income of the parent with whom the student resides. And if the parent is remarried and there is a step parent who resides in the home with the student THAT income is also included. It's expected FAMILY contribution...</p>
<p>There was a total of $12,256 between the Barnard package and the final offer we got from dartmouth (we used the Williams offer to negotiate a better offer from Dartmouth where D is now attending). Williams gave more grant money,less loans, a less student contribution, less parent contribution. Dartmouth met Williams' EFC, lowered the loans, and met the grant aid.</p>
<p>EFC 2221 lower than barnard
student contribution 585 higher than barnard)
Grant money 7720 higher than barnard
loans 2600 less than barnard
work study 300 less than barnar
total 12256</p>
<p>difference between Williams and Amherst</p>
<p>parent contrib 2251 higher at amherst
student contribution 975 higher at amherst
grant money 4906 lower at amherst
loans 3500 higher at amherst
Workstudy 100 higher at amherst
11732</p>
<p>hope this helps</p>
<p>student
grants
loan
work study</p>
<p>Sybbie, something I have been wondering about. In case your D is in her second, third or fourth year, did the package stay similar in the next years? I have often wondered if schools who negotiated the first year package based on another school's offer tend to do the bait and switch thing when they get the next year's fafsa/profile/tax return info.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>momofthree</p>
<p>sent you a PM</p>
<p>Sybbie wrote " In our situation, daughter was accepted at 7 school and no 2 schools offered the same package it was about a $10,000 range between the "best" and the "worst" package " </p>
<p>This even happened among all the same SUNY schools that my daughter applied to and I thought that since it was one major application to apply to SUNY schools , they would all give the same package ! She went from a full ride at one SUNY college to too many student loans & too large PLUS loan at another .</p>
<p>I asked the FA department at my DD's school in an email how her package would change over the 4 years. (It's a great idea to get this info in writing.) Luckily she has a nice FA package, with a reasonable EFC and all need met with scholarships and grants. Their reply to my email was to state that all our "need" would be met with scholarships and grants all four years as long as DD maintained a very reasonable and obtainable GPA. This school used the FAFSA EFC to the penny. Needless to say, this was the best FA package my daughter received- (except for a full-ride NMF offer from a large public university). Although the first year packages from the other schools were quite similar, most included some loans and workstudy.. but I knew that the differences between the packages would grow each year as the amount of loans increased, and in some of the packages with merit aid, I knew the merit aid would not increase as tuition and fees increased. It's very important to look at how the packages will change over the time!</p>
<p>pkarr, in addition to the CSS Profile that some schools require, others also have their own form. Each school can add or subtract things they feel are important to come up with their own number. One school arbitrarily added $10K to my daughter's assets based on some interest income they couldn't match up, which raised her EFC by over $3K. (In that case, we clarified the situation and they changed it.) So, expect a range of EFCs, and don't be afraid to negotiate if your top choice is on the high side. (Note that "special" deals that result from a negotiation or an appeal of the aid award generally only apply that year, so clarify what might happen in the future before making a final decision.)</p>